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How Can Remove Negative Search Results About Business in Google?
It can be frustrating to find negative information on Google.
Imagine your brand being mentioned by someone on social media and they go onto Google to check out your brand. Instead of finding your website with your services and great reviews, they find a negative review, old complaint or article.
Even if your business has improved, this could affect how people think about your brand.
What Can I Do?
The good news is there are ways to help manage these negative search results. Unfortunately, it won’t always be as simple as clicking a button. Depending on where the information came from, whether it’s true and if it goes against Googles policies, you may have to do some work.
Why Are Negative Results Coming Up?
Before you can try to remove any negative information you should understand why it is appearing. Google pulls together information from websites across the internet and shows the most relevant pages based on what you are searching for. Negative results can show up for a few reasons.
For example:
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Someone has left a negative review about your business.
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Someone has left a complaint about your products/services.
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An article from a while ago has mentioned your brand in a negative way.
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A website has given incorrect or misleading information.
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There is a discussion on a public forum which is affecting your brand reputation.
Not all negative results will be bad or incorrect. Sometimes it will be genuine feedback from a customer showing that your business can improve. You should understand the cause of the issue first.
Identify Where the Negative Information is Coming From
Search your brand name on Google.
Look at the first few pages and identify what the negative results are.
Look at what website the information is coming from, when it was published and what the content says.
For example, if you run a clothes store and there is an old review about late delivery when people search for your store name. However, you have since improved your delivery processes.Whilst this isn’t necessarily untrue, it could be affecting potential customers.However, if there is untrue information about your business on a website, then you may have justification to ask for this to be changed. Once you know where the information is coming from, you can decide on the correct step to take.
Request Removal from Google When the Content Violates Its Policies
There are methods you can use to ask Google to remove specific content. However, this does not mean you can ask to have all negative reviews, complaints or articles removed.You may be able to ask to have the content removed if it breaches certain policies such as sensitive personal information, doxxing, non-consensual explicit images and more.
For example, if there is a website that has published your personal contact information without consent, and it meets the criteria for removal from Google then you can ask for it to be removed.
You can start here:
Google's content removal tool:
https://support.google.com/websearch/troubleshooter/3111061
Give an explanation about the issue and the URLs required. Follow the steps. Note that this will only remove it from Google Search and may not remove it from the actual website.
Contact the Website Owner to Remove Incorrect Information
Sometimes contacting the website that has published the negative content online is the best option. Especially if the information is out of date, incorrect or lacks appropriate context.
For example, if a blog has posted an article stating that your business is no longer trading. However, you are still trading and providing services. Rather than asking to have it removed from Google, contact the Website Owner and explain the situation.
You can respectfully ask them to:
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Correct any incorrect information.
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Update outdated details.
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Remove any information that breaches their guidelines for publishing.
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Add your response or clarification to the article.
If the Website Owner agrees to make changes to the page, eventually this may be reflected on Google. However, if they refuse and the content is truly untrue or defamatory then consider seeking legal advice.
Deal With Negative Google Reviews Professionally
One of the most common reputation issues will be negative reviews. A customer who has had a bad experience with your business can leave a review. As Google reviews show up on Google Search and Google Maps, this can cause prospective customers to see them before they go onto your website.
However,
If they have given genuine feedback then it is a good idea to reply professionally. You can respond with something like,
"Thank you for sharing your feedback. We're sorry your experience didn't meet your expectations. We appreciate you bringing this to our attention and would like an opportunity to understand the issue better."
This shows prospective customers that you actually care about the feedback given.
What If The Review Is Not Genuine?
If someone leaves spam or fake engagement, or anything that goes against Googles review guidelines then you can report this in your Google Business Profile.
You can learn more here:
https://support.google.com/business/answer/4596773
Any reviews you report to Google for removal will be reviewed against Googles guidelines. Just because you don't agree with the review doesn't mean that Google will remove it.
Use the Outdated Content Removal Tool
Sometimes negative content will have been removed from a website but Google are still showing the outdated version. This is because Google aren't always immediately updating their search results.
Imagine a website has published an inaccurate article about your company. You contact them and they agree to remove the article. However, when someone searches for your brand name, the outdated page still appears on Google.
In this case you could use Googles Outdated Content tool. You can enter the URL of the outdated page to request that Google updates their search results.
You can find this here,
https://search.google.com/search-console/remove-outdated-content
Bear in mind that this tool is for Outdated Content and cannot be used to remove a negative page from online.
Publish Helpful Content About Your Brand
If you cannot remove negative content A good content strategy will help here.
Rather than just aiming to remove any negative content, you can create helpful content across your online platforms to educate people about your brand.
For example, if you run a digital marketing agency you could create:
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Blog posts with helpful tips and tricks around digital marketing.
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Case studies showcasing real examples of work you have done for clients.
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Information about your services.
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Answers to common questions your customers ask.
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News and updates around your company.
