Online reviews, particularly Google reviews, directly impact local rankings and customer trust. Because of this, collecting positive reviews on Google Business Profile is one of the best ways to improve a business's local search performance and convert more leads into loyal customers.
Unfortunately, some competitors resort to unethical local SEO practices to improve their local search performance and damage yours. For instance, they might purchase fake negative reviews to hurt your business's rankings or buy fake positive reviews to boost their own. These black hat SEO tactics can undermine your hard work, damage your reputation, and skew the competitive landscape.
Thankfully, with Local Falcon's Reviews Analysis Reports and Falcon Assist, you can uncover patterns that point to suspicious review activity through natural language queries. By analyzing customer reviews for anomalies, you can protect your business, report fraudulent behavior, and maintain the integrity of your local SEO efforts!
In this guide, we'll explore how to use Reviews Analysis Reports alongside Falcon Assist to spot competitors' fake reviews and take actionable steps to safeguard your business's reputation and rankings.
Why Spotting Fake Reviews Matters
Competitors engaging in black hat SEO tactics like buying fake reviews harm more than your rankings; they erode customers' trust in your business.
If left unchecked, fake negative reviews can permanently lower your business's average star rating, deter potential customers, and hurt your long-term performance both on and offline, while fake positive reviews for competitors create an unfair playing field, making it harder to outrank them in local search results.
With Local Falcon's AI-powered local SEO tools, you can identify suspicious feedback patterns and build a strong case for reporting fake reviews to Google to get them removed, helping restore balance to the local competitive landscape.
How To Use Reviews Analysis Reports and Falcon Assist for Fake Review Detection
Start by generating a Reviews Analysis Report for your business and three of its competitors using Local Falcon's Reviews Analysis tool. This report provides a detailed breakdown of customer feedback, highlighting trends and anomalies.
Note that the Reviews Analysis tool automatically selects your top three competitors to analyze Google reviews for, but you can change the selection if there are different competitors you have specific suspicions about.
Next, copy the report's URL, go to Falcon Assist, and start a conversation about the report. Say something like, "I'd like to analyze this Reviews Analysis Report for signs of fake reviews [URL]." Falcon Assist will generate an overview and guide you through the next steps.
Detecting Fake Negative Reviews on Your Business Profile
To investigate whether your competitors are targeting your business with fake negative reviews, ask Falcon Assist something like:
"Can you identify reviews that seem out of place or overly critical, which might be fake?"
Falcon Assist might respond with observations like:
By pinpointing these types of anomalies, you can potentially build a case for reporting suspicious reviews to the appropriate platform, but keep in mind that you should gather as much evidence as possible to be sure and to increase your chances of getting a fake negative review taken down.
If Falcon Assist identifies any suspicious reviews, you should look for other indicators that they may be fake. For example, check any suspicious reviewer's profile and see if they have only left the one review or have written reviews for businesses that are all over the place geographically; which are both signs that a profile may have been created to leave fake reviews.
Detecting Fake Positive Reviews on Competitors' Profiles
To uncover whether competitors are boosting their own profiles with fake positive reviews, try asking Falcon Assist something like:
"What patterns in my competitor's reviews could indicate fake positive reviews?"
Here's an example of Falcon Assist's response:
You can see here how Falcon Assist has given you your next steps to determine if the competitor might be collecting fake reviews, so let's take it a step further by asking the AI something like:
"Are there any clusters of reviews posted in short time periods?"
Falcon Assist might then respond with the following observations:
Again, Falcon Assist has told you exactly what the next steps are to investigate potentially fake competitor reviews further and determine whether or not you should report them!
Taking Action on Competitors' Fake Reviews
Once you've identified suspicious reviews, take the following steps to mitigate damage, get fake reviews removed, and defend your reputation:
- Document Evidence: Use screenshots or notes from the Reviews Analysis Report and Falcon Assist to compile a clear case.
- Report Suspicious Reviews: Google allows you to flag reviews for violating their policies. Make sure to provide detailed evidence to support your claim.
- Respond Professionally: If fake negative reviews are affecting your business, respond courteously to show potential customers that you care about feedback and are committed to investigating all concerns, even if the reviews may not be genuine.
- Strengthen Your Reputation: Encourage satisfied customers to leave genuine reviews. A consistent flow of authentic feedback can help offset the negative effects of any fake reviews that don't get removed or are in the process of getting taken down.
Wrapping Up
Using Local Falcon's Reviews Analysis Reports with Falcon Assist, you can uncover competitors' fake reviews, report their unethical tactics, and ensure your local SEO efforts are successful.
Whether it's fake negative reviews dragging down your rankings or fake positive feedback artificially inflating a competitor's reputation and performance, you now have the tools to identify, address, and report these issues!
Stay vigilant, continue gathering authentic reviews, and leverage the power of Local Falcon's AI Reviews Analysis tool to protect your reputation and rankings.
With Falcon Assist, spotting fake reviews is easier than ever, so you can keep the focus on what really matters; delivering exceptional service and growing your business!
