A review response is the text a business owner publishes under a customer review. On Google it appears under the review, labelled “Response from the owner”. The reviewer reads it, but above all every future customer who looks at the profile does.
What it is for
- thanking happy customers, which encourages them to come back and recommend you;
- showing readers there is someone behind the profile who pays attention;
- calmly correcting a mistake or offering a solution after a negative review.
Google encourages owners to reply to reviews in its Business Profile help pages.
An example of a good reply
Review: “Delicious pizza but a 40-minute wait on a Saturday.” Reply: “Thank you Julie, glad you enjoyed the pizza. We were swamped on Saturday and the wait was too long, sorry about that. Next time, booking online guarantees you a table on time. See you soon!” The reply is personal, acknowledges the problem and gives a solution, without long excuses.
Common mistakes
- replying in the heat of the moment, irritated by an unfair review;
- pasting the same sentence under every review;
- revealing personal details about the customer (visit date, detailed order, health);
- only replying to negative reviews and forgetting to thank the others.
For the full method, read the guide to replying to Google reviews, or start from a free reply template.
Go further
Related terms
Review response rate
The review response rate is the share of customer reviews a business has replied to over a given period: reviews with a reply divided by total reviews received.
Google review
A Google review is the rating a customer leaves on a business’s profile: 1 to 5 stars, often a comment and sometimes photos, visible to everyone in Google Search and Google Maps.
Fake review
A fake review is a review that doesn’t reflect a real customer experience: written by the owner or relatives, bought, or posted by a competitor to cause harm. Many countries treat it as an unfair commercial practice.