Replying to reviews

Review count, average rating, and reply rate are among the strongest local ranking and conversion factors — SEO Analysis scores reviews with the highest weight. The Reviews screen collects all your Google reviews in one list, and replies are written directly to your Google Business Profile.

The list

• Tabs: All, Awaiting reply, Low rating (1-2★), Replied, Auto-replies. Each tab shows its own count.
• Search and sort: search the review text and the reviewer's name; sort by newest, oldest, lowest or highest rating first.
• Red strip: when 1-2★ reviews are waiting for a reply, a strip at the top says how many and when the oldest arrived. Show waiting reviews opens the Awaiting reply tab, lowest rating first.
• Status on each row: Awaiting reply (red on 1-2★), Auto-reply queued (auto-reply will answer this review itself), Sending, Not sent, Auto-reply stopped (auto-reply couldn't post to this review 3 times; reply by hand).
• Rating summary: your average rating and star breakdown. Click a row to filter the list to that rating; click the same row again to clear it. Below it are your reply rate and how many new reviews came in over the last 28 days.

Replying

1. Under a review that's waiting, press Reply and write, or let Write with AI draft it (AI reply suggestions; each draft uses 1 credit).
2. The Saved reply menu inserts one of five ready texts where your cursor is.
3. Press Send (or Ctrl/⌘ + Enter). The reply is written to Google; while it shows Sending, the screen refreshes every ~8 seconds. A reply over Google's length limit (4000 bytes) can't be sent.
4. If it fails, a Send again button appears on the same row; your text is kept.
5. Edit or Delete a sent reply from the same row. A deleted reply is removed from Google too, the review goes back to Awaiting reply, and auto-reply won't write to that review again.

Reporting to Google

On 1-2★ reviews, Report to Google opens Google's official reporting tool in a new tab. Because Google offers no programmatic reporting API, the status isn't tracked in the panel.

Collecting reviews

The link on the Get more reviews card opens Google's review window directly (Copy); the QR Review Kit builds a print-ready poster (QR review collection). Send the link to every customer, without picking: Google bans asking for reviews selectively and giving discounts or gifts in return.

Sync and alerts

Reviews are fetched from Google every 15-30 minutes, and the header shows when the last sync ran. Depending on state, an alert appears:

• Your Google account isn't connected — Connect Google.
• This business isn't visible in the connected Google account — retrying won't fix it; Reconnect with the account that manages the business.
• Reconnect Google — Google withdrew access or the permission expired.
• Sync is retrying — Try now in the header queues a full sync; it may take a few minutes.

Why it affects ranking

A high reply rate + good rating + fresh reviews raise both ranking and conversion. A fast, calm, solution-focused reply to a negative review influences both that customer and the hundreds who read it.

What's next

To speed up replies, see AI reply suggestions and Auto-reply.