🌴 A Note From The Jungle
We were off last week so there were no Coconotes sent. This week we’re back with tips on removing fake reviews left on your GBP and a look at the 2026 Local Search Ranking factors that were recently released. Let’s get cracking 💥
🦍 Ask GMB Gorilla
Hey GMB Gorilla…I recently received a negative 1 star review on my Google Business Profile and I know I did not work with this person. How can I get Google to remove this review that’s hurting my business?
Howdy human! It’s always a punch to the gut when you get a negative review on your Google Business Profile. Especially when you know the person who left the review didn’t even work with your business.
Google allows you to flag and escalate reviews left on your profile that violate Google’s terms of use. Google offers a rather detailed overview of what it considers acceptable use when it comes to leaving reviews on profiles.
If a review violates their terms you can flag the review directly and Google’s moderation system will determine if the review does in fact violate one of their terms. You can do this right from the review itself by clicking the three dots and walking through the prompts. It’s not an exact or fool proof system, so Google also offers ways to contact support directly to get their team to take a further look.
Unfortunately, if a review does not violate any terms it will not be taken down by Google. It is very difficult for Google to determine things such as whether or not a user who left a review is a customer or not. Remember, a user does not need to be a customer to leave a review on your profile - they could have simply called in and gotten a response the did not like.
We have seen plenty of reviews removed, but most often this is when the customer has very clear documentation that they can share with Google showing the review was left under false pretenses. We often urge customers to think of this like court; the more definitive proof the better. This is most common with review extortion attempts or when someone announces they’re going to leave a negative reviews in order to harm.
While there may be nothing you can do to get that review removed, you can continue to focus on getting new positive reviews from customers on a consistent basis. Studies show that most customers only look at the last few recent reviews, and often believe the reviews on a profile more if they’re aren’t all five stars. So, instead of worrying about that negative, start focusing on getting new ones from the customers who love what you do.
🌴 Jungle Watch
2026 Local Search Ranking Factors Released
The 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors were recently released by WhiteSpark after a near three year hiatus from the last time they were published. The study taps into close to 50 local SEOs to aggregate what’s working, and what’s not when it comes to visibility in the local SERPs.
The big addition for this release was AI search: The biggest and most noticeable change was the addition of an AI SEO ranking factors section. Given the emergence of AIOs and LLMs over the last few years it makes sense. Especially since everyone is eager to master to appear in AIOs and AI LLM chats for relevant phrases. There’s still a lot of debate as to what works, and what now, so for now, test, test, and test some more because no one knows with 100% certainty.
There’s no beating proximity for local pack visibility: The most important ranking factor for showing in the local pack remains how close the address associated with the profile is to the person searching, something you can’t normally control. This has always been the case and will likely remain given this a local feature and Google wants you to pay (via Ads) to target outside your primary market (or precisely within).
On-profile factors still dominate; reviews as important as ever: It was no surprise to see on-profile factors as the dominate signals and reviews continue to gain in importance. Business name and category continue to be the biggest drivers. Of note was the particular importance of review consistency and velocity, nodding to the importance of a formal review program in achieving maximum visibility. This is something we’ve noted several times.
Your website and backlinks still matter: Many forget the importance of the landing page and website associated with the GBP. Google is scanning the associated website to better understand what the business does, who they serve, and even where they do it. Backlinks are also still a proxy for authority within the algorithm, so don’t sleep on traditional SEO tactics when it comes to increasing the visibility of your GBP. Worth considering in 2026 if you’re doing these things already.
Behavior signals continue to grow in importance: Whether or not users are engaging with your profile (and likely what they are doing after it), is something Google is measuring and integrating into their ranking algorithm. This makes sense since Google doesn’t just want to show businesses nearby, they want to show the best businesses. Those with the most engagement sounds like something an algo would serve up.
To read the whole piece and form your own conclusions, click here.
🍌 Banana Bites
What Analyzing 3,000 Personal Injury Law Firm GBPs Says About Ranking #1 📍 Near Media
Google launches AI-powered advisors for Ads 🤖 Search Engine Land
Google Negative Review Extortion Scams Reporting Form Works 🌴 SE Roundtable
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Did You Know? Gorillas live in family groups called troops, led by a silverback. 🦍
Till next time,