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Useful guides related to your industry.
However, don’t just create content for the sake of creating content.
Every page should offer something useful.
For example, if you provide SEO services across your website you could create an article explaining why small businesses struggle to get their sites to rank well on Google. A customer looking for some SEO advice may come across this article and be interested in your services. The more relevant content you create, the more opportunities there will be for people to find accurate information about your brand.
Improve Your Brand's Online Presence
Aside from your website, people may search for your brand on social media, business directories, professional sites and more. By keeping an active online presence you can help people find accurate information about your company.
Some ways you can do this are:
Types of Social Media Content for Businesses
Google Business Profile
Keep your business details, contact information, services, photos, and opening hours updated.
Share company updates, useful industry information, and professional content.
Instagram and Facebook
Post relevant content that helps customers understand your products, services, and business activities.
Business directories
Keep your company name, address, phone number, and website consistent across relevant directories.
Make sure the information is consistent with your official website. If your customers can see consistent information across multiple platforms, they will be able to understand who you are and what you offer much easier.
Strengthen Your Website's SEO
By using search engine optimisation (SEO), you can ensure that your website appears in the correct searches.
For example, you want your official website and key pages to be easy to find when someone searches your company name.
Start with these practical steps:
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Use your brand name naturally in your website title and important headings.
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Create a proper About Us page explaining your business.
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Add clear information about your products and services.
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Publish useful content related to your industry.
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Improve your website's loading speed and mobile experience.
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Add internal links between relevant pages.
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Make sure Google can discover and index your important pages.
Using Google Search Console can help you understand what keywords are getting people to your site and how your pages are performing in Google.
Whilst this doesn’t guarantee you’ll get rid of any negative articles, it can help you improve visibility of your website. This will help people to find helpful and accurate information about your brand.
Monitor What People Are Saying About Your Brand
You should regularly keep track of your online reputation.New reviews, complaints, blogs and discussions can appear at anytime.
You can start with a few simple activities:
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Search for your brand name on Google every week.
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Check your Google Business Profile reviews.
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Monitor comments and messages on social media.
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Look for new articles or discussions mentioning your company.
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Check your website's performance through Google Search Console.
You can also create a Google Alert for your brand name to receive notifications when Google finds new matching content.
Set up a Google Alert for your brand name:
Most importantly don’t wait till you’re seeing negative results affecting your business. By addressing any customer concerns early you can stop any small issues becoming a larger reputation issue.
Can You Push Negative Search Results Down on Google?
In some cases you might not be able to get rid of any negative search results. In this case you can work on improving the visibility of other relevant pages. This is often referred to as online reputation management.
The goal is to create and improve helpful pages online. This means customers have a higher chance of finding reliable information. For example, if someone searches your company name and sees an old negative article on the first page of results.
You could work on improving the visibility of your:
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Official website.
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LinkedIn company page.
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Social media profiles.
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Relevant blog articles.
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Genuine customer testimonials.
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Industry-related business profiles.
However, just because you create more content does not guarantee that negative results will go down. Google rank pages based on various factors. You don’t have control over what pages come up first.
However, just because you create more content does not guarantee that negative results will go down. Google rank pages based on various factors. You don’t have control over what pages come up first. The goal is to build a stronger online presence rather than manipulate search results.
When Should You Consider Legal Help?
In some instances you may need to seek Legal Help. If someone has made false claims about your business, shared confidential information, used your brand name incorrectly or published content that goes against any applicable laws. If you believe the content to be unlawful then speak to a qualified legal professional. Depending on the situation you may be able to ask the website owner to take it down or make a legal request to Google.
Here is some information on legal requests:
https://support.google.com/legal/
If you’re looking into defamation you should make sure you know the applicable laws and have evidence to back up your complaint. Not everything that is negative will be illegal.
How Long Does It Take to Improve Your Online Reputation?
There is no set time frame for removing negative search results and improving your brands online reputation.
Depending on the type of content, who the website is owned by, how long it takes for Google to review and the amount of SEO needed.
Some examples are:
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Website owners may fix the outdated page quickly.
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Google may take longer to update their search results.
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Policy based removal requests will depend on how long Google take to review.
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Improving visibility of your website and brand pages may take several months.
Don’t fall for anyone promising to remove all negative Google results in 24 hours. Identify the real issue, pick the correct method and allow time for it to work.
Final Thoughts
Negative search results can impact peoples perception of your business. However, it isn’t always possible to remove all negative results. Hiding real customer feedback is not a good long term solution.
Identify where the information is coming from. If it goes against Googles policies make a removal request. If it’s incorrect contact the website owner. If it’s real customer feedback respond to it in a professional manner and look to improve the customer experience.
Invest in creating helpful content on your website, improving your SEO, customer reviews and having a consistent online presence.
Your brands reputation won’t be built by removing all negative comments but by providing people with enough real reasons to trust your business.
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