Written by the Removal Lab team.
Is one unfair review on G2 or Capterra costing your software company deals? A review can be removed when it breaks the platform’s own rules, such as a review from a competitor, a former employee or someone who never used your product. Removal Lab checks the review against those rules and files the case through the right channel for you.
G2 says it will never remove a review just because it is negative. So the honest answer is this: some reviews qualify and many do not. Removal Lab tells you which is which before you spend a penny. The platform makes the final decision, not us.
The first check is free and confidential. There is no upfront payment on qualifying cases. You pay only when the review is gone.
Can you remove a negative G2 review?
Yes, but only when it breaks G2’s published rules. G2 states that a review is removed only for breaching its published guidelines and never for being negative. G2 also says it does not edit or remove reviews at a seller’s request and does not edit the content of any review.
Removal Lab starts every G2 case with one question: does this review break a rule?
How does G2 check reviews before they go live?
G2 checks every review by hand before it is published. Its help pages describe these steps:
- Identity check. Reviewers sign in with LinkedIn, a business email or a personal email G2 can validate. Moderators use the real name and company details to confirm who they are.
- Real use check. The reviewer must show first hand, recent use of the product. G2 asks for experience within the last two years and may ask for a screenshot.
- Conflict check. Employees of the product’s company and employees of a direct competitor are not accepted.
- Two stage moderation. G2 says an automatic filter removes submissions that fail minimum standards, then a human team reviews the rest. No review is published without passing both.
Anonymous reviews are still verified. G2 says anonymity only changes what readers see, not whether the reviewer was checked. So on G2, being anonymous is not enough on its own to get a review removed.
Which G2 reviews break the rules?
A G2 review can be removed when it falls into one of the categories G2 publishes. Here is what G2’s own pages list.
| Problem with the review | What G2 says |
|---|---|
| Written by a competitor | Employees of a direct competitor may not leave reviews. |
| Written by your own staff | Current or former employees of the product’s company are not accepted. |
| Not a real user | Fabricated or secondhand experience is a ground for removal. |
| Old experience | Reviews must be based on use within the past two years. |
| Duplicate | One review per person per product, across all their G2 accounts. |
| Offensive | No vulgar, disrespectful or offensive language, including harassment of a person or group. |
| Confidential information | No confidential or proprietary third party information the reviewer is not allowed to share. |
| Spam, plagiarism or AI fabrication | Listed as grounds for removal. G2 says AI may not be used to fabricate experiences or product claims. |
G2 also lets resellers and other business partners review. Those reviews carry a Business Partner label and do not count toward the G2 Score. Guest user reviews are labelled Guest User and are also left out of the score.
If you suspect a wave of fake reviews across several sites, our guide to fake review removal explains how Removal Lab handles patterns rather than single posts.
How do you report a G2 review from my.G2?
You report it with the Report a concern option. G2’s documentation for the my.G2 Review Activity page gives these steps:
- Open my.G2 and go to Review Activity.
- In the Reviews found table, select Read review.
- Hover over the ellipsis and select Report a concern.
- Enter a Title, choose a Reason from the list and add a Comment.
- Select Submit Your Concern.
G2’s documentation says its moderation team reviews your concern within two business days. Anyone logged in to G2.com can also use the three dots on a public review and pick Report a Concern.
What makes a G2 report work
G2 says it does not remove a review simply because it is disputed. Its own guidance says concerns backed by evidence about authenticity are more likely to succeed than objections to tone. Removal Lab writes every report around the exact rule and the evidence, not around how the review feels.
What will G2 not remove?
G2 lists things that are not grounds for removal. A review will not be removed for:
- Being positive or negative in tone.
- Where it sits on a webpage.
- Being posted under a public name or anonymously.
G2 also says it cannot clarify or verify the information inside a review, because reviews reflect the views of users. It may decline requests to verify a reviewer. And G2 says it will never suppress, mute or hide negative reviews. If a review is an honest bad experience, Removal Lab will say so. A calm public reply is then your best tool.
Can you reply to a G2 review in public?
Yes. G2 invites sellers to give their side and answer publicly. In my.G2, open the review with Read review, type your reply in the free text field and submit it. Your reply shows under the review with your name and organisation. You can also add a Resource URL, which shows as a link saying how your product improved.
G2’s documentation says responding is not available for free profiles.
What about Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice?
Capterra, GetApp and Software Advice have been run by Gartner Digital Markets. On 29 January 2026, G2 announced it had formally agreed to acquire all three from Gartner. G2’s announcement does not say whether the deal has closed. It says nothing about how reviews on those sites will be moderated in future.
An honest note on our research
We could not open the Capterra, GetApp or Software Advice community guidelines or vendor help pages for this page. Each one blocked our research tools. So we do not describe their moderation process, removal grounds or vendor dispute steps here. We will not guess at platform rules. Removal Lab reads the live policy on the day we take your case.
If a review on any of these sites seems to come from a competitor or someone who never used your software, it is still worth a free check.
What about TrustRadius?
We could not open TrustRadius’s review guidelines or content integrity pages for this page either. So we leave out any claims about how TrustRadius verifies reviews or handles vendor disputes. Removal Lab will check the live rules if you send us a TrustRadius review.
How do the platforms compare?
