The FTC Fake Review Rule: A Compliance Checklist for Small Businesses

What the FTC rule covers

The rule targets fake and deceptive reviews and testimonials. The headline prohibitions:

• Fake reviews: writing, buying, or selling reviews from people who never used the product or service — including AI-generated fakes and reviews from staff or family posing as customers.
• Buying positive or negative reviews: paying for reviews conditioned on their sentiment.
• Undisclosed insider reviews: reviews by employees, owners, or their relatives without clearly disclosing the connection.
• Review suppression: using unfounded legal threats or intimidation to prevent or remove honest negative reviews.
• Fake social proof: buying followers, views, or other fake indicators of influence.
• Company-controlled review sites posing as independent.

The compliance checklist

1. Never fabricate or buy reviews. Not one, not from a “review service,” not from your cousin.
2. Disclose insider reviews. If an employee or owner reviews the business, the relationship must be clear.
3. Don’t incentivize. No discounts, gift cards, or giveaways in exchange for reviews — see the incentive rules.
4. Don’t gate. Ask all customers, not just happy ones — see is review gating illegal?
5. Handle negatives with responses, not threats. Never use legal intimidation to silence honest criticism — reply instead: how to respond to negative reviews.
6. Only report reviews that genuinely violate policy — see how to remove a Google review.
7. Keep records of how you solicit reviews, so you can show a clean, above-board process.

The good news

Everything the FTC rewards — genuine reviews, asked from real customers, at the right time — is exactly what actually works. Honest review collection isn’t just compliant; it’s more effective and more durable than any shortcut. You never need a risky tactic to win.

Stay compliant automatically

Tailwind is built around asking every real customer the same way, at the right moment — no fakes, no gating, no incentives. See automated review requests, and if you’re unsure whether a review can be removed, check Google’s review policy.

Grow reviews the right way, fully compliant. See how Tailwind works.