Frequently Asked Questions

Reputation Retriever is GroHound's service for cleaning up and strengthening your business's online reputation. That means identifying and removing reviews or content that violates platform policies, responding professionally to negative feedback, suppressing harmful content in search results, and building a steady stream of positive reviews to drown out the bad.

A single bad review — especially a fake or malicious one — can cost you customers before they ever pick up the phone. Reputation Retriever tackles this from multiple angles: removing invalid content, crafting professional responses to genuine negative feedback, generating more positive reviews, and monitoring your reputation so nothing slips through unnoticed.

Absolutely. Over 90% of people read reviews before choosing a local business, and most won't look past the first page of results. For a small business, a few unaddressed negative reviews can have an outsized impact. Reputation Retriever levels the playing field — giving you the same tools to manage your reputation that larger businesses use.

We can remove reviews that violate platform guidelines — fake reviews, spam, reviews from people who were never your customer, reviews containing prohibited content, and competitor attacks. Reviews that represent a genuine customer experience, even an unfair-feeling one, generally can't be removed — but we can respond to them in a way that actually builds trust with future customers.

It depends on the platform. Google typically takes 3–14 days to review a flagged submission. Some platforms are faster, others slower. GroHound manages the entire process and keeps you updated so you're never left wondering what's happening.

No — and anyone who promises guaranteed removal is misleading you. Whether a review is removed is ultimately Google's or the platform's decision. What we can guarantee is that we build the strongest possible case for removal, follow up persistently, and exhaust every legitimate avenue available. We'll always be upfront with you about what's realistic.

True negative reviews can't be removed — and trying to do so would likely backfire anyway. Instead, GroHound helps you craft a response that acknowledges the experience professionally, explains any context, and shows potential customers that you take feedback seriously. Done well, a thoughtful response to a bad review can actually increase trust more than a string of perfect scores.

We tackle this on two fronts. First, we audit your existing reviews and flag any that violate platform policies for removal. Second, we set up a review generation system to bring in fresh positive reviews from your happy customers — gradually shifting your overall rating and pushing older negative content down.

Yes — this is one of the most common reasons businesses come to us. Fake reviews from competitors or disgruntled ex-employees violate Google's policies and can be flagged for removal. GroHound builds the evidence-based case needed to give your report the best chance of success.

Yes — Google is our primary focus, since your Google Business Profile is where most local customers form their first impression of you. We handle flagging policy-violating reviews, crafting responses, and building your review volume over time.

Yes. Yelp has its own content guidelines, and reviews that violate them can be flagged for removal. GroHound can help you report inappropriate reviews and craft professional responses to negative feedback on the platform.

Yes. Glassdoor employee reviews can seriously affect your ability to hire good people. GroHound can help you respond to reviews that misrepresent your business and flag any that violate Glassdoor's content policies.

Yes. GroHound monitors your reputation across social platforms including Facebook and Instagram, flags content that violates community standards, and helps you respond to negative posts in a way that's calm, professional, and effective.

Yes. For negative content that appears in Google search results, GroHound works to suppress it by building positive, authoritative content that outranks it over time — and, where content violates Google's policies, by submitting removal requests directly.

GroHound can contact site owners or editors to request corrections or removal of inaccurate content. We can also help you publish accurate, positive content that ranks above the negative piece in search results — pushing it down where fewer people will see it.

GroHound can contact forum moderators to request removal of false or defamatory posts that violate the forum's rules. Where removal isn't possible, we work on content suppression strategies to reduce the visibility of the harmful material.

Yes. GroHound can help dispute and report false or defamatory content through the appropriate platform channels. For serious cases that may have legal implications — defamation, slander, or malicious content campaigns — we can refer you to legal specialists who handle this area.

We use monitoring tools that track new reviews, mentions, and content across Google, social media, and other platforms. When something new appears — positive or negative — we catch it quickly so you can respond before it gains traction.

The key is consistency — regular positive reviews, prompt responses to all feedback, and active monitoring. GroHound's ongoing Review Management service keeps this running in the background so your reputation stays strong without you having to think about it.

Reputation Retriever works on a success-based model — you only pay when a review is successfully removed. There are no upfront fees and no charges for reviews we attempt but don't get removed. This means GroHound is fully motivated to fight as hard as possible for every removal. A successful removal normally costs $399, but if you're an active subscriber to our Review Management plan, you'll get a nice discount — 20% for under 6 months, 30% for 6–12 months, and 40% for over a year.

GroHound focuses on business reputations. Personal reputation management is a specialist field — if that's what you need, we can point you toward the right people.

GroHound isn't a law firm and can't provide legal advice. For serious reputation issues — defamation, malicious review campaigns, or content that may warrant legal action — we'll refer you to legal specialists who deal with exactly these situations.