Guidelines for Reviewers
Last updated: May 2026
GuardOpinion exists to help consumers and businesses learn from honest, useful, and verifiable reviews. A good review is based on a real experience, written with respect, and detailed enough for other people to understand what happened, what worked, what did not, and how the business responded.
What Makes a Good Review
A strong review helps someone who was not there understand the experience. It does not need to be long, but it should be real, honest, specific, recent when possible, based on your own experience, written with useful details, and respectful even when the experience was negative.
Helpful context can include what product or service you bought or used, the approximate date of the experience, the channel involved, what went well or badly, how the business responded, and whether the issue was resolved or is still open.
- Mention the channel when it matters: website, physical store, app, customer service, shipping, support, return, booking, or another relevant touchpoint.
- Explain the result, not only the emotion. For example, describe whether the product arrived, whether support replied, whether a refund was offered, or whether the business fixed the issue.
- Keep the tone fair. Negative reviews are welcome, but insults, threats, and unsupported accusations make a review less useful and may violate these guidelines.
How to Leave a Review Step by Step
Follow these steps to make sure your review is placed correctly and gives other users enough information to rely on it.
- Step 1: Search for the business. Look for the business name or domain on GuardOpinion. If it does not appear, you may use the option to add a business when that option is available.
- Step 2: Open the correct profile. Check that the name, domain, category, and country match the real business so your review is not posted on the wrong profile.
- Step 3: Click 'Write a review'. Start the form from the business profile you want to review.
- Step 4: Choose the rating. Select a rating that reflects the full experience, not only a passing emotion. The score should match what you write.
- Step 5: Write a clear title. Summarise the experience briefly, such as 'Fast delivery and helpful support' or 'Delayed order and poor communication'.
- Step 6: Describe your experience. Explain what happened, when it happened, what you expected, what the business did, and what the result was.
- Step 7: Add context or evidence if requested. If GuardOpinion asks for order details, receipts, screenshots, emails, photos, or other evidence, provide only relevant information and hide sensitive data where possible.
- Step 8: Review before submitting. Check that you have not included personal data, insults, threats, unexplained accusations, confidential information, or third-party content.
- Step 9: Submit the review. Your review may pass automated or manual checks before or after it appears on GuardOpinion.
- Step 10: Keep the review updated. If the business resolves the issue or the situation changes, update your review when the platform allows it instead of creating duplicate reviews.
Text Reviews
Text reviews are written reviews where you explain your experience in your own words. Clear sentences, concrete details, and a fair explanation are more useful than very short statements such as very bad or perfect without context.
- Use complete sentences.
- Explain the reason for your rating.
- Separate facts from opinions.
- Do not copy text from other websites.
- Do not publish private data.
- Do not write the entire review in capital letters.
- Do not use offensive language.
Video Reviews
Video reviews may be available only in certain cases, but the same standards apply. A video review should show or explain a real experience and should help viewers understand what happened without exposing private information.
- Your video should describe your own experience, not repeat rumours or claims from other people.
- Do not show personal data, private addresses, full order numbers, payment cards, private documents, or information about third parties.
- Do not include threats, insults, or copyrighted music or material unless you have the right to use it.
- A video review must follow the same rules as a text review.
- If you show a product, package, app, account page, or conversation, avoid exposing sensitive information.
Published Reviews and Verified Reviews
A published review is a review that is visible on GuardOpinion after passing basic publication and community guideline checks. Published does not mean that GuardOpinion has independently verified every detail of the experience.
A verified review is a review where the reviewer has provided evidence of a real customer experience, such as order details, receipts, screenshots, emails, account information, or supporting documentation, and GuardOpinion has reviewed that evidence. Verification helps confirm that the reviewer appears to have had a real experience, but it does not guarantee that every statement, opinion, or outcome described is objectively proven.
Evidence GuardOpinion May Ask For
In some cases, GuardOpinion may request additional information to protect the integrity of the platform. Evidence should help show that a real customer experience took place, but it should not expose more private information than necessary.
- Acceptable examples may include an order confirmation, invoice, receipt, support conversation screenshot, booking confirmation, partial order number, confirmation email, photo of the product or delivery, or payment evidence with sensitive details hidden.
- Avoid uploading or writing passwords, full card numbers, complete identity documents when they are not necessary, full private addresses, sensitive medical, financial, or legal information that is not relevant, or personal data of employees or third parties.
What Is Not Allowed
GuardOpinion is built for real experiences. The following content and behaviour are not allowed because they mislead users, harm businesses unfairly, or reduce trust in the platform.
- Reviewing a business when you have not had a real experience with it.
- Inventing facts or exaggerating in a misleading way.
- Posting bought, incentivised, or rewarded reviews in exchange for money, gifts, discounts, or benefits that are not disclosed.
- Reviewing your own business.
- Reviewing a direct competitor to damage them.
- Creating multiple accounts to influence a score.
- Publishing copied content from other websites or content generated to manipulate rankings.
