Flagging here has a prerequisite, and a penalty
Trustpilot is the only platform in this section that asks you to go to the reviewer first on some grounds, and the only one that publishes a penalty for flagging too much. Both facts change the order you do things in, and neither is obvious from the flag button.
No credit card required. 30-day free trial.
The grounds, the prerequisite and the penalty
Four points from the help centre and the guidelines for businesses. Two of them are procedural requirements rather than advice.
You flag from the business account, or contact the Content Integrity team, and the flag generates a request they investigate.
There is a named team behind this rather than an automated queue, which is worth remembering when you write the reason.
The published grounds are harmful or illegal content, threats, the wrong business, personal information, promotional material and reviews that are not a genuine experience.
Six named grounds and no seventh. If your reason is not one of them, the flag is going to come back.
On some grounds you have to go to the reviewer first: ask for information before flagging a review as not genuine, and ask them to update it before flagging personal information or the wrong business.
Flagging first is the mistake, and it is the one the button invites. The public reply is where that request is made.
Misuse of the flagging function can limit or block your business account, or put a Consumer Warning on your profile.
Flagging everything you dislike is not a free action here. It is the one platform where the attempt itself carries a published downside.
The order Trustpilot expects
Two of these five steps happen in public, before the flag, and that is the part most guides leave out.
Check the ground against the published list
Harmful or illegal, threats, wrong business, personal information, promotional material, or not a genuine experience. Anything else is not a flag.
Reply publicly and ask for what you need
For a review you believe is not genuine, ask the reviewer for the information that would identify the purchase. Trustpilot requires that request before it will accept the flag, and it is visible to the next reader too, which is worth more than the flag usually is. Give it a few days: no published deadline applies to the reviewer here, so the wait is your judgement rather than a Trustpilot rule.
Ask for an update where the fix is theirs
If the review names a person or is clearly about a different company, ask them to update it before you flag. It resolves faster and it looks better.
Flag it from the business account
Give the ground, and state what you already asked for and when. A flag that shows the prerequisite was met gets a different reading.
Leave the rest alone
A review that is unfair or critical is not a flag, and treating it as one risks the account. Reply to it instead, and edit the reply later if the facts move.
Grounds that go somewhere, and grounds that do not
What Trustpilot will look at
- Hate speech or discriminatory content, and content containing serious threats or threats of violence.
- A review that is clearly about a different business.
- Names, phone numbers, addresses and email addresses in a review.
- Promotional material, including codes, calls to action or advertising for another business.
- Reviews that are not based on a genuine experience, including ones from employees or competitors.
What Trustpilot will not remove
- A review you consider unfair or critical, which it says is not a valid reason for flagging.
- A star rating you disagree with, on its own.
- Content you simply dislike, which it states is not removed for that reason.
What GetSetReply does around a flag
We do not flag reviews. We do draft the public reply, which on this platform is a required step before two of the six grounds rather than an afterthought.
- The draft can carry the request for information that Trustpilot expects before a not genuine flag, so the prerequisite is met in public.
- Replies are editable on Trustpilot, so a reply written today can be updated when the reviewer answers.
- Nothing is published on your behalf and no review is flagged on your behalf.
Two pages to read with this one
One is how the Trustpilot connection works. The other is the wording for the review that most often ends up in front of the Content Integrity team.
Trustpilot is one of the places we watch
Every platform below lands in the same queue, so a Trustpilot review and a review from anywhere else are read, drafted and answered in one place.
- Yelp
- TripAdvisor
- DoorDash
- Trustpilot
- Etsy
- Square
Trustpilot flagging questions
Answered from Trustpilot's help centre and its guidelines for businesses, cited below.
On what grounds can a business flag a Trustpilot review?
Harmful or illegal content, terrorism or threats of violence, a review clearly about a different business, personal information, promotional material, and reviews not based on a genuine experience.
Do I have to contact the reviewer before flagging?
On some grounds, yes. Trustpilot expects you to request information from the reviewer before flagging a review as not genuine, and to ask them to update a review containing personal information or naming a different business.
Will Trustpilot remove a review for being unfair?
No. It says not liking a star rating or disagreeing with a negative review is not a valid reason for flagging, and that reviews are not removed just because a business considers them unfair.
Is there any downside to flagging a lot of reviews?
Yes. Trustpilot says misuse of the flagging function can result in limiting or blocking access to your business account, or placing a Consumer Warning on your profile.
Can GetSetReply flag reviews for me?
No. We draft the reply, including the request Trustpilot expects you to make before flagging on some grounds.
Where the Trustpilot flagging facts came from
Trustpilot's help centre on what a flag does and on the grounds it accepts, plus its guidelines for businesses.
- Trustpilot Help Center: What happens after businesses flag reviews? Read 2026-09-10.
- Trustpilot Help Center: For which reasons can businesses flag service reviews? Read 2026-09-10.
- Trustpilot Legal: Guidelines for businesses Read 2026-09-10.
Before you flag
Ask in public first
Connect the profile and every review arrives with a reply drafted, including the question a flag will later depend on.