How we measure Google review removal success.

Why we don't publish a removal-rate percentage

Almost every company in this category advertises one — 90%, 94%, 98%. None of them publish the denominator. A removal rate is trivially inflatable: file only on the easiest cases, count spam-filter hides as wins, exclude anything you declined to file, and you can produce whatever number you want. We had internal figures on this site and removed them, because we could not publish the sample behind them. The first number we publish will arrive with its methodology and its sample size attached, in the Q3 2026 cohort report.

• If a competitor quotes you a removal rate, ask for the denominator, the date range, and whether declined-to-file cases are in it
• Ask whether spam-filter suppressions are counted as removals — they usually are, and they aren't the same thing
• What we will tell you before you spend anything: which tier each of your reviews falls into, and which ones we won't file on
• The commercial version of this: you are billed only when Google removes a review, so a bad filing costs us and not you

How we classify Tier-1 reviews

Tier-1 violations are reviews that match an explicit Google content policy — conflict of interest, spam from a known competitor, hate speech, off-topic, or fake (zero history, brand-new account, attack pattern). We file these through Google's public 'flag as inappropriate' workflow and follow up with documented evidence packets. Public benchmarks from Sterling Sky, GatherUp, and Whitespark put Tier-1 industry removal rates at 85-95% when filings include policy citations + evidence.

• We classify before we file — Tier-3 (genuinely negative, policy-clean) reviews are surfaced upfront and we do not file on them
• Counts a removal only when Google explicitly removes the review (not when it's hidden by the spam filter alone)
• Tier-2 (subjective / opinion-disguised-as-fact) reviews are tracked separately and have wider outcome ranges
• We tell you upfront which tier your review falls into before filing — and we don't bill on Tier-3

Resolution window

Time from when our dispute packet is filed with Google to when the review is removed (or our final appeal is rejected). Google's review process has a long tail — some Tier-1 removals close in 2 days, a handful take 60+ days on appeal. Our pricing reflects this: $0 charged until Google has actually removed the review.

• Typical Google review window: 7-21 days
• Some Tier-1 escalations resolve in 48 hours; appeals can extend to 60+ days
• We re-scan your profile daily after filing to confirm removal before invoicing

Rating uplift — what's realistic

Removing a single bad review changes your visible average rating by a function of (a) the removed review's weight, (b) the natural distribution shift when one outlier leaves the average, and (c) the typical organic positive-review trickle most local businesses get over a quarter. Per-customer variation is wide — your mileage depends heavily on your starting rating and review volume.

• A practice at 4.2★ with 50 reviews moves more from one removal than a practice at 4.7★ with 800 reviews
• We do not promise specific star-rating uplift — rating impact depends on starting rating, review volume, and ongoing review velocity
• Pair removal with response strategy + new-review velocity for compound effect over 60-90 days

Founding Cohort — Q3 2026 cohort report

RepuShield is launching with a Founding 25 program (limited to 50 practices). Your case data — anonymized — becomes the basis for our first publicly-sourced removal report. Until that report ships, every claim on this site is framed against industry benchmarks (Sterling Sky, GatherUp, Whitespark) rather than internal stats.

• Founding Cohort members get their per-removal rate locked for life in exchange for anonymized case-data inclusion and a public testimonial at Day 60 — participation is opt-in and pricing is pay only on removal either way
• Aggregate removal rate, median resolution days, P90/P99, and per-vertical breakdowns publish Q3 2026 with full methodology
• Individual customer data is never shared without explicit permission — even when aggregated

What we never claim

We don't promise specific outcomes on individual reviews. We don't guarantee removal of negative-but-policy-clean reviews. We don't pay reviewers, incentivize positive reviews, or use any technique that violates Google's review policies — doing so would get our customers' GBP profiles suspended. We file only through Google's public Business Profile policy channels — the same channels available to any owner.