Replying to a Google review takes under a minute. Deciding what to say takes longer, and that is where most replies go wrong. This guide covers both: where the reply box is, and what to put in it.
Everything below about what cafés actually write comes from 14,130 Google review replies we read from 914 UK cafés. The examples are ours, written for this guide.
Where to reply on a computer
Replies are posted from your Google Business Profile, signed in with the Google account that owns or manages it.
- Search for your café's name on Google while signed in. Your profile panel opens at the top of the results.
- Choose Read reviews.
- Find the review and choose Reply.
- Write your reply and choose Reply again to publish it.
Where to reply on your phone (Android or iPhone)
- Open the Google Maps app, signed in with the account that manages your café.
- Tap your profile picture and open your Business Profile.
- Go to Reviews, find the review and tap Reply.
- Write the reply and tap Reply to publish.
No Reply button? Then the signed-in account is not an owner or manager of the profile, or the profile is not verified yet. Fix that first; nothing else in this guide works without it. You can edit or delete your reply later from the same place.
What to write at each star rating
The cafés we read already sense that a complaint needs more words. The median reply is 67 words at one star, 57 at three and 18 at five. Length is the easy part. What matters is whether the reply is about this review.
Five stars: thank them for something they actually mentioned. If they named the flat white or the window seat, say so. Two sentences is plenty.
“Thank you — glad the cardamom bun lived up to the queue. It comes out of the oven at eight, so early Saturdays are your best bet.”
Four stars: thank them, then answer the small reservation in one plain sentence. Do not promise it will never happen again.
“Thanks for the kind words about the coffee. You're right that the back room gets warm in the afternoon; the front tables by the door are the cooler spot.”
Three stars: the reviewer is undecided, and so is everyone reading. Pick out the specific point and say what the café does, as a fact.
“Thanks for writing this up. Our sandwiches are made to order, which is why lunchtime waits run longer than the coffee queue. The soup and bread are ready to go if you're short of time.”
One or two stars: stay calm and stay on the page. Describe how the café works. Do not argue, do not concede the allegation, and do not offer anything.
“Every hot drink here is made to order and checked at the pass before it leaves the counter. Your description of Sunday afternoon has been shared with the team who were on shift.”
Five things that should never appear in a public reply
Of the 1,421 replies to one- and two-star reviews we read, 703 broke at least one of our checks. The commonest problem by far is moving the conversation off the page: 470 replies ask the reviewer to get in touch, and 617 print an email address or phone number to do it with.
- "Please email us / call us on…" Every future reader sees a business that would rather talk somewhere private. Answer here.
- "We'll refund you", "your next coffee is on us". Money or freebies in public invite the next complaint.
- "Sorry, our barista was having a bad day." That is conceding the allegation in writing, and naming a colleague in public.