Legitimate review is getting flagged as "Fake Engagement"

Question

Hello, 
I just settled up my Google profile and asked my client for a review. Google is filing this review as fake engagement when this person is a legitimate client of mine. 
I'm waiting for this to be fixed before asking others of my clients for their reviews. 
Why is this happening, and how can I fix it? 
Thanks,

Mike Blumenthal · Accepted Answer

The great distance of the user and the likelihood that the user hasn’t been in France lately combined with the newness of your profile are likely to have contributed to this. 
I hypothesize that over time, as google trusts your profile more that the impact of these things might lessen but we don’t know. 
To build trust, besides time, the best things you could be doing would be to be sure you are listed on authoritative French directories, get newspaper articles and links to website. Many of the things that are already planning on doing. 
As for reviews, go very slow initially, and if possible ask just local & regional clients. 
I know also that French review laws are stricter for review platforms and Google needs to affirmatively be able to prove that someone did business with you or they have to take the review down. These laws might also explain the email your client received. It will be interesting to see if they show up outside of France. 
I will let you know when Google reviews the situation.

Mike Blumenthal · Accepted Answer

Lucio
I have looked at a large number of these cases over the past month and I don't think that it is as simple as the language that the user used. 
It could be their distance from you, it could that you asked for too many reviews in a short period or it could be that your business might be relatively new.
It could be all of those things.  
In your case, the latter seems the possible culprit. But nobody really knows as this appears to be an outcome of Google's new(ish) AI driven review spam algo. 
I would be curious to know exactly how old your listing is AND the location of the reviewer. 
I have escalated the review for human review by Google and  we can wait and see what they say. 
Mike

Stefan Somborac · Accepted Answer

Hi Lucio,
The review is being filtered by an algorithm that enforces Google's content policies.
1.) It may be related to the review content. See Prohibited and restricted content.
Ask the reviewer to delete and then write a new review.
2.) It's also possible that the review is being flagged because of problem's with the reviewer's account.

Amy Toman · Accepted Answer

lucio laria
Thank you for letting me know.
Also, as Stefan said, it's either the content of the review, or the account from which they left it. 
I would ask the person to try again, leaving a 4-5 sentence review, and add specifics about the services you provided, and if pertinent, the location at which you provided them. 
If that fails, I'd ask them to leave a review from another account.
Good luck!
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