The Takedown Tool: Managing Your Google Reviews

Google has recently introduced a new tool designed to help you manage your reviews on Google My Business (GMB).

With this new feature, you’ll be able to:

• Easily see the reviews for your dental practice
• Report any reviews that violate Google’s policies
• Quickly check the status of reviews you’ve reported
• Submit an appeal if Google doesn’t remove a review 

Note that early reports show that this tool may be more effective for businesses that don’t have multiple locations.

Using the Google Review Take Down Tool

First, use this new review managing tool by logging into your GMB account, and select your business.

Next, choose whether you are checking the status of a review you’ve already reported or you’re submitting a new review for a takedown.

If you choose to check the status, Google will give you an update on your reported reviews and where they stand in the takedown process.

If you choose to report a review, Google shows you a list of your reviews and links for you to report them, and then you’ll be given options to choose the reason for your request.

This is a helpful tool when dealing with reviews that are not relevant to your business, like a review posted for another company with a similar name.

You can also use this tool if the review in question is a conflict of interest, is offensive, violates privacy policies, or presents legal issues.

But how can you remove negative reviews of your dental practice that your patients post? Let’s tackle that next!

Navigating Negative Dental Reviews

When a patient or client responds negatively to your dental practice with a Google review, you have a few options.

With that said, the first thing to do is to check Google’s policies on reviews. This way, you can determine if the content falls under any category that Google deems as inappropriate, such as:

• Conflict of interest
• Sexually explicit content
• Impersonation
• Illegal content
• Offensive or dangerous content

These are just a few things to look for, so be sure to review Google’s policy thoroughly before you submit your takedown request.

Ask Your Patient to Remove the Review

If the review content isn’t necessarily considered inappropriate by Google, you can consider asking your patient to remove the review. Reaching out to them to make the situation right is a great place to start. 

Here are some tips for responding to negative reviews:

• Follow HIPAA regulations
• Personally respond to a negative review 
• Always keep the true audience in mind when responding, your response is reflective of your business
• You can remove reviews that are a violation of the platform’s policies
• Unhappy patients could review bomb you, don’t be caught off guard

When you reach out to your patient or respond online to their review, make sure you acknowledge the problem and their frustration, so they know you’ve heard them. Then work with them to find a resolution to the issue that works for both you and them.

Doing this can go a long way in mending the relationship with your patient who is upset. It will also help you build trust with other patients who might see your response and how you’ve handled your bad review. Your patients will understand that they’re the priority in your practice.

Consider Other Options

If you’re having no luck removing the review after reaching out to your patient, you might consider contacting Google through Twitter. You can tweet to Google’s small business team about your situation @GoogleMyBiz and be sure to follow them so they can send you a response through Direct Message. You can also call them at (844) 491-9665.

As a final option, you might consider filing a legal request to remove the bad review if the content is deemed illegal or defamatory. This option will only apply to a few specific cases.

Final Thoughts

Online reviews of your dental practice can be a helpful tool for bringing in new patients, and even a bad review doesn’t have to be detrimental to your business when you handle it properly.

Be sure to monitor your reviews, and don’t be afraid to ask your favorite patients to help you out by sharing their positive experiences at your dental practice.