Key points
- Amazon prohibits reviews by people with a financial interest, which includes competitors, as well as any manipulation of reviews.
- Typical signs: no Verified Purchase, identical texts under several products, advertising for another product, unusual clusters of reviews.
- Suspicion alone is rarely enough. What matters are concrete signs that can be backed up with evidence.
What counts as a fake review
A review is considered fake if it is not based on a genuine, first-hand experience or was written to serve someone else’s interests. For negative reviews, this mainly means:
- reviews by competitors or on their behalf (read more),
- paid reviews that deliberately disparage a product,
- copied or automatically generated texts,
- reviews with no connection whatsoever to your product.
Amazon’s Community Guidelines prohibit reviews by people who have a financial interest in the product or in a competing product, as well as any form of review manipulation.
How to spot negative fake reviews
- No Verified Purchase. The review does not carry the “Verified Purchase” badge. That alone proves nothing, but it is a starting point, especially if you sell only through Amazon.
- Identical texts. The same or almost the same text appears under several products or several times under your product.
- Advertising for the competition. The review recommends another product or brand, sometimes by name or with a link. Read more
- Generic text with no specific connection. Nothing in the text specifically fits your product, its color, size, or function.
- Clusters. Several negative reviews within a few days, worded in a similar way.
- Suspicious profiles. Reviewers who write almost nothing but 1-star reviews in the same product category.
Suspicion is not enough: what you can prove
Amazon will not remove a review just because the seller suspects a competitor. What counts are verifiable signs. Helpful evidence includes:
- screenshots of and links to the identical texts, with dates,
- a cross-check against your orders if there is no matching purchase,
- indications of a connection to a competitor, such as a competing product being promoted.
Often, a different ground is easier to prove than the suspicion of a fake itself: a paid review frequently contains false claims or does not rate the product at all. In that case, it can be challenged on that ground.
How AMZDelete helps
AMZDelete compares the texts of all checked reviews, including across several of your products, and flags identical reviews. The tool also detects references to other products and brands and shows which reviews are not marked as a Verified Purchase. Our partner law firm checks the cases you order and reports them to Amazon together with the signs that have been collected.
Spot patterns early
Fake reviews cannot be prevented entirely. But it helps to look at new reviews regularly: the earlier a pattern is noticed, the easier it is to prove. With AMZDelete, you can re-check your products with one click and see new flagged reviews at a glance.
Frequently asked questions
Is a competitor allowed to review my product?
Not under Amazon’s guidelines: anyone with a financial interest in a competing product is not allowed to write a review. Read more in our guide Reviews from competitors.
Is a missing Verified Purchase badge enough for removal?
On its own, usually not, because Amazon generally also allows reviews from people who did not buy through Amazon. Combined with a cross-check against your orders and other signs, however, it can be decisive. Read more in our guide Reviews without a purchase.
What about paid positive reviews for competing products?
These can be reported too. AMZDelete, however, focuses on 1- and 2-star reviews of your own products.
This guide gives a general overview and does not replace a legal review of your individual case. At AMZDelete, our partner law firm checks whether a review can be challenged.