Yelp starts from “leave it up”
Yelp is open about its stance: it is cautious about removing reviews and generally lets reviewers answer for what they write. Owners have no delete button, claimed page or not. What you have is a report, and a report works only when the review breaks a written rule.
That rules out a big share of the reviews owners want gone. A customer who says your prices are too high, your staff was cold, or the job took too long is giving an opinion. Even when you’re sure the story is wrong, Yelp says it doesn’t referee factual disputes between a business and a reviewer. It’s not going to compare your invoice with their memory and pick a winner.
What does get removed
Moderators check reported content against the Content Guidelines. If it breaks them, the content is removed and the person who posted it is notified. The help pages point to things like conflicts of interest and content unrelated to an actual experience. Yelp also added pandemic-specific rules: reviews claiming someone caught COVID-19 at a business, complaining you were closed during normal hours, attacking mask or safety rules, or blaming you for government mandates are not allowed. There’s a report reason for that: It represents an extraordinary circumstance (e.g. COVID-19, media-fueled).
Removal is common enough. Yelp’s 2025 report says its User Operations team removed 11% of the roughly 22 million reviews contributed that year for policy violations. It also counts more than 193,700 reviews removed after community reports.
Make your report checkable
Yelp asks for information its moderators can independently verify. “This person never came here” is a claim. A screenshot of your booking system with no matching name, a link showing the reviewer runs a competing shop, or proof you were closed on the day described is evidence. Here’s the route Yelp documents. Reporting requires being logged in, so use the Yelp account connected to your Yelp for Business page. Open the review, choose the report option on it, pick the reason that matches the rule it breaks, and put your evidence in the description. As of November 2026, Yelp’s help articles describe the report but don’t picture the menu, so if you can’t find the option, or want to question a decision, contact Yelp Support through the Support Center or call the business line Yelp lists, (877) 767-9357, during its posted hours.
Removed vs. not recommended
These get confused all the time. A removed review is gone. A not recommended review is still on Yelp, behind a link at the bottom of your page, and doesn’t count toward your rating or review count. The recommendation software makes that call automatically, and Yelp says no employee can override it. A review can stay up after your report and still end up not recommended if the software finds it unreliable.
When to stop reporting
If moderators keep the review, a second identical report won’t change much. Your public Comment is now the main thing future customers will see next to it, so make it short and steady. Yelp’s own advice is to stay professional and, when needed, take the conversation private with a Direct Message.
Defamation is a legal question, not a guidelines one. Yelp’s page says that if you have a final court order finding a review defamatory, you can contact Yelp Support. Whether to go to court at all is something to discuss with a lawyer.
What not to do
Don’t offer a refund, discount or freebie in exchange for a deleted review. Yelp’s policy forbids incentives to remove reviews and warns it may also be illegal. Threatening reviewers with legal action can also earn your page a public Consumer Alert.
If it doesn't work
- Yelp kept the review because it's a dispute over facts: Yelp doesn't decide who's right. Answer the inaccuracy in a public Comment, plainly and once.
- The review vanished but still shows under not recommended: that's the recommendation software, not removal. It no longer counts toward your star rating.
- Your report was too thin: report again only if you now have something moderators can verify independently, such as records or links.
- A wave of reviews arrived after a news story: Yelp has a separate process for media-driven activity and may place an alert and remove those reviews.
Questions owners ask
Will Yelp take down a review that is false?
Only if it breaks a guideline Yelp can verify. Yelp's support page says it doesn't decide factual disagreements between a business and a reviewer, and it generally lets reviewers stand behind what they post. If the review stays, you can reply publicly or message the reviewer.
Can I offer a customer something to take their review down?
No. Yelp's Don't Ask for Reviews policy lists offering incentives to remove reviews among the things businesses must not do, and says it may also be illegal. Fix the problem because it's right, without tying it to the review.
Does Yelp tell the reviewer I reported them?
Yelp says the reviewer is usually notified if their review is removed. Your report itself isn't posted anywhere public, and if moderators keep the review, you get the outcome by email and the review simply stays.
Can I report reviews that blame my business for COVID-19 rules?
Yes. Yelp's guidelines prohibit reviews that criticize safety measures such as masks, claim someone caught COVID-19 at the business, or complain about mandates outside your control. The report reason is labeled as an extraordinary circumstance.
Sources
- Will Yelp remove a false or defamatory review? (yelp-support.com)
- How do I remove a review? (biz.yelp.com)
- How do I report content that violates Yelp's Content Guidelines or Terms of Service? (yelp-support.com)
- 2025 Trust & Safety Report (blog.yelp.com)
Checked 13 Nov 2026. When the platform changes its process we update this page and log it in What changed.