# What is Review gating?

> Review gating is filtering which customers are invited to leave public reviews, for example only those who passed or were paid, so that ratings look better than reality.

- Source: https://pipvalley.com/glossary/review-gating
- Publisher: PipValley - web design studio for prop trading firms
- Updated: 2026-10-03

In a prop firm, the temptation is obvious: invite funded traders who just received a payout to review on Trustpilot, and do not invite traders who breached. Trustpilot's guidelines prohibit selectively inviting reviewers in this way, and platforms can flag or penalize profiles that do it.

Consumer law also reaches review practices. The US FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, in force since October 2024, targets fake and suppressed reviews, and the UK's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 brought rules on fake and misleading reviews into force in 2025.

The compliant approach is to invite all customers at a consistent point in the journey, respond to negative reviews, and never offer incentives conditional on a positive rating.

## Why it matters

A rating built on gated invitations can be flagged publicly, which does more damage than an honest lower score. Invite everyone, answer every negative review with specifics, and use the review widget on your site in a way that links to the full profile rather than selected quotes.