How to flag a Trustpilot review without hurting your profile

To flag a Trustpilot review, use the flag icon in your business account and choose one of five reasons: harmful or illegal content, personal information, advertising or promotion, no genuine experience, or a different business. Disliking the rating or disagreeing with the review is not a reason. Trustpilot makes the decision, and it treats careless flagging as misuse.

The five reasons, and their limits

These come from Trustpilot’s Guidelines for Businesses, version 7.3.

• Harmful or illegal. Hate speech, threats or violence, obscenity and defamation. Defamation here means a false factual statement that causes significant financial loss. An opinion does not count. Because this ground needs legal judgement, speak to a lawyer before you use it.
• Personal information. Another person’s name, contact details or photos. It does not apply if the information is already on your profile or website, or if the reviewers shared their own details.
• Advertising or promotion. Promoting another business, scams, spam or misinformation. Mentioning a competitor is not enough.
• Not based on a genuine experience. The experience is what matters. Reviewers need not be invited, need not have bought anything and may use a username.
• A different business. A review clearly about another company, or posted on the wrong one of your profiles.

Ask first when you do not recognise the reviewer

Not recognising a name is not proof of anything. For the genuine experience reason, Trustpilot lets you first ask the reviewer for details, and they have three days to respond. If they do not answer and you still believe there was no genuine experience, you can flag on that basis. Keep your question neutral: ask for an order reference so you can look into it, never for the review to come down.

Example (illustrative): Thank you for your feedback, [Name]. We would like to look into this, but we cannot match it to an order. Could you share your order reference or the email address you used? Our team at [support email] can also help.

What happens after you flag

According to Trustpilot’s help centre, a review can be flagged for only one reason at a time, and a submitted flag cannot be edited. Most flagged reviews stay visible during the investigation. Those flagged as harmful or illegal are hidden. If the reviewer needs to change the review or provide documentation, Trustpilot gives them three days. It may also ask you for documentation. Then it tells you the outcome.

If you disagree with the outcome

Reply to the decision email with your reasons, such as a specific product you do not sell or a location that does not exist, and Trustpilot will look again. If you still disagree, use the appeal link in the footer of that email.

Why careless flagging costs more than the review

Your flagging is not private. Trustpilot shows how a business reports its reviews on its public activity page. It also expects you to apply the same reasons to five-star reviews as to one-star reviews. Its guidelines name flagging too quickly, for the wrong reasons or without proper consideration as misuse.

The consequences escalate. Trustpilot first warns, then restricts your flagging. It can then place a Consumer Warning on your profile, which hides your TrustScore and downgrades your account, and it says these warnings usually last about six months. For serious cases it can end the contract or take legal action. Any outside service that flags on your behalf puts your profile at this risk, so read what to check before paying one.

A short checklist

1. Name the one reason, in one sentence.
2. Collect what supports it before you flag. You cannot edit afterwards.
3. Ask the reviewer first if you are relying on “no genuine experience”.
4. Check that you would flag a five-star review with the same flaw.
5. Reply publicly in the meantime. A fair reply is useful whatever the outcome.

If you are unsure which reason fits, the free review check goes through them with you. Only Trustpilot decides. This article is general information, not legal advice.