Auto-reply

Auto-reply means AI writes replies to the Google reviews that match your rules and posts them to Google. You start it, stop it and set its rules on Reviews › Auto-reply.

Starting and stopping

The status card at the top of the page tells you whether auto-reply is on or off.

• Start turns it on with the rules on the screen and saves them.
• The first time you start it, you're asked to agree to review text being processed with AI to write replies (a checkbox). You only agree once; stopping and starting again doesn't ask again.
• Before you start, the card says how many unanswered reviews that match the rules will also be answered, in order. If Older reviews is set to "Only new reviews", it says they will be left alone.
• Stop stops new replies. The rules and the replies already sent stay; the page header shows the day it was stopped.

While it's on, the card sums up the rules in one sentence and shows three numbers: Sent today (against the daily limit), In queue (reviews that match the rules and can be answered now) and Reply credits this month (with the reset date).

Rules

• Which reviews: All, 2 stars and up, 3 stars and up, 4 stars and up, or 5 stars only. Reviews below the rating you pick are left to you and appear under Awaiting reply in Reviews. With All, negative reviews are answered too: the reply apologizes and asks the customer to contact the business directly.
• When: 30 minutes, 1 hour, 6 hours or 12 hours after a review arrives. An instant reply looks automated.
• Daily limit: the most replies this business sends in a day (50 by default, up to 1,000, and never more than your account's monthly auto-reply allowance). The rest are answered the next day, in order.
• Older reviews: whether reviews that are unanswered when you start are answered too, or only reviews that arrive after that. With "Only new reviews", the card shows the start date.
• Tone: Professional, Friendly or Apologetic. The card shows an example reply in the tone you pick; real replies are written for what each review says.

When you change a rule, a Save / Discard bar appears at the bottom of the Rules card. While auto-reply is on, saved rules apply from the next check.

Reply style (beta)

The Reply style card under the rules puts your own voice into replies, per location. It's in beta: we're still testing it, so keep reviewing the replies it writes. Auto-reply and Write with AI on Reviews both use it.

• Greeting: add a few greetings ({name} is the reviewer's first name). They are used in turn, so two replies in a row never start the same way. They are used only when the reply is in your business's language.
• Brand name: the name mentioned once in every reply, or Don't use. Empty means your name on Google without any branch or slogan suffix ("Moka Coffee House - Hyde Park" → "Moka Coffee House").
• Neighborhood and city / Services: one of each per reply, in turn. The system makes the choice, not AI, so the same one isn't repeated every time. Services are named only in 4 and 5 star replies, as an invitation for next time, never as something the customer had.
• Signature: added as written on its own line at the end of the reply, whatever language the reply is in.
• Don'ts and your own rules: no exclamation marks, no prices or promotions, plus short rules of your own. Phone numbers, emails and links are never written (Google rule).
• Example replies: pick up to 5 of your replies on Google. AI matches their tone and doesn't copy their sentences.
• Preview writes replies to up to three of your real reviews with the settings on screen, next to today's reply on Google. It uses 1 AI credit in total and sends nothing to Google.
• Copy to other locations copies tone, signature, don'ts, rules and examples. Places and services stay as each location has them.

With or without a reply style, every reply is checked before it goes out. If the draft uses a stock phrase, leaves out your business name or place, or promotes a service in a complaint, it is rewritten once; the rewrite doesn't use another credit.

Awaiting reply

The card on the right puts every unanswered review under one reason: rating outside the rule, older review (when only new reviews are answered), waiting period not over, in queue, failed after 3 attempts, you deleted the reply, sent and waiting to show on Google, being written now. The numbers come from the same queries auto-reply uses to pick reviews, and they add up to the number of unanswered reviews. View opens those reviews in Reviews. While auto-reply is off, the card shows how many reviews would be answered once you start.

How replies are written

Auto-reply follows the same rules as the Write with AI draft in Reviews (details: AI reply suggestions):

• Replies are written in the review's language. Rating-only reviews get a reply in the language most of your customers write their reviews in; if there isn't one (or there aren't enough reviews yet), in your Google profile's language.
• The reply responds to what the customer wrote, point by point, in two or three short paragraphs; its length follows the review. The closing paragraph names your business and your city or neighborhood once (complaint replies included), and 4 and 5 star replies invite the customer back with one of the services on your profile. No gushing or stock phrases, and at most one exclamation mark.
• Turkish replies address the customer formally ("siz").
• The openings and closings of the business's latest replies aren't repeated, so replies read one after another on the profile don't all start the same way.

How it works

• Reviews are checked every 15 minutes; up to 5 replies per business go out on each check.
• Reviews you've replied to by hand, including on Google, are left alone. If you delete an auto-reply in Reviews or on Google, that review won't get another one.
• A review that fails after 3 attempts is no longer auto-replied; reply to it by hand.
• Each reply uses 1 credit from the monthly auto-reply allowance, shared by all businesses in your account. When the credits run out, auto-reply stays on but posts nothing new until they reset.
• If the Google connection is lost, auto-reply pauses; it continues once you reconnect.

Sent replies are listed under Reviews › Auto-replies, marked Auto-reply; you can edit or delete them like your own. The Recent auto-replies card on the page shows the newest five.

Why it matters

Google lists responding to reviews among its tips for improving local visibility. Auto-reply keeps your reply rate from slipping at businesses with many reviews, while the Which reviews rule lets you keep low ratings for yourself. Reply rate is also measured in the Reviews area of SEO Analysis.

What's next

To speed up the flow of new reviews, see QR review collection.