Trustpilot fake reviews: how they are found and removed

What counts as fake reviews on Trustpilot?

Trustpilot treats any review that is not based on the writer's own genuine experience as fake. That includes reviews about your own business, reviews posted for someone else, reviews from a second account, incentivized reviews and reviews collected by inviting only happy customers. The star rating does not change this.

Trustpilot's guidelines for reviewers put the core rule in one line: "Your review must be based on a genuine experience." The guidelines for businesses then spell out the cases that most often lead to fake reviews on Trustpilot:

• Reviews about yourself. The guidelines name "you, your immediate family members, someone who is working for your business, or a competitor."
• Reviews written for someone else, apart from rare cases such as a carer helping a person who cannot write their own review.
• More than one account per person. Trustpilot says "you're only allowed to have one user account on Trustpilot."
• Incentivized reviews. In Trustpilot's words: "We don't allow incentivized reviews on Trustpilot."
• Selective inviting and review gating, where only happy customers are asked to review and unhappy ones are sent to support instead.

The last two catch out many honest businesses. A discount for leaving a review, or a survey that only sends five-star customers to Trustpilot, can get reviews removed even when real customers wrote every one of them.

How does Trustpilot detect fake reviews?

Trustpilot says that "every single review submitted to Trustpilot is checked by our automated detection technology." The software looks for patterns linked to fabricated content and for signs that a review was bought. Because it runs on every review, most fake reviews are caught without anyone having to report them.

The numbers from Trustpilot's Trust Report

Trustpilot's Trust Report 2025 shows the scale of the work. In 2024, Trustpilot removed 4.5 million fake reviews, which was 7.4% of all reviews submitted that year, and 90% of those were removed automatically by its software before people had to step in.

People add to what the software catches

Software is only the first layer. In 2024, consumers flagged 92 thousand reviews and businesses flagged 601 thousand reviews for breaking the guidelines, and Trustpilot reviews each of those reports. Trustpilot also admits it "may not get it right 100% of the time", so reviewers and businesses can ask it to look at a decision again.

Trustpilot reviews: fake or real? Signs to check

When people search for "Trustpilot reviews fake", they usually want to know whether the profile in front of them can be trusted. Most reviews on Trustpilot are real, but a few simple checks help you spot the ones that may not be, whether you are judging a competitor or reading reviews about your own business.

Look for these warning signs when you read a profile:

• A sudden burst of reviews after months of silence, especially if they all arrive within a few days.
• Very short, vague praise such as "Great service, highly recommend" with no detail about the product or the experience.
• Repeated wording across several reviews, as if the writers worked from the same script.
• Reviewer profiles with a single review, created on the same day as the review itself.
• Details that do not match the business, such as a product it does not sell or a country it does not serve.

No single sign proves a review is fake, because real customers also write short reviews. The pattern matters more than any one review, and Trustpilot's own software looks at patterns across many reviews and accounts. If you want to know whether the platform as a whole is reliable, our guide asking is Trustpilot legit looks at that question in detail.

What happens to Trustpilot fake reviews and the businesses behind them

Trustpilot's Action we take page sets out what follows once fake reviews are found. The review is the first thing to go, but the steps can reach the reviewer and the business as well.

The review comes down. Trustpilot says it will "immediately place the fake reviews offline". If a business collected reviews in breach of the guidelines, those reviews are removed too, even when real customers wrote them.

The reviewer is warned. Trustpilot takes the review offline and contacts the reviewer. Repeat misuse leads to a warning, and after that a blocked account.

The business faces steps that grow with the problem. The steps depend on how serious the misuse is:

• A Consumer Warning: "a prominent notification explaining that the business has been misusing Trustpilot". It usually stays for six months, and the TrustScore is hidden while it is active.
• A downgraded account: Trustpilot can end a paid subscription and limit the business to responding to and flagging reviews.
• Contract termination and legal action, including court proceedings, for serious or repeated misuse.

For a SaaS company, a warning banner and a hidden TrustScore on the page buyers check before signing up can cost more than any batch of good reviews earns back. Our explainer on TrustScore shows how the score is calculated and why recent reviews carry so much weight.

How to report fake reviews on Trustpilot

If you see a review you believe is fake, flag it. Any Trustpilot user can flag a review by clicking the flag icon, choosing a reason and submitting it, as the FTC's guide to reporting suspicious reviews also describes. Businesses flag reviews about them from their Trustpilot Business account.

Here is how to report fake reviews on Trustpilot in a way that gets results:

1. Pick the reason that matches the guideline the review breaks, such as a review that is not based on a genuine experience.
2. Add the facts you have, for example that the reviewer was never a customer or that the order number does not exist.
3. Reply in public if the review stays up, so readers see a calm, factual answer next to it.
4. Keep a record of what you flagged and when, in case you need to ask Trustpilot to look again.

Can Trustpilot reviews be removed?

Yes, Trustpilot reviews can be removed, but only when they break Trustpilot's guidelines. Trustpilot's guidelines say "Not liking a star rating or disagreeing with a negative review is not a valid reason for flagging a review," and a business that flags too often or for the wrong reasons can lose the ability to flag.

That means an honest negative review stays up even when it hurts. The better answer is a calm public reply and a steady flow of new reviews, so one bad review sits among many recent good ones.

What the law says about fake reviews

Trustpilot's rules are not the only ones that apply. In August 2024 the Federal Trade Commission announced a final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials in the United States, and the rule lets the FTC seek civil penalties against knowing violators.

The rule covers the same ground as Trustpilot's guidelines and more. It bans:

• Reviews from people with no real experience of the business, including AI-generated reviews.
• Payments for reviews tied to a positive or negative sentiment.
• Insider reviews from staff or managers that do not disclose the connection.
• Suppressing reviews through threats or false accusations.

For a business, this means fake reviews carry two risks at once. The platform can remove them and add a warning, and the regulator can take action as well.

How to get more Trustpilot reviews without breaking the rules

The same guidelines that catch fake reviews also describe a healthy profile. Trustpilot asks businesses to "invite consistently and fairly", which in practice means:

1. Invite every customer the same way, at the same point in the customer journey.
2. Offer no discount, credit or gift in return for a review.
3. Never write or edit reviews, and never ask staff, family or friends to post them.
4. Reply to reviews, good and bad, so readers see a business that listens.
5. Keep a steady pace instead of a sudden burst after a quiet month.

Invitations are the backbone of a clean profile. Our guide to Trustpilot review invitations covers links, emails and timing, and our full guide on how to get Trustpilot reviews puts the whole plan in one place.

Real reviews matter for another reason too. Buyers read your Trustpilot profile before they sign up, which is why Trustpilot reviews matter for B2B and B2C SaaS alike.

Trustpilot fake reviews are never worth the risk

Trustpilot fake reviews get caught by software, by other users and, in the United States, by the law. A single shortcut can cost a business its reviews, its TrustScore and its reputation on the one page many buyers check before they sign up.

The safer path is also the one that lasts. Invite every customer the same way, reply to what they write and keep a steady pace of real reviews. If you would rather hand that work to a team that does it every day, RelikReview can plan a Trustpilot campaign with you. Our RelikReview review services cover G2, Capterra, SourceForge, SoftwareSuggest and HubSpot as well.

FAQs about Trustpilot fake reviews