- Posting threats, blackmail, or extortion.
- Posting insults, hate, discrimination, or harassment.
- Publishing personal data about employees, customers, or third parties.
- Making serious accusations without enough context.
- Using a review to promote another business, spam links, or external services.
- Leaving a review on the wrong business profile.
Conflicts of Interest
Do not write a review when your relationship with the business could make the review misleading or unfair. If a connection or incentive exists, it must be handled transparently and must not be part of a manipulated campaign.
- Do not review a business if you work for it.
- Do not review a business if you are an owner, partner, close family member, or representative of it.
- Do not review a business if you work for a direct competitor.
- Do not review if you received an incentive to write it without disclosure, or if the review is part of a manipulated campaign.
- Do not use a review to pressure a business for money, discounts, or special terms.
How to Write a Negative Review Correctly
Negative reviews are allowed when they are honest, respectful, and based on facts. A careful negative review is often more useful than an angry one because it helps other users understand the issue and gives the business a fair chance to respond.
- Explain the specific problem.
- State what solution you asked for.
- Describe how the business responded.
- Avoid insults or threats.
- Avoid publishing private data.
- Update the review if the issue is resolved.
How to Write a Positive Review Correctly
Positive reviews should also include context. A review that explains why an experience was good is more useful and more credible than a generic compliment.
- Explain what the business did well.
- Mention the product or service you used.
- Say why you would recommend the business.
- Avoid repeating marketing slogans.
- Do not write positive reviews in exchange for incentives.
Review Moderation
GuardOpinion may use automated checks and manual review to detect fraud, spam, conflicts of interest, harmful content, personal information, and other guideline violations. These checks help protect both consumers and businesses while keeping legitimate reviews visible.
- A review may be published.
- A review may be rejected before publication.
- A review may be sent for manual review.
- A reviewer may be asked to edit the review to correct a problem.
- A review may be removed if it violates the guidelines.
- A review may be flagged for additional evidence.
What Happens If a Review Breaks the Rules
When a review does not follow these guidelines, GuardOpinion may take proportionate action depending on the issue, the available evidence, and whether the behaviour appears accidental, repeated, or coordinated.
- The review may be rejected.
- The reviewer may be asked to edit the review.
- Additional evidence may be requested.
- Content may be removed.
- Temporary account restrictions may be applied.
- Accounts may be suspended in serious or repeated cases.
- Coordinated campaigns or manipulation may trigger additional investigation.
How to Report a Suspicious Review
If you believe a review is fake, incentivised, posted on the wrong profile, or otherwise violates these guidelines, use the report option on the review. Reporting a review does not guarantee removal. The decision depends on the guidelines, the evidence, and the context available to GuardOpinion.
- Step 1: Locate the review.
- Step 2: Use the report or flag option.
- Step 3: Select the closest reason.
- Step 4: Add context if the form allows it.
- Step 5: Submit the report.
- Step 6: The team will review the case and may keep, remove, or investigate the review further.
Businesses and Official Responses
Businesses may respond to reviews, provide context, and report content they believe violates these guidelines. A business cannot pay GuardOpinion to remove legitimate negative reviews or change genuine ratings.
Privacy and Safety
Reviews should not expose private or sensitive information. Before posting, remove details that are not needed for other users to understand the experience.
- Do not include private phone numbers.
- Do not include personal email addresses.
- Do not include personal addresses.
- Do not include full order numbers unless they are necessary.
- Do not include complete payment information.
- Do not publish full documents without hiding sensitive details.
- Do not include medical, legal, financial, or minor-related information unless it is strictly necessary.
Before Publishing: Final Checklist
Use this checklist before submitting a review.
- Am I reviewing the correct business?
- Did I have a real experience with this business?
- Does my rating match what I wrote?
- Did I include useful and verifiable details?
- Did I remove personal or sensitive data?
- Did I avoid insults, threats, and accusations without context?
- Am I writing without incentives or conflicts of interest?
- Will this review help other users understand the experience?
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I edit my review? When the platform allows editing, update your existing review if the situation changes or if you need to correct details.
Can I review if I received a discount? You should only review a real experience, and any incentive or discount connected to the review must be disclosed where the platform allows it. Reviews that are part of manipulation campaigns are not allowed.
Can I publish screenshots? You may include screenshots if requested or supported, but hide personal data, full order numbers, payment details, private conversations not relevant to the experience, and information about third parties.
Why is my review under review? Reviews may be checked because of automated signals, reports, missing context, evidence requests, privacy concerns, or possible guideline violations.
Why am I being asked for evidence? Evidence may be requested to help confirm that the review is based on a real customer experience.
Can a business remove my review? A business may report a review or respond to it, but it cannot pay to remove a legitimate negative review. GuardOpinion decides based on the guidelines, available evidence, and context.
What should I do if I posted on the wrong profile? Correct it if editing is available, or contact GuardOpinion so the team can review the best way to handle it.
Questions?
If you have questions about these guidelines, contact our Trust & Safety team at [email protected].