Never has there been a more important time to have a professional audit of your review management

The world of online reviews just kicked up a gear; in fact, truth be told, depending on a business's engagement with review management, it either kicked up two or three gears or even went into reverse.

Let us explain. What has happened regarding online reviews in the last few months? There's a full article here, with a link to an exhaustive explanation, but these are the bullet points:

• The UK government has introduced a whole new Act of Parliament (the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 - which is being implemented in stages from 2025-27). Its effect is to give the regulators - the CMA - vastly increased consumer protection powers, and these include specific powers to sanction businesses failing to comply where reviews are concerned

• The UK regulators have been given serious sanctioning teeth by the government: fines of up to 10% of a business's total global turnover is just one such example

• The UK regulators have invested heavily in AI detection tools (previously they relied on manual investigation and whistleblowers). Now detection of non-compliant practices will take place automatically and 24/7*

*previously there was an understandable feeling amongst some SMEs of 'they won't pick on us, we are insignificant in the grand scheme of things' and, to a certain extent, such businesses probably had reasonably good grounds for thinking that. Now, investigations will likely be programmed irrespective of business size.

• The UK regulators have already initiated action in relation to reviews - both businesses and review platforms - for misusing reviews and misleading consumers

• The Italian regulators have fined a well-known UK-listed review site €4,000,000 for misleading consumers and disguising benefits to businesses. Other EU and UK regulators may well follow suit

• AI search has been introduced by Google - and more and more consumers are relying on it every day. This has meant that reviews have become an even more important ingredient in SEO

To summarise: over the two decades since online reviews have existed, businesses have come to realise just how vital it is to look good, especially in Google search, with great reviews and scores, and how useful these are when used and referenced across all their other advertising and marketing. 

Alongside this, many businesses have taken the 'easy route' (or the route they have been sold). The former frequently involves two breaches of the CMA regulations: cherry-picking and gating; the latter, the likely employment of a review site that is not working in either the consumer's or the business's best interest.

All of this will come to a head in the following months: non-compliant businesses (we estimate around 65% of all businesses listed by Google) will see a massively increased risk of 'a knock on their door' from the regulators, businesses that make the very best of compliant review management will thrive.

A HelpHound audit

ChatGPT imagines a HelpHound Audit - in practice, it will often contain far more detail

We have been in business as long as online reviews have existed. We know the subject inside out. Maybe most important of all: we don't run a review site. We simply provide key advice to businesses on how to make the very best of their review management. In some cases, we even find ourselves, yes, even in 2026, introducing businesses to the whole concept of review management.

What we can say, with absolute certainty, is that every business we have ever audited has unearthed a benefit that has resulted in greatly improved CRM.  Often that benefit has been a significant game-changer.

What happens next?

You contact us. All we will need is your website address and a contact email. If there is any additional information we need, we will contact you straight away. Having received that, we will tell you, within 24 hours, when to expect your audit (it could be days; it could be 2-3 weeks in more complex cases, definitely no longer). 

How does HelpHound benefit?

We are currently in the fortunate position - for us and for our clients - of providing the only current compliant solution to review moderation in the UK. Some businesses we audit will see value in that service. It's as simple as that. 

Further reading...

• Review management for today's world - a two-minute read that is key to everything a business needs to succeed in the world of reviews in 2026