Survey: Majority of small businesses say fake reviews have hurt them
Fake online reviews are a persistent problem for small businesses.
The majority (72%) of U.S. local business owners have received a fake review in the past 12 months, according to a new survey from online reputation management platform LocalImpact. A quarter (25%) of owners reported receiving six or more fake reviews in a single year, and 7% said they'd received more than 10.
About three-quarters of owners said fake reviews have hurt their business in some way. More than half (52%) report damage to their overall star rating, while 40% report meaningful time spent managing or responding to fake reviews, and 33% report lost potential customers. Reduced revenue (28%), increased staff stress or morale issues (24%) and challenges attracting new hires (20%) were also reported problems.
Nearly eight-in-10 (79%) respondents believe their business has been targeted by a coordinated fake review attack at some point, with 42% saying "yes, definitely" and 37% saying they suspect so. A majority (70%) of small business owners suspect their competitors of using fake positive reviews to inflate their own ratings.
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Only 28% of owners said their reported fake reviews were removed promptly by the host platform, according to the survey. The majority described waiting periods, refusals, or unclear status updates, during which the fake review continues to influence potential customers.
At the same time, only 31% of businesses use a dedicated review management platform, and just 36% said they'd feel "very well-equipped" to handle a sudden spike in fake negative reviews.
"Fake reviews have become one of the most common operational problems local business owners deal with, and most of them are managing it without the right tools," said Vitaly Motuz, CEO of LocalImpact.
Methodology
LocalImpact’s survey was conducted in April 2026 through Pollfish. All 400 respondents were screened to confirm they own or manage a local, brick-and-mortar business in the United States. The survey covered their experiences with fake reviews over the past 12 months, the platforms involved, the impacts they've felt, and how they've responded.
