The short answer
If a review was clearly meant for another business, reply politely and briefly: thank the reviewer, explain gently that it looks like a mix-up (without naming or criticizing the other business), say what you do offer, and ask them to move their review to the right place. Then report it to Google as off-topic. Keep the tone helpful, because a confused reviewer is not an angry one.
- Assume an honest mistake. Most misplaced reviews come from confusing names, not bad faith.
- Correct the record kindly so future readers are not misled.
- Report it as off-topic, since a review of another business is not about your customer experience.
- Look for the root cause: a confusing name, a shared address or an old listing.
How reviews end up on the wrong business
Anyone who has handled reviews for a while has seen one: a 1-star complaint about a cold pizza on a dental practice's profile, or a glowing review of "the best plumber in town" on an electrician's page. It is rarely sabotage. The usual causes are mundane.
| Cause | What it looks like | Fix to try |
|---|---|---|
| Similar names | "Bright Smile Dental" gets reviews for "Bright Smiles Dentistry" | Use your full name consistently on signage, receipts and emails |
| Shared building | The café on the ground floor gets reviews about the gym upstairs | Make sure each listing has its own suite or unit number |
| Previous tenant | Reviews about the old restaurant that used to be at your address | Check the old listing is marked closed in Google Maps |
| Wrong branch | A complaint about your other location lands here | Share the correct location's review link with customers |
| Same category nearby | Two hair salons on one street swap reviews | Hand out a direct review link or QR code so people land on the right profile |
That last fix is worth highlighting: a direct Google review link sends customers straight to your profile's review form, so they never have to search, and never pick the wrong result.
Example replies to misplaced reviews
Illustrative samples. None of them name or criticize the other business, which keeps you out of someone else's dispute.
Dental office gets a restaurant complaint
Ordered a large pepperoni, waited an hour and it arrived cold. Never again.
Sorry to hear about your evening! We think this was meant for a different business. We're a dental practice, so pizza isn't something we can help with. If you'd like to move your review to the right listing, the restaurant's team will be the ones who can make it right.
Electrician gets praise meant for a plumber
Fixed our burst pipe on a Sunday night. Lifesavers!
We're so glad your pipe got sorted, though we suspect this lovely review was meant for a plumber. We're electricians! If you can find their listing, we're sure they'd love to see it. And if you ever need wiring work, we'd be glad to help.
Café below a gym gets a gym complaint
Locker rooms are filthy and the treadmills are always broken.
Thanks for taking the time to write this. We think it may be about the fitness center upstairs; we're the café on the ground floor and don't run the gym facilities. Their own Google listing is the best place for this feedback so they see it. We hope your next visit is a better one.
New owner gets reviews about the previous restaurant
This place used to be great. Rude staff now and the menu is all wrong.
Thank you for the review. We think there may be some confusion: we opened at this address in March as a new restaurant under new ownership, with a new team and menu. If your visit was before then, it would have been the previous business. If it was recent, we'd really like to hear what happened, so please contact us directly.
Multi-location business: review for another branch
Service was slow and they didn't have my prescription ready at the Elm Street store.
We're sorry about the wait. This listing is for our Main Street pharmacy, but we want to help wherever it happened. Please call our Elm Street team, or our customer line, so they can look into it. You can also leave your review on the Elm Street listing so that team sees the feedback directly.
Law firm gets a review meant for a similarly named firm
They lost my case and never returned my calls.
We're sorry to read this. To protect client confidentiality we never discuss individual matters in public, and we haven't been able to match this review to our records. Several local firms have similar names, so if you believe this was meant for another firm, please consider moving it. If you think we've represented you, please call our office manager directly.
Hotel gets a review for the hotel next door
Great pool and the rooftop bar is amazing!
Thank you for the kind words. We do have to confess we don't have a pool or a rooftop bar, so we think this one was meant for one of our neighbors. If you stayed with us, we'd love to hear about it, and if not, we hope to welcome you someday.
Retailer gets an online order complaint for a different brand
My order never arrived and customer service won't reply to emails.
We're sorry your order hasn't turned up. We can't find an order matching this description, and we don't sell online at the moment, so this may be meant for another company with a similar name. If you did buy from us in store, please contact us directly and we'll help however we can.
- Dental office gets a restaurant complaint: Light, friendly, and makes the mix-up obvious to anyone skimming the profile.
- Electrician gets praise meant for a plumber: Good-natured honesty. Keeping praise you didn't earn misleads readers.
- Café below a gym gets a gym complaint: Uses the shared-building context to explain without blaming the neighbor.
- New owner gets reviews about the previous restaurant: Covers both possibilities: it might be a mix-up, or it might be a real recent visit.
- Multi-location business: review for another branch: Takes ownership as the same brand while pointing to the right location. Mentions no health details.
- Law firm gets a review meant for a similarly named firm: Does not confirm or deny a client relationship, which matters in legal and healthcare settings.
- Hotel gets a review for the hotel next door: Honest about features you don't have, so nobody books expecting a pool.
- Retailer gets an online order complaint for a different brand: Gives verifiable facts (no online store) that make the mix-up clear without dismissing the customer.
How to handle a review meant for another business
Double-check it really isn't yours
Search your bookings, orders and team before replying. A vague-sounding review sometimes turns out to be a real customer describing you in unexpected terms.
Reply politely and briefly
Thank them, say it looks like a mix-up, and state what you are ("we're a dental practice") so readers understand instantly.
Don't name or judge the other business
You do not need to send traffic to a competitor or comment on their service. "The right listing" is enough.
Leave a door open
Add a line inviting them to contact you if it was your business after all. It protects you if you have misjudged it.
Report it to Google
Report the review as off-topic or not relevant. Explain briefly that it describes services you don't provide. Removal is not guaranteed, but your reply already protects readers.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Assume the reviewer made an honest mistake.
- State clearly what your business does, in a few words.
- Report off-topic reviews through your Business Profile.
- Fix the root cause: naming, address details, or a stale old listing.
Don't
- Sound annoyed or sarcastic; readers see the tone, not the context.
- Name the other business or comment on how they operate.
- Keep a 5-star review you know belongs to someone else without saying anything.
- Confirm or deny that someone is a patient or client in a regulated field.
Wrong-business reply template
- "Thanks for taking the time to leave a review. We think this might have been meant for a different business. We're [what you are / where you are], and we don't [service mentioned]. If that's right, [the other business's own listing / the right listing] is the best place for it. If we've got it wrong, please contact us at [channel] so we can help."
For reviews from people who never visited any business at all, see responding to fake reviews, which deals with deliberate abuse rather than confusion.
Preventing future mix-ups
If misplaced reviews keep happening, treat them as a signal about how customers find you. Make sure your Google Business Profile has your exact business name, a precise address with suite number, and the right category. If an old business at your address still appears in Maps, use the option to suggest an edit and mark it as closed.
Multi-location brands get the most cross-branch confusion. Responsly keeps every location's Google reviews in one inbox that you can filter by location, so a review that obviously belongs to another branch is easy to spot and route to the right manager. See multi-location reputation management for more on running several profiles.