How to Write a Reconsideration Request That Gets Reviewed Properly

A reconsideration request asks Google to review your site after you’ve fixed the problem behind a manual action. If Google agrees the site no longer violates its spam policies, it revokes the action.

Google says a good request explains the exact quality issue, describes the steps you’ve taken to fix it, and documents the outcome of your efforts.

A simple structure

1. The issue: name the manual action and what caused it, without excuses.
2. What you did: the specific fixes, how many pages or links were affected, and when.
3. The outcome: what the site looks like now, with links to evidence.
4. Prevention: what you’ve changed so it won’t happen again.

Evidence to include

• For link issues: a spreadsheet of links reviewed, removal requests sent, responses, and what was disavowed.
• For content issues: a list of pages removed, rewritten or noindexed.
• For hacked content: what was cleaned and how security was fixed.
• If you recently acquired the site, Google says you can say so and confirm it no longer violates the policies.

An example outline

This is a structure to adapt, not wording to copy. Write in your own words and keep it factual.

1. “We received a manual action for [type] on [date], affecting [pages or the whole site].”
2. “The cause was [what happened, who did it and when], which broke Google’s policy on [policy].”
3. “Between [dates] we [specific actions], covering [number] pages or links. The full list is in the linked document.”
4. “We could not remove [number] links after contacting the owners on [dates]; these are included in our disavow file.”
5. “To prevent a repeat, we have [process change, such as reviewing all link building and content before it goes live].”

Share evidence through a link to a document anyone with the link can view, and check that the link works before you submit.

After you submit

Google sends a confirmation that the review is in progress and emails you about progress. It says reviews can take some time and that you shouldn’t resubmit before getting a final decision on an outstanding request.

Mistakes to avoid

• Submitting before the clean-up is genuinely complete.
• Blaming a previous agency without showing what’s been fixed.
• Vague statements like “we fixed all issues” with no evidence.
• Ignoring other manual actions on the same site.

For link-related actions, follow our unnatural links recovery guide first.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Search Console Help: Manual actions report
• Google Search Central: Spam policies for Google web search

Last reviewed October 14, 2026.