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Deleting responses

Delete and replace spam or fraudulent responses easily.

Krystal Taylor avatar
Written by Krystal Taylor
Updated over 3 months ago

At Lyssna, maintaining the integrity of your test results is a top priority. If you encounter responses that appear to be spam, fraudulent, or otherwise compromised—such as those clearly generated by AI or not meeting your study’s criteria—you can easily delete these from your dashboard. Deleting these types of responses helps ensure that your data remains clean and reliable.

You can delete responses sourced from our Lyssna panel or your self-recruited participants. Once deleted, a response cannot be recovered.

Reporting responses from the Lyssna panel

Responses ordered from our panel can be deleted at any time. You will also have the option to report the response to our team if it is of poor quality. While we do take proactive measures to ensure the integrity of our panel, every once in a while responses may slip through from panelists who do not have helpful intentions in taking our tests.

If you come across results that:

  • appear to be "spammy," such as keyboard mashing or nonsense responses

  • are left blank when answering a non-optional question

  • are offensive or inappropriate

  • are not in the correct language for your test

...you have the option to report the participant's response, and we will replace it at no additional cost. When reporting a participant from our panel, you will be asked to explain why it was unsatisfactory. This information is used to follow up with panelists to uphold the overall quality of the panel.

Automatic response replacement

When you report a response from a Lyssna panelist, we will automatically replace it with a response from another panelist at no additional cost to you. This ensures that you still receive the full number of responses you originally requested, without any extra charges or additional steps on your part.

✏️ Note: This automatic replacement feature is only available for responses reported within 30 days of the initial order. If you report responses after this period, they will not be replaced automatically. Additionally, we're unable to replace responses if you cancel your order before completion.

How to delete or report a response

  1. Find and open the response. You can do this from any written answer by hovering over the answer and clicking on this icon:

You can also open the response from the sidebar, which lists all responses under the Participants tab. Filters may be used in the test results to narrow this list, which can be helpful to isolate an errant click on a Click task, or to narrow down to participants who gave a particular response on a multiple-choice test.


Once in the response drawer, you can scroll here to view the panelist's demographics and full response submission. This is a good opportunity to see all of the panelist's answers in context before taking action. To delete the response in full, click the red Delete button.

To report a response from the Lyssna panel, click the Report response button. Select the reason for reporting, then click Report and remove.

Once complete, the response will be removed from your results and your test will be automatically sent back to the panel for a replacement response.

💡 Pro tip: By default, questions are optional when you add them to the test builder. We recommend toggling on the "Required" option for most questions unless it's truly optional, such as "Any other feedback to share?". This will prevent multiple blank responses and ensure that you receive helpful insights from your participants.

Rating responses

If you are unhappy with the overall quality of your results, in addition to reporting low quality ones, you can rate your responses and leave us written feedback. Alternatively, you can get in touch with our Support team who will investigate the panelists further.


Common questions

What happens if I report a panelist's response after 30 days?

If a panel response is reported after the 30-day window, it will not be replaced automatically. You can still order additional responses manually if needed.

I want to report a panel response, but I am only given the option to delete it. Why?

The Report response button will only be visible if your order was placed within the last 30 days and hasn't been canceled. If you are unhappy with the overall quality of your results, you can rate your responses and either leave written feedback or get in touch with our Support team.

Are responses replaced automatically if I delete them without reporting the panelist?

If you delete responses without reporting the panelist, they will not be replaced automatically. To replace deleted responses, you will need to place a new panel order for your test.

Can I exclude responses that may bias my results or responses from panelists I don't prefer?

You can delete responses as you wish but we ask that you only use the report response feature to flag poor panelists to us. Responses cannot be reported to screen your results for the answers or panelists you want. When you report a response, we automatically flag that participant for a quality review by our team, and removing valid responses can lead to fewer tests for those panelists. We aim to compensate all panelists who offer their time to give valid responses. Our team may reach out to you if unjustified use of this feature is detected.

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