This table shows only what Removal Lab could confirm from each platform’s own pages.
| Question | G2 | Capterra, GetApp, Software Advice | TrustRadius |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checked before publishing? | Yes. Automatic filter then human moderation. | Could not verify | Could not verify |
| Competitor reviews allowed? | No | Could not verify | Could not verify |
| How a vendor flags a review | Report a concern in my.G2 or on the review | Could not verify | Could not verify |
| Stated review time | Within two business days | Could not verify | Could not verify |
| Public vendor reply? | Yes, not on free profiles | Could not verify | Could not verify |
| Removed for being negative? | Never | Could not verify | Could not verify |
For other sites, see our list of review removal platforms we cover.
What rules does G2 set for vendors?
G2 has rules for the vendor too. Breaking them can hurt you far more than one bad review. G2’s community guidelines say vendors must not:
- Collect reviews in a way that filters out likely negative reviews or only targets happy customers. This is often called review gating.
- Make an incentive depend on the review being positive.
- Offer reviewers their own incentives without telling G2.
- Discourage negative reviews.
- Try to identify or contact a reviewer to influence, coerce or pressure them.
- Collect or share private or personally identifying information about anyone in the G2 community.
G2 says that if it finds a seller soliciting only positive reviews, it will remove those reviews. Other penalties G2 lists include blocking new reviews, revoking my.G2 access, adding a caution banner to the profile and banning the vendor or product. G2 says it accepts vendor appeals through a standard review process.
G2 itself sometimes offers incentives for honest reviews. It labels those reviews as incentivised, caps the value at 100 US dollars and says eligibility never depends on whether the review is positive or negative.
A clean review programme also protects any removal request you make later.
What does the FTC rule on fake reviews say?
The FTC’s rule on consumer reviews and testimonials is 16 CFR Part 465. The FTC announced the final rule on 14 August 2024. Its business guidance says it went into effect on 21 October 2024. The FTC says the rule lets it seek civil penalties against knowing violators. According to the FTC’s own pages, the rule covers:
- Fake reviews. Creating or selling reviews from people who do not exist or had no real experience. The rule also covers buying or spreading them when a business knew or should have known they were fake.
- Buying sentiment. Offering money or other incentives on the condition that a review is positive or negative.
- Insider reviews. Reviews by company insiders that do not clearly disclose their connection to the business.
- Company controlled review sites. Claiming a site you control gives independent reviews of your own category.
- Review suppression. Using groundless legal threats, physical threats, intimidation or certain false public accusations to stop or remove a negative review.
- Fake social media signals. Buying or selling fake followers or views to mislead people for a commercial purpose.
The FTC’s questions and answers page adds two useful points. You can reply publicly to a review, as long as you do not make a false accusation about the reviewer. And while the rule has no specific ban on asking only happy customers for reviews, the FTC says that practice could still break the FTC Act.
This is why Removal Lab works only through the platform’s own reporting channels. If a review is false and damaging, our defamation removal page explains when a legal route may fit.
Do you handle other review sites for software companies?
Yes. Many software companies also deal with mobile reviews, employer reviews and consumer review sites. See our guides to App Store and Google Play review removal, Glassdoor review removal for reviews from staff and Trustpilot review removal. If you also sell online, read our page on review removal for ecommerce brands.
How Removal Lab works
- Send the link. WhatsApp, email or the two field form. Two minutes, no long questionnaire.
- Free policy check. A specialist reads the review against the G2 or Capterra rules and tells you honestly whether it qualifies.
- We build and file the case. The right policy, the right channel, the evidence attached. We handle the appeal too.
- Pay only when it is gone. No upfront payment on qualifying cases. If the platform says no, you owe nothing.
What we will never do
- Promise a removal. The platform decides, not us.
- Post fake reviews or pay anyone to delete a review.
- Pressure, threaten or try to identify a reviewer.
- Charge an upfront fee on a case that does not qualify.
Is a software review breaking the rules?
Send Removal Lab the link. We check it against the platform’s guidelines and reply within one business day. Free, confidential and no upfront payment on qualifying cases.
Frequently asked questions
Can G2 remove a review because it is negative?
No. G2 says a review is removed only for breaching its published guidelines and never for being negative. Removal Lab only takes G2 cases where a specific rule is broken.
Can I ask G2 to remove a review from a competitor?
Yes. G2 does not accept reviews from employees of a direct competitor. Use Report a concern in my.G2 and explain the link to the competitor with evidence.
How long does G2 take to review a reported concern?
G2’s documentation says its moderation team reviews a concern submitted through my.G2 within two business days. It does not promise a particular outcome.
Can I remove a Capterra review?
We could not open Capterra’s guidelines or vendor help pages for this page, so we do not state its rules here. Removal Lab will read the live policy and tell you whether your review qualifies.
Can I ask only happy customers to review us on G2?
No. G2’s guidelines ban collecting reviews in a way that filters out negative ones or only targets positive ones. G2 says it will remove reviews when it finds a seller soliciting only positive reviews.
Will Removal Lab contact the reviewer?
No. Removal Lab never contacts, pressures or tries to identify a reviewer. We work only through the platform’s own reporting channels.
How much does G2 or Capterra review removal cost?
The first check is free. There is no upfront payment on qualifying cases and you pay only when the review is removed. See our pricing page for details.
Sources: G2 Community Guidelines, About G2’s Reviews, Data and Rankings, G2: Reporting a review for moderation, G2: Why was my review rejected, G2: Removing a review from G2, G2: Review Activity, G2 to Acquire Capterra, Software Advice and GetApp, FTC final rule announcement, FTC Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: Questions and Answers, FTC Rulemaking: Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials. Removal Lab does not work for any platform. Every decision is made by the platform.