Who can write a review and when?

Trustpilot is committed to transparency. Read the Transparency Report 2022.

Useful reviews reflect genuine experiences had by real people. That's why we have rules about who's eligible to leave a review on Trustpilot.

When can you write a review?

Our Guidelines for Reviewers set out that you can review a business if you've had a recent, genuine experience with them. It could be:

  • You bought something
  • You ordered something (even if the order was cancelled!)
  • You had a phone conversation, email correspondence, or online chat
  • You visited a store
  • You otherwise used the business's products or services

Top tip: Save some documentation that shows you've had an experience (like a receipt or a screenshot of your online chat with customer service), just in case there's a question about your review after you've posted it.

What other requirements are there?

As well as making sure you fit one of the above situations, make sure your review is:

  • Only about your own experience - not someone else's, and
  • About an experience you’ve had within the past 12 months

When can't you write a review?

You have a special relationship to the business

You can't write a review about a business that:

  • You own, have owned, or someone in your immediate family owns
  • You're employed by or work for, or
  • Is a direct competitor to a business you own or work for

If you're a former employee, you can write a review about a genuine buying or service experience you had with the business when not employed there. Your review shouldn't be about your working experience.

You were offered an incentive

You can't write a review if you've been offered an incentive — businesses aren't allowed to provide incentives of any kind for reviews. Incentives include, but aren't limited to, discounts, monetary rewards, loyalty points, gifts, coupons, referral bonuses, etc. 

Been offered an incentive? Let us know. 

How to write a review

Check out our getting started guide for step-by-step instructions on all the basics - from signing up for a Trustpilot profile to finding a particular company and leaving a review.

Once you've written a review, you can always edit or update it.

We've put together some tips to help you write great reviews here.

Previous Quick guide to Trustpilot's Guidelines for Reviewers

Up next Write a review

Was this article helpful?

Related articles