The Review Responder writes four reply options for a customer review — a recommended reply plus short, warm, and professional variations — tuned to the star rating, the platform, and your chosen tone. This guide explains each setting and how to get from draft to posted reply.
Step 1: Paste the review
Paste the complete review text, exactly as written. Don't summarise it: the specific complaint or compliment ("cold food", "the lemon tart", "the box arrived crushed") is what the reply needs to address to sound personal.
If the review is in another language, you can still paste it. Set the reply language under "More details" if you want the reply in a language other than English.
Step 2: Choose the rating goal
- 1–2 Stars · Defuse — the goal is containment: acknowledge quickly, don't argue, and move the conversation to a private channel.
- 3 Stars · Improve — an almost-happy customer; thank them, name the fix, give them a reason to come back.
- 4–5 Stars · Engage — brief, specific thanks and a natural next step.
Step 3: Choose the tone
- Apologetic — for real service failures; owns the issue before anything else.
- Neutral — for mixed reviews and disputed facts.
- Upbeat — for happy customers.
- Professional & Firm — for unfair or false reviews; courteous, corrects the record once.
- VIP / Gratitude — for loyal customers and detailed positive reviews.
Step 4: Choose the platform and length
The platform setting adjusts conventions: app store replies are best kept short, Yelp readers expect a personal voice, and Google replies are shown in Search and Maps. Length can be short, medium, or long — medium suits most public replies. If you need "long", consider whether the details belong in a private message instead.
Step 5: Add business details (optional)
Under "More details", the business type (for example, "family-run Italian restaurant") helps the reply use the right vocabulary, and reply language sets the output language.
Step 6: Choose a variation and personalise it
Read all four replies and choose the one closest to your voice. Then make it yours:
- Add the real next step. The tool is instructed never to claim an investigation, refund, or fix has happened, because it can't know. If you are offering something, add it: "I've refunded your delivery fee."
- Add the contact route. Replace any placeholder with your real email or phone number.
- Sign it with a name. "— Dana, owner" reads more human than "The Team".
- Mention staff by name only if the reviewer did, and only if your staff are comfortable with it.
Step 7: Post it on the platform
Copy the reply into your Google Business Profile, Yelp for Business, Facebook Page, Trustpilot, or app store console. AIBizKit doesn't post on your behalf and doesn't need access to your accounts.
Worked example
Review: "Arrived late and the box was crushed. Product is fine but I wouldn't order again." Rating goal: 1–2 Stars · Defuse. Tone: Apologetic. Platform: Google. Length: Medium.
A good reply acknowledges both the late delivery and the crushed box, apologises without excuses, and invites them to get in touch privately. Before posting, you'd add what you're actually willing to do — "I'd like to refund your shipping" — and your real contact details.
Things never to do in a reply
- Argue the facts in public, or accuse the reviewer of lying.
- Share personal or order details the reviewer didn't mention.
- Offer a discount in exchange for changing or removing a review — review platforms prohibit this.
- Copy-paste the same reply on every review.
Privacy note
Reviews often contain names and personal details, so AIBizKit never caches this tool's results and doesn't store the review text. See how we handle your data.
For the reasoning behind each step, read How to Respond to a Negative Google Review and How to Reply to Positive Reviews, or start from a review response template.