A fraudulent Healthgrades review can drag down your rating. Here is how to tell a fake from a fair complaint, flag it correctly, and escalate if Healthgrades says no.
A single fake review on Healthgrades can pull your rating down and reach customers who never hear your side. Healthgrades does remove reviews that break its rules, but only when you flag them correctly and make the right case. Acting fast and accurately matters more than acting loudly.
Under Healthgrades' review integrity guidelines, a harsh review from a real customer is allowed, even when you disagree with it. A Healthgrades review is a candidate for removal when it is clearly not from a real patient — for example, it describes a procedure you do not perform, a location you have never practised at, or a person who has never appeared in your practice's scheduling system. Competitor posts and reviews from former employees are also grounds for removal. A negative review from a real patient describing a genuine experience, even a strongly worded one, does not qualify — Healthgrades maintains editorial independence for authentic patient feedback.
Healthgrades upholds most reviews that reflect genuine patient opinion, even negative ones. If a dispute is rejected, the best counter is to respond publicly in a way that reassures prospective patients — acknowledge the concern professionally without revealing any patient detail, and invite a direct phone call or email. Then use Saint Aura to build a steady flow of genuine positive reviews so the single negative one represents a small fraction of your overall profile.
Most fake reviews are spotted too late, after they have already cost you customers. Speed matters because a review flagged while it is fresh is easier to act on. Saint Aura notifies you whenever a new review lands, so you can review and report a fake right away. It also gives unhappy customers a private feedback path so your team hears about service concerns directly — helping reduce the chance they escalate into a public review.
Saint Aura makes it easier for customers to share their real experience — through a QR-based guided flow, in their own language, with an AI-assisted draft they can edit before posting.
