6 Top Review Sites & Directories

How to judge a review site or business directory

Review platforms and directories earn money in different ways: advertising, paid business plans, lead fees or affiliate links. Understanding the model helps you read what you see. Look for a page that explains how reviews are collected, checked and ranked, and whether businesses can pay to change how they appear.

• For readers: read a mix of recent and older reviews, and look at the detail in them rather than only the star rating.
• For businesses: check whether you can claim your listing for free, what a paid plan adds, and how to correct wrong details such as an old phone number.
• Moderation: look for a clear process to report fake or abusive reviews and to respond publicly.
• Sweepstakes and product testing sites: read how your personal data will be used before signing up.

Common problems and how to avoid them

Businesses commonly report listings created without their knowledge, sales calls after a listing appears, and difficulty removing outdated pages. Users report reviews being removed or not published. Read the platform's guidelines, keep screenshots, and use its appeal process.

Be wary of anyone offering to remove negative reviews for a fee or to post positive ones for you. On CandorRated, each company page, including pages for other review platforms, shows who runs the website, how long its domain has existed, contact details found and user reviews.

Frequently asked questions

Can a business pay to remove bad reviews?

Platform policies differ. Read each site's guidelines on paid plans and review removal.

Why was my review not published?

It may be held for checks or may have broken a content rule. Read the guidelines and contact the platform.