This guide explains what you can do yourself when it comes to moderating reviews — flagging spam, requesting removal, checking status, and understanding what needs to go to the REVIEWS.io support team.
Quick answer: Most moderation actions (flagging a review, submitting a removal request, preventing spam) can be done directly from your dashboard. Removals that require a team member intervention — such as reviews from external platforms like Google — are noted below.
What you can do yourself
The following actions are available directly from your REVIEWS.io dashboard without needing to contact support.
Submit a moderation request (remove or hide a review)
If a review is fake, offensive, or otherwise violates REVIEWS.io's guidelines, you can submit a moderation request:
Log in to your REVIEWS.io dashboard.
Go to Timeline.
Find the review — use the search bar to locate it by reviewer name or email address.
Click the review to open it, then click Moderate.
Enter a reason for the request (e.g. 'not a real customer', 'offensive content', 'incorrect company') and submit.
Visibility changes are typically reflected within about an hour of a successful moderation decision.
If the Moderate button isn't showing, see the troubleshooting section at the bottom of this article.
Flag a review as spam or fraudulent
You can report spam or fake reviews in two ways:
From the company profile page — use the report option directly on the review.
From your dashboard — go to Timeline, find the review, open it, and click Moderate.
Once flagged, the content goes through REVIEWS.io's moderation process. If a review is flagged multiple times without action, it is automatically escalated to receive higher-priority attention from the moderation team.
Prevent spam reviews in the first place
Reply to a review instead of moderating it
Not every negative or inaccurate review needs to be removed. If the review is genuine but you'd like to address it publicly — to clarify, apologise, or provide context — replying is often the better option. A public reply shows other customers that you're responsive and engaged.
When to reply rather than moderate:
The review is from a real customer but contains a misunderstanding or incorrect information
The review is negative but doesn't violate REVIEWS.io's moderation guidelines
You want to offer a resolution or follow-up publicly
How to reply to a review
Go to Timeline in your REVIEWS.io dashboard.
Click the review you want to respond to.
Type your reply and click Post Public Reply or Private Reply
Replies are posted publicly or privately and visible alongside the review if posted publicly
You can also reply directly from notification emails — without logging into the dashboard — if you have review notifications enabled (Settings → Notification Settings → Review Notifications).
Trustpilot reviews cannot be replied to within REVIEWS.io. Replies to Trustpilot reviews must be made directly on the Trustpilot platform.
You can reduce the volume of unsolicited or fake reviews by limiting who can leave them:
Go to your dashboard and navigate to Publishing Options.
Disable the 'Write a review' public form.
With this off, reviews can only be submitted by customers you invite directly — significantly reducing spam.
Moderation timelines
Action | Expected timeline |
Moderation decision after you submit a request | Typically within 1 hour |
Visibility change reflected publicly after approval | Within 1 hour of the decision |
Reviews removed from Google no longer appearing in REVIEWS.io widgets | May take additional time due to caching — try clearing your browser cache or viewing in incognito mode first |
What reviews can (and cannot) be moderated
Reviews are eligible for moderation and removal if they:
Were not left by a verified customer
Contain offensive, defamatory, or inappropriate content
Name individual members of staff
Are spam, fraudulent, or left by a competitor
Are clearly about a different company
Reviews cannot be removed simply because they are negative. REVIEWS.io's moderation guidelines exist to ensure review integrity, and removal requests that don't meet the criteria above will not be approved.
What requires the REVIEWS.io support team
Some moderation actions cannot be completed from your dashboard and need the support team:
Reviews from external platforms (e.g. Google)
The Moderate button will not appear for reviews originally collected on Google. These must be reported directly through Google's own reporting tools. If a review has already been removed on Google but is still appearing in REVIEWS.io, contact support to manually sync the removal.
Bulk review removal
If you need to remove a large number of reviews at once, contact support via live chat in your dashboard.
Disputes about a moderation decision
If you disagree with an outcome (e.g. a removal request was declined), contact support to escalate the case for review.
Troubleshooting
The 'Moderate' button isn't showing
The 'Moderate' button isn't showing
The most common reasons the Moderate option doesn't appear:
The review came from an external platform (e.g. Google) — these must be reported via that platform directly.
You are not logged in with an account that has moderation permissions.
The review has already been moderated and is no longer active.
A removed review is still showing on my site
A removed review is still showing on my site
If a review has been successfully moderated but is still visible:
Check the review status in your dashboard Timeline — confirm the moderation was approved, not just submitted.
Clear your browser cache and try viewing the page in an incognito or private window.
If it's a widget, try a hard refresh or purge any CDN/caching layer on your site.
If the review is still showing after an hour and your cache is clear, contact support via live chat.
A review from Shop App is appearing but I can't moderate it
A review from Shop App is appearing but I can't moderate it
Shop App reviews are collected via Shopify's ecosystem. If a Shop App review is appearing in your REVIEWS.io widgets but you can't moderate it from your dashboard, contact support — there are specific steps required to handle Shop App review moderation that differ from standard product reviews.
My moderation request has been pending for more than an hour
My moderation request has been pending for more than an hour
If your moderation request was submitted more than an hour ago and hasn't been actioned:
Check your dashboard to confirm the request was submitted successfully (not just saved as a draft).
If it's been flagged by multiple users, it may already be in an escalated queue — this is handled automatically.
If there's still no outcome after a reasonable wait, contact support via live chat with the reviewer's name or email so the team can locate the specific request.