Review reply templates
Reply to every review within a couple of days, in one or two sentences, and mention the specific job. "Thanks Sarah, glad the boiler is behaving again. Shout if you need us." That is enough. Avoid replying to ten reviews with the same line, because a reader can see the whole column at once and identical replies tell them nobody is really there.
Everyone plans a reply for the bad ones and forgets the good ones
Owners lose sleep over one star reviews and ignore five star ones, which is backwards. The bad review will get a reply because it stings. The good ones sit there unanswered, and a column of unanswered five star reviews quietly tells a reader that nobody at the business is paying attention.
Replies are also the only part of your review profile you control. The reviewer writes what they write. You decide what sits underneath it, in your words, naming the service you would like more of.
What a good reply does
- Uses their first name, because it proves a person read it
- Names the actual job in three or four words, which quietly puts your service and your town into the text
- Stays under two sentences, so the review still reads as the main event
- Sounds like you talk, not like a customer service department
- Ends without a sales pitch, because asking for more work under a thank you cheapens both
Ten replies you can copy
"Thanks {name}, really glad you were happy with it. Give us a shout any time."
"Thank you {name}. I have passed this on to {staff name}, who will be very pleased. See you next time."
"Thanks {name}. That one was not straightforward, so it is good to hear it came out right. Enjoy the {thing}."
"Always good to hear from you {name}, and thank you for sticking with us. See you at the next one."
"Thanks {name}. Getting to people quickly is the bit we work hardest at, so that is nice to read."
"Thanks {name}, and fair point about {the niggle}. We have taken that on board. Glad the rest of it went well."
"Thank you {name}, much appreciated."
"Thanks {name}, and thanks to {referrer} for the introduction. Glad it worked out."
"Thanks {name}, and good to know it is still going strong after all this time. Give us a ring if anything changes."
"Welcome aboard {name}, and thank you for the review. Anything you need, you know where we are."
Rotate them, change a word or two, and never send the same sentence twice in a row. The reader is looking at the whole page, not one reply.
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Send me the free BlueprintWhat makes a reply look automated
The five things that give it away
- "Thank you for your valuable feedback", which no human has ever said out loud
- The same opening line on every review, visible in one scroll
- Replies that mention your services and a phone number, turning a thank you into an advert
- A reply longer than the review it sits under
- Ten replies posted within the same minute, all months after the reviews went up
If you are catching up on a backlog, spread them over a fortnight rather than clearing them in one sitting. The timestamps are public.
The practical problem is finding out a review landed
Nobody replies late on purpose. They reply late because there is no alert, so a review posted on a Tuesday gets noticed a month later when a customer happens to mention it. By then the reply reads as housekeeping rather than service.
GoHighLevel pulls Google and Facebook reviews into one inbox, pings you when a new one lands, and lets you reply from your phone without logging into two dashboards. It can suggest a reply too, which is fine as a starting point as long as you change it into your own words before it goes out. The same screen is where Facebook review reply automation lives.
Replies are only half of it. Keeping new reviews coming is the other half, and that is covered on how to get more Google reviews and how to ask for a review in person. For the whole routine in one place, see small business review management.
Want to see it running?
GoHighLevel is the tool we use for all of this in our own business. You can try everything on the 14-day free trial and judge it on results.
See how GoHighLevel worksThat button uses our referral link: we earn a commission if you sign up, it never costs you extra, and we say so right here because trust matters more.
Common questions
Do I really need to reply to good reviews?
You do not have to, but a profile where every review has a short reply reads very differently to one where only the complaints got answered. It costs a minute each and it is the cheapest trust signal you own.
How quickly should I reply?
Within a couple of days is plenty for a good review. There is no penalty for being slower, but the timestamps are public, so a reply months later next to a fresh one looks like you only just started caring.
Should I use AI to write review replies?
As a first draft, yes. As the final wording, no. AI replies are recognisable because they are polite, long and identical, which is exactly the pattern readers spot. Take the draft, cut it to a sentence, put your own words in.
Can I put my phone number in a reply?
In a reply to a complaint, yes, because you are trying to sort something out. In a reply to a five star review it turns a thank you into an advert and reads badly.
What about a review that is clearly not about my business?
Reply once, politely, saying you have no record of the job and inviting them to contact you if you have got that wrong, then report it to the platform. Reviews aimed at the wrong business are one of the few kinds that get removed.