I am a Google Local Guide Level 8. I have all genuine reviews and pictures shared across the platform. I got some services done from a car workshop and it was a one star review. The business owner somehow managed to report/flag my review and suddenly so many of 5 star reviews have appeared for that business. How can I make a formal complaint about it?
As for the business, just because you had a poor experience doesn’t mean other people do. It is common for businesses to prompt people to write a review and often people will leave a good one if they’re happy. If you think that there is a significant chance of an issue such as many reviews appearing in a very short period or many reviews from Local Guides with one a single or few reviews then you can reach out to a Googler here and they will contact you privately for more information.