The ninety-day open req
Recruiters reported candidates ghosting after the phone screen. Two finalists said they'd read "concerning things" online — neither would name the source until pressed. Both meant Glassdoor.
Four reviews, all posted within nineteen days, all mentioning the same unverified equity complaint. The company's cap table was clean. The reviews weren't.
Separating real from coordinated
One review was legitimate — a departed engineer venting about workload. We advised the CEO to respond professionally and leave it. The other three came from accounts with no other Glassdoor history and overlapping IP signals.
Disputes on the three coordinated reviews succeeded in two cases. The third required identifying the poster through a subpoena pathway after the company secured counsel.
Hiring metrics after cleanup
The Head of Engineering role filled six weeks after the last problematic review came down. Glassdoor rating moved from 2.9 to 3.6 — not glowing, but no longer a red flag in search snippets.
Startups feel these hits disproportionately because every senior hire matters. Our Glassdoor Review Removal team prioritizes recruiting-critical cases when timelines are tight.