Reviews meant for a different business

Before anything else

Check this first

Read it again for anything that could be about you — a wrong name is weaker ground than a wrong trade.
Check whether your profile was recently merged with another, which is one way reviews land in the wrong place.
Check whether a similarly named business nearby is the one being described.

0 of 3 checked

Likely causes

The 4 causes, sorted by who can fix them

Platform’s call
It is about somewhere else entirely
Google's content policy bars off-topic content: general commentary that is not about the place.
Fix Report it as off-topic. That is the policy it breaches, and reporting it on the right ground matters.
Source: Prohibited and restricted content — Maps User Contributed Content Policy Help, checked 2 October 2026
Platform’s call
Two profiles were merged that should not have been
Google says that when two profiles are merged, their reviews are combined, and that to appeal the duplicate status both businesses must be eligible and distinct from one another.
Fix Contact support to appeal the duplicate status rather than reporting the reviews one by one.
Source: Resolve duplicate profiles and ownership issues — Google Business Profile Help, checked 2 October 2026
Platform’s call
The customer reviewed the wrong listing
There is no owner-side edit for this: Google's only documented route for a review a business objects to is to flag it for a policy breach.
Fix Report it as off-topic, and reply publicly saying, without blame, that the visit described is not one of yours.
Source: Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile — Google Business Profile Help, checked 2 October 2026
Can’t be fixed
It is actually about you, and you disagree with it
Google's possible outcomes include “Report reviewed – no policy violation: The review was evaluated and no policy violation was found”.
Fix Nothing to report. Reply to it instead.
Source: Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile — Google Business Profile Help, checked 2 October 2026

Reporting

Reporting a review that is not about your business

1Go to your Business Profile
2Select Read reviews
3Next to the review that you'd like to flag, select Report
4Select the reason to flag the review
5Select Send report

Google says review evaluation typically takes several days, and that a report shows as “Decision pending” in the Reviews management tool until it has been evaluated.

Source: Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile — Google Business Profile Help, checked 2 October 2026

Next step

From our sister products

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Replying is the part you can control

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Reply in your voice

Questions

Asked about this problem

No. Reporting it for a policy breach is the only documented route.

Off-topic. A review about a different business is not about your place, which is exactly what that policy covers.

Yes, briefly and without blame. Everyone who reads the review reads the reply, and it is the only part you control.

Sources

Where every fact on this page comes from

Platform rules change: every page shows when we last checked it.

Reviews meant for a different business

It is about somewhere else entirely

Two profiles were merged that should not have been

The customer reviewed the wrong listing

It is actually about you, and you disagree with it

Replying is the part you can control