The rules on reviews come from two directions: the review platforms’ own policies, and federal law. The platforms can remove reviews or penalize a profile; the Federal Trade Commission can bring enforcement actions. A practice that follows the conservative reading of both rarely has anything to worry about.
Google’s policies
Google’s review policies prohibit fake engagement and conflicts of interest. In practice, for a dental office, that means:
- No incentives. No discounts, gift cards, raffle entries, free whitening or donations in exchange for reviews, even for honest ones.
- No reviews from insiders. Owners, dentists, staff, their families and your vendors shouldn’t review the practice, and you shouldn’t review competitors.
- No review gating. Don’t ask only the patients you expect to be happy, and don’t use a survey that sends satisfied patients to Google and unhappy ones to a private feedback form.
- No posting on patients’ behalf, including setting up a tablet in the office and logging reviews for them.
Google can remove reviews it identifies as fake and may restrict a profile that has been receiving them. Check Google’s current review policies, since the details change.
The FTC’s rule on consumer reviews
The FTC has a rule specifically on consumer reviews and testimonials, in addition to its longstanding guidance on endorsements. Stated conservatively, it prohibits businesses from:
- Writing, buying or knowingly using fake reviews, including reviews from people who don’t exist or who never used the business.
- Offering compensation or incentives conditioned on a review being positive (or a competitor’s being negative).
- Using reviews by officers, managers or employees without clear disclosure of the relationship, in certain situations.
- Suppressing reviews, for example through unfounded legal threats or intimidation, or by hiding negative reviews while presenting the rest as all or most of what you received.
- Buying or selling fake social media indicators such as followers or likes.
The rule allows civil penalties for violations. Because the FTC rule is narrower than Google’s policy on incentives, follow the stricter one: no incentives of any kind.
Watch your vendors
Many violations come from vendors, not practices: reputation companies that “seed” reviews, software that filters unhappy patients away from Google, or agencies that promise to remove negative reviews. You are responsible for what is done on your behalf. Ask any vendor in writing how they generate and filter reviews, and walk away from anyone who guarantees a rating. State dental boards may also treat misleading reviews as false advertising; see the compliance guides.