When someone looks up your shop on Google, a box comes up with your address, your hours and the reviews customers have written. A complaint someone left there years ago can still be in that box for a Farmington customer to read tonight. You can’t delete it. You can answer it, and Google tells the customer who wrote it when you do.
Why you can’t make it go away
Google tells the people who write reviews that a review “shows up in Google Maps until you take it down.” Google also says reviews may be removed, in most cases for breaking its rules. You can’t delete someone else’s review yourself. Instead, you can report it and ask Google to take it down. You can report any review, but Google says only reviews that break its rules can be removed. It asks owners not to report a review just because they disagree with it or dislike it.
Yelp, the review site, tells owners plainly that they can’t remove reviews from their own business page. You can report one, with any information Yelp’s moderators can check for themselves. Yelp says it generally lets users stand behind what they write and doesn’t take sides in factual disputes.
An old rating still counts. Google’s star score for your business is the average of all ratings published on Google, so a one-star rating from years ago that is still up is part of it.
Your answer reaches the customer
Google’s case for replying: “When you reply to their reviews, you show them that you value their feedback.” The customer who wrote the review gets a notice when you reply. They can still change the review after reading your answer. If they do, its date changes to show the update. Google says constructive replies and following up on concerns may even encourage a customer to update a review.
To reply on Google, you first have to verify your business, which means proving to Google that it’s yours. That is how you take ownership of the box, which Google calls your Business Profile. Google checks every reply against its rules. That usually takes up to 10 minutes and sometimes up to 30 days. An approved reply appears under the review in your business’s name, not your own. If Google doesn’t approve it, it asks you to edit it.
- Sign in to the Google Account linked to your profile and search my business on Google.
- Select Read reviews.
- Next to the review, select Reply, type your answer and select Reply again.
On Yelp, you first need a claimed business page. That means the owner or someone representing the business has proved it to Yelp through its verification process. Yelp also requires an approved profile photo and an approved business account name. Then go to the Yelp for Business website, open Reviews in the menu on the left, find the review and click Respond. Type your answer and click the arrow icon to send. Yelp recommends starting with a response, which is public and appears below the review.
Answer the complaint, not with a form letter
Google’s advice is to skip sending the same thank-you to everyone and to focus on reviews where you can share a helpful update or answer a question. If something has changed since the customer wrote, say what. Never offer anything, such as free or discounted goods or services, to get a review changed or removed. Google calls that fake and misleading content and strictly prohibits it.
The Standard: Answer every old complaint on your Google and Yelp pages that never got a reply, oldest first, and save the report button for a review that breaks the rules.
Source: Google Maps Help, “Add, edit, or delete Google Maps reviews & ratings“; Google Business Profile Help, “Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile,” “Manage customer reviews,” “Tips to get more reviews,” “Understand review scores for local places & businesses,” “Verify your business on Google,” “Add or claim your Business Profile” and “Find your business on Google“; Yelp Support, “Will Yelp remove a false or defamatory review?,” “How is the order of reviews determined?” and “What is a claimed business?“; Yelp for Business, “How do I remove a review?,” “How do we moderate content at Yelp?” and “How do I respond to reviews of my business?,” all read Oct. 12, 2026.
This coverage is supported by Farmington Storage, 155 Scott Swamp Road, the only storage facility in Connecticut with Museum air. An old review stays put until somebody takes it down, and so do the boxes of old records you aren’t ready to part with. 860.777.4001 📦
Jack Beckett has covered Farmington long enough to have a few old stories he would answer differently today. He is on his second coffee. ☕
The Farmington Mercury covers the town: Town Council and the land use boards, the police log, the schools, elections, and the businesses in Farmington and Unionville. Our motto is “Always last to breaking news,” and nobody has ever accused us of breaking it. Find us at farmingtonmercury.com and tell a neighbor. 📰