Monday morning. You open your restaurant's Google listing in Los Cristianos and there it is: one star, "cold food and a rude waiter", from someone you don't remember serving. Your first instinct is to look for the delete button.
There isn't one. Knowing that up front saves you a morning of wrestling with your Google Business Profile, because what you can actually do about a bad review depends on what kind of review it is.
Can you delete a Google review from your listing?
You can't delete it yourself. You can report it, and Google decides. Its help page for businesses puts it plainly: you can report any review, but Google only removes the ones that break its policies. Disagreeing with what it says isn't a reason.
The process works like this: you report the review from your profile, Google reviews it (it usually takes a few days) and you can track the status in the review management tool. If the answer is "no policy violation", you get a single appeal to add more context. Make it count, with evidence rather than outrage.
Which reviews does Google remove, and which does it keep?
Google Maps' content policies are fairly specific. Applied to a restaurant, they look like this:
| The review | Does Google remove it? |
|---|---|
| From someone who has never been to your place | Yes, if it can be shown: it isn't based on a real experience |
| From a competitor or a former employee | Yes: it's a conflict of interest |
| With insults, threats or a waiter's full name | Yes: harassment or personal information |
| With links, phone numbers or ads for another business | Yes: it's spam |
| About politics, traffic on the TF-1 or the town council | Yes: it isn't about your business |
| One star from a real customer who left unhappy | No |
| "Overpriced for what it is", even if you think that's harsh | No: it's an opinion |
| A bad review from four years ago | No: age isn't a reason |
The rule of thumb: Google doesn't remove unfair reviews, it removes reviews that shouldn't be there at all. A harsh review from a real customer stays, and the only thing you can do with it is reply well.
What if the review is fake? What the new law changes
This is where there's news. Spain's Law 10/2025 on customer service, in force since 28 December 2025, amends the country's general consumer protection law: published reviews must come from people who actually bought or used the service, and fake ones must be removed once they've been shown to be fake. According to PwC's summary, businesses have a twelve-month adaptation period.
It's good news, but it isn't magic. The business still has to prove the review is fake, and the platform still decides whether it comes down. In practice, that means keeping evidence from day one:
- A dated screenshot of the review.
- A check of your bookings and till for a table that matches that day.
- A look at the reviewer's profile: if all they post is one-star reviews of restaurants in the area, or five stars for the place next door, that tells you something.
How should you reply to a negative Google review?
Always reply, and reply quickly. When you answer, the reviewer gets a notification and can edit their review after reading it. A good reply can turn one star into three.
A good reply is short and doesn't argue:
- Thank them and acknowledge the specific point: "we're sorry the rice arrived cold", not "we apologise for any inconvenience".
- Don't explain why the customer is wrong, even if they are. The reply is read mostly by your next customer, not the one who complained.
- Move the conversation offline: an email or phone number to talk it through.
- Sign it with a name. "Marta, manager" sounds like a person; "The Management" sounds like a template.
A very Tenerife detail: reply in the language of the review. If a German customer writes in German, a reply in Spanish tells them nobody really read it. And reply to the good ones too: a Google listing with a reply to everything shows there's someone behind it.
What should you never do with reviews?
Some things that look like shortcuts end up costing you. Google's policies explicitly forbid:
- Buying reviews or offering a discount or a free drink in exchange for one.
- Asking only happy customers for reviews and not the rest.
- Asking staff, family or friends to leave reviews.
On top of Google removing them, this is exactly what the new law goes after. And a listing with forty five-star reviews in one week stands out, to customers as well.
The best defence: lots of real reviews
One one-star review among twelve carries a lot of weight. Among three hundred, it barely shows. That's why the real work isn't chasing the bad ones, it's getting satisfied customers to write.
From your Google Business Profile you can create a link or QR code that takes people straight to leaving a review. Put it on the bill, on a card at the table or in the booking confirmation message, and ask every customer the same way, at the moment they're leaving happy.
At GMB Horizon we handle this for several restaurants and holiday rentals on the island as part of our review and online reputation management. If you'd like us to look at your listing, tell us your case.