Frequently asked questions
About the service
What exactly does ReviewStrike do?
We build and file formal policy-violation submissions to Google on your behalf, targeting harmful or fake reviews on your Google Business Profile. We analyze the review against Google’s published policies, draft the strongest possible submission, file it, and monitor Google’s response.
What kinds of reviews can actually be removed?
Google removes reviews that violate its Prohibited and Restricted Content policies. The categories with the highest success rate are: fake engagement (reviewer was never a customer), harassment, personal information / doxxing, conflict of interest (competitor, ex-employee, ex-partner), off-topic, illegal content, and threats or extortion.
What if my review is “just a genuine complaint”?
Almost every review — including 1-star and 3-star complaints from real customers — has a removal angle once you know where to look. Our senior reviewers examine each case for the strongest policy lever: off-topic content, third-party references, inappropriate language, privacy breaches, defamation risk, unverifiable claims, conflict of interest, or a technicality that triggers human review at Google rather than the default automated check. Every case we take on gets our strongest submission.
How long does it take?
Most cases resolve within 3–14 days. We file your submission within 24 hours of receiving payment and evidence. Google’s response time is variable, but their automated moderation usually responds within 3–5 days. Human review cases can take longer.
What’s your success rate?
Across our cases, 97% of submissions receive a Google response (approval or rejection). Of those, approximately 60–70% result in full removal on the first attempt, depending on the category. Escalation (second submission) adds another 15–20%.
Pricing & billing
Is $99 really all I pay?
Yes. $99 covers policy analysis, draft preparation, filing, tracking, and email updates. The only other charges are optional: $49/mo for monitoring and $199 for escalation if Google rejects the first attempt.
Do you offer refunds?
If we fail to file your submission for any reason, we refund in full. If Google rejects the submission, you can escalate for $199 or take a 50% credit ($49.50) toward a future case. We do not refund cases that were filed and processed normally.
Do I pay per review or per business?
Per review. If you have three harmful reviews on the same business, that’s three cases. Monitoring is per business.
Do you offer bulk discounts?
Yes. Contact us if you have more than 5 cases at once — agencies and franchise groups usually get a reseller rate.
Evidence & privacy
What evidence should I upload?
Whatever proves the review violates policy. Examples: for a fake review, screenshots of your booking/CRM showing the reviewer was never a customer. For harassment, prior messages or emails showing hostility. For doxxing, the review itself with the personal info highlighted. For competitor reviews, their business listing or a connection to the reviewer. A little goes a long way — one strong piece of evidence beats ten weak ones.
Is my evidence private?
Yes. Evidence is stored outside our public web root, encrypted at rest, and only accessible to you and our reviewers. We never share it with third parties except Google as part of your submission.
Do you read my Gmail?
Only if you explicitly connect Gmail OAuth for monitoring. We only read messages from Google’s business review channel and nothing else. You can disconnect at any time. We never store Gmail content beyond the parsed case status.
Legal
Is what you do legal?
Yes. We do not contact reviewers. We do not write or remove content. We only build a policy-violation submission using the same forms Google provides to every business owner. The difference is that our submissions are structured, evidence-backed, and mapped to specific policy clauses.
Do you provide legal advice?
No. ReviewStrike is not a law firm. If your situation involves defamation, extortion, or ongoing harassment, we recommend consulting a lawyer in addition to using our service.
Will the reviewer know I filed a submission?
Google does not notify reviewers when their review is flagged for policy violation. If the review is removed, Google may send the reviewer a generic “your review was removed for violating our policies” email. Your identity is never disclosed.