Short answer
A plastic surgery practice can get a Google or Yelp review taken down when the review breaks that platform's published content policy. Reputation Medics files the case for $397 per Google review and $697 per Yelp review. Pay upfront. If the specific item is not removed within 30 days, the removal fee is automatically refunded.
Yes, when the review breaks a published platform policy. A truthful account from a real customer stays up, however harsh it reads. Google, Yelp, and the sites we file with make the final removal decision. What we guarantee is the automatic refund of the removal fee if the item stays up past 30 days.
$397 per Google review, $697 per Yelp review, and $497 per harmful link on another site. One price per item, no retainer. Pay upfront. If the specific item is not removed within 30 days, the removal fee is automatically refunded.
Reviews that map to a published policy: a reviewer who was never a customer, a competitor or former employee, off-topic content, private details about staff, prohibited language, or specific factual claims your records contradict.
Filing happens after payment and onboarding details are received. The 30-day window in the refund term is the clock that matters: if the specific item is still up after 30 days, that removal fee comes back automatically. Google, Yelp, and the sites we file with make the final removal decision. What we guarantee is the automatic refund of the removal fee if the item stays up past 30 days.
On the typical job job type, a $2,500 job at a 100% gross margin is $2,500 of gross profit. That is the arithmetic on a single job, using a labeled cross-industry default, not trade data.
The start form takes a few minutes if you have these four things in front of you. Nothing else is required to open the case. The full list is below.
Gross profit is the job value multiplied by the gross margin in the same row. Nothing is projected. No trade body publishes job values, close rates, or margins for this trade, so the figures below are a labeled cross-industry default, not trade-specific data.
| Job type | Average job value | Close rate | Gross margin | Gross profit per job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typical jobBlended benchmark for this trade. | $2,500 | 30% | 100% | $2,500 |
Run your own numbers on the Plastic Surgeons revenue calculator.
Every case cites a documented policy violation. If the review maps to none of these, we say so before you pay.
Not a real customer
The reviewer never bought from you. Wrong business, a competitor, or someone repeating a story they were told.
Conflict of interest
A competitor, a former employee, or anyone with a stake in making the rating drop.
Off-topic content
A complaint about something other than the work you did, or a rant about an unrelated dispute.
Personal information
Names of staff, phone numbers, addresses, or other private details the platforms prohibit.
Hate speech, threats, profanity
Language that breaks the platform's prohibited-content rules regardless of whether the visit happened.
Defamatory or provably false claims
Specific factual assertions about the job that your records contradict.
Elective surgery is researched for weeks and cancelled in a minute. The crisis cards above note that most cosmetic patients cross-reference at least three review sources, and one review about a bad result on any of them can outweigh a spotless Google profile.
The result-specific search
Prospects look for reviews that mention the procedure they want. A review describing a botched version of that exact procedure, whether it was ever performed at your practice or not, ends the research for that patient.
The revision and refund dispute
Reviews written during a revision negotiation are often written as leverage. A review that offers to be changed in exchange for a free revision or a refund violates every platform's conflict-of-interest rules and is one of the clearer removal cases.
The RealSelf to Google jump
Patients start on RealSelf and finish on Google. A negative that appears on both looks like a pattern, so a review one person copies across sites does far more damage than its word count suggests.
Nothing here is a promise of removal, because that decision belongs to the platform. This is the sequence and the timing the platforms themselves publish, plus the day the fee refunds if the item is still up.
Day 0 · Free scan and eligibility read
We pull the live review or page from Google and RealSelf and Healthgrades, quote it verbatim, and say which policy it breaks. If nothing breaks a rule we say so and take no fee.
Days 1-3 · Filing without patient information
The report shows the platform why the content breaks its rules without naming a patient or describing treatment, because confirming care publicly is itself a disclosure. What proves the reviewer was never treated stays in the file, not on the profile.
Days 3-10 · Platform moderation
Yelp says reported content goes to its moderators and that evaluation may take several days, with an email when it is finished. Google evaluates the report against its prohibited and restricted content policy. Most decisions land inside this window.
Days 10-21 · Appeal where the first report is declined
A declined report is not the end. Google provides an appeal route for reviews it decides to keep, and a second filing that cites a different policy ground and better evidence is often what moves it.
Day 30 · Automatic refund
If the item is still live 30 days after payment, the fee refunds automatically, without a request, a form or a phone call. $397 Google, $697 Yelp, $497 harmful link.
The start form takes a few minutes if you have these four things in front of you. Nothing else is required to open the case.
45 CFR 164.508
You cannot answer a false review by proving the person was never a patient
Confirming that someone was or was not treated, in public, is a disclosure of protected health information under the HIPAA Privacy Rule. A practice can post a neutral invitation to talk privately and nothing more, so the accusation stands on the profile until the platform acts on a policy report.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — HIPAA Privacy Rule: uses and disclosures for marketing (45 CFR 164.508(a)(3))
Third-party detail
A review that exposes another patient is a privacy violation on every major platform
Reviews that name or describe a different patient, or attach a photo of someone else's result, break the personal-information rule Google publishes for Maps contributions. For a plastic surgery practice these are among the cleanest filings, and the report can flag the violation without repeating the private detail.
Google Maps Help — Prohibited and restricted content policy for Maps user contributions
16 CFR Part 465
Buying reviews to bury a bad one is a federal violation, not a shortcut
Since October 21, 2024 the FTC rule on consumer reviews bans fake reviews, insider reviews presented as customer reviews, and paying for positive or negative reviews, with civil penalties available per violation. For a plastic surgery practice that leaves two lawful moves: earn real reviews, and report the ones that break platform policy.
U.S. Federal Trade Commission, 2024 — Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465)
Policy grounds only
Google removes reviews that break a policy, not reviews you dislike
Google's own help documentation says any review can be reported but only content that violates its policies is eligible for removal. That is why a case starts by matching the wording to a named policy: fake engagement, off topic, impersonation, harassment, personal information or conflict of interest.
Google Business Profile Help — Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile
You pay the removal fee upfront so we can begin work. If the specific item is not removed within 30 days, we automatically refund that removal fee to your original payment method. Google, Yelp, and other third-party sites make the final removal decision.
Google, Yelp, and the sites we file with make the final removal decision. What we guarantee is the automatic refund of the removal fee if the item stays up past 30 days.
Often, yes. A review describing a procedure that never took place at your practice fails the genuine-experience rule, and an unsupported accusation of danger against a named surgeon falls under harassment policy. We quote the specific language in the report. The platform decides, and the fee refunds if the review is still live at day 30.
Keep the message where the threat was made. Reviews used as leverage violate conflict-of-interest rules on Google and Yelp, and a documented threat is one of the strongest reports we can file. We never include the patient's clinical details.
Self-serve removal covers Google at $397, Yelp at $697 and harmful links such as complaint pages at $497. RealSelf has its own dispute process, and we walk through it with you in a consultation rather than taking a fee for a filing that may have no route.
2024 Local Consumer Review Survey
BrightLocal · 2024
Star rating and review sentiment vs. click-through from search and maps. Used for the click-through drag curve.
Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue
Harvard Business School · Michael Luca
Peer-reviewed link between review sentiment and revenue. Used for the sentiment drag curve.
HIPAA Privacy Rule: uses and disclosures for marketing (45 CFR 164.508(a)(3))
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Confirming that someone is a patient, or referencing their treatment, in a public reply is a disclosure of protected health information without authorization. This is why a clinical reply is not a safe answer to a false review.
Prohibited and restricted content policy for Maps user contributions
Google Maps Help
The policy list a removal report has to cite: fake engagement, off-topic content, impersonation, harassment, personal information and conflicts of interest.
Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465)
U.S. Federal Trade Commission · 2024
Federal rule effective October 21, 2024. Bans fake or AI-generated reviews, reviews by insiders presented as customers, and buying positive or negative reviews. This is why removal has to be argued on policy grounds instead of countered with bought reviews.
Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile
Google Business Profile Help
Google's own documentation of the report route: any review can be reported, only reviews that break a content policy are eligible for removal, and the decision is Google's.
Yelp for Business Support Center
Yelp states that reported content is evaluated by its moderators and that the evaluation may take several days, with an email sent when it is done.
Paste the review, tell us which platform, and pay the removal fee for that item. If it is still up after 30 days the fee comes back automatically.
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