Local SEO · 5 min read
Fake reviews are now illegal in the UK — what businesses must do
Publishing fake reviews, paying for reviews, or offering an incentive without disclosing it is banned under UK consumer protection rules and enforceable by the CMA. Asking every customer for an honest review is entirely allowed — and it is also the fastest legitimate way to outrank a competitor locally.
By Raja Wahab, Co-founder, Fixby Studios · Updated
What crosses the line
- Writing reviews for your own business, or asking staff and family to.
- Buying reviews, or swapping them with another business.
- Offering a discount or prize draw for a review without clearly disclosing the incentive.
- Filtering requests so only happy customers are asked — 'review gating'.
What's fine, and works better anyway
- Ask every customer, at the moment the job is finished and they're pleased.
- Send a direct review link by text — not a search instruction.
- Reply to every review, including the bad ones, calmly and factually.
- Ask customers to mention the service and the area naturally; that language is what local search reads.
Raja Wahab is co-founder of Fixby Studios, a Huddersfield studio building websites, SEO, social media and business software for small, owner-managed businesses across West Yorkshire.
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