Guide

How to respond to Google reviews

Written for owners of one restaurant, café, salon or small hotel who answer their own reviews. No agency playbook, just what to say and what to skip.

Draft one for your real review with the free generator.

The short version

Five rules that cover most reviews.

Reply to every review with text, good or bad, if you can.
Mention one specific detail from the review.
On a complaint, own the specific thing in one sentence. No "sorry for any inconvenience".
Never argue facts in public. Give a name and contact to take it offline.
Keep it to two to four sentences, in your own voice.

By rating.

Each rating has its own page with a template and worked examples in the review response templates.

Rating	Goal	Example opening
5	Thank and credit	"Thanks so much, I'll tell Marco tonight."
4	Thank, notice the note	"Fair point on the noise after 8."
3	Credit, own, fix	"Thanks for the honest review."
1-2	Apologise, take offline	"I'm sorry, that's not okay."

How fast should you reply?

There's no official deadline. Practically, within a few days is good, and complaints deserve a quicker reply because the reviewer may still be deciding whether to come back. A small habit beats a perfect process: ten minutes before opening, a couple of times a week.

What not to write.

Private details: booking names, what someone ordered on a date they didn't mention, anything medical.
Offers of free things in exchange for changing a review.
The same paste-in reply on every review.
Blame on a named staff member.
Keyword-stuffed replies. They read as spam and help nobody.

Where AI drafts help, and where they don't.

AI is good at a first draft: a calm structure, a polite apology, the right length, in Japanese or English. It doesn't know what happened that night. Treat every draft as a draft: check the facts, add the detail only you know, and post it yourself. That's how ReplyPlate is built: it drafts, you post.

Questions

Common questions.

Does replying to Google reviews help my ranking?

Google says responding to reviews shows you value customers, and its local ranking guidance mentions prominence and reviews. Nobody outside Google can promise a ranking boost, but replies do help the people reading your profile decide.

Can I reply to old reviews?

Yes. A reply to an old review still shows to everyone reading your profile today.

Who should write the replies?

Ideally the owner or manager, signed with a first name. Readers trust a person more than a brand.

Draft replies right on the review page.

The ReplyPlate Chrome extension writes a first draft; you read it and post it.

Add to Chrome