How to Reply to an Old Bad Review on Google or Yelp
An unhappy review from years back isn’t yours to delete. Your reply is, and Google lets the customer who wrote the review know when you post one.
Look up your business on Google and you’ll see a box with your hours, your phone number and what customers have said about you. An unhappy review from a few years back can still sit in that box for anyone in East Hampton to find. It isn’t yours to delete. Your reply is, and when you post one, Google lets the customer who wrote the review know.
Why you can’t just delete it
Google tells reviewers that a review “shows up in Google Maps until you take it down.” Google also says reviews may be removed, in most cases for breaking its rules. As the owner, you can’t delete someone else’s review. You can ask Google to remove it by reporting it. Any review can be reported, but Google says only those that break its rules are eligible for removal. Google asks owners not to report a review just because they disagree with it or dislike it.
Yelp, the review site, says plainly that an owner can’t remove reviews from the business page. Its help page tells owners to report a questionable review, with any information its moderators can verify for themselves. It also encourages owners to answer any inaccuracies, publicly or directly. Yelp says it generally lets users stand behind what they write and doesn’t take sides in factual disputes.
A low rating from years ago still counts on Google. Google’s star score is the average of all ratings published on Google for the business, and an old one that is still published is one of them.
How to post a reply on Google and Yelp
In Google’s words: “When you reply to their reviews, you show them that you value their feedback.” Google notifies the reviewer when you reply. The reviewer can still change the review after reading your reply, and a changed review shows the date of its latest update. Constructive replies and following up on concerns, Google says, may even encourage a customer to update the review.
On Google, only a verified business can reply. Verifying means proving the business is yours. It is how you gain ownership of your Business Profile, Google’s name for that box on Google Search and Maps. Google screens each reply against its rules. That usually takes up to 10 minutes and sometimes as long as 30 days. An approved reply shows under the review as your business’s, without your personal name. If Google doesn’t approve it, it asks you to edit it.
- Sign in to the Google Account linked to your profile and search my business on Google.
- Select Read reviews.
- Select Reply next to the review, type your reply and select Reply.
On Yelp you need a claimed business page, one the owner or a representative of the business has claimed through Yelp’s verification process. You also need an approved profile photo and an approved business account name. On the Yelp for Business website, open Reviews from the menu on the left, find the review and click Respond. Enter your text and click the arrow icon to send. Yelp recommends starting with Respond. A response is public and shows below the review.
What to put in the reply
Answer what the customer said. Google’s tips say to skip the same thank-you to everyone and to focus on reviews where you can share a helpful update or answer a question. If you have changed something since, say so. Never offer an incentive, such as free or discounted goods or services, to get a review changed or removed. Google calls that fake and misleading content and strictly prohibits it.
The Standard: Reply to the old complaints on your Google and Yelp pages that never got an answer. Report a review only when it breaks the site’s rules.
Source: Google Maps Help, “Add, edit, or delete Google Maps reviews & ratings“; Google Business Profile Help, “Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile,” “Manage customer reviews,” “Tips to get more reviews,” “Understand review scores for local places & businesses,” “Verify your business on Google,” “Add or claim your Business Profile” and “Find your business on Google“; Yelp Support, “Will Yelp remove a false or defamatory review?,” “How is the order of reviews determined?” and “What is a claimed business?“; Yelp for Business, “How do I remove a review?,” “How do we moderate content at Yelp?” and “How do I respond to reviews of my business?,” all read Oct. 12, 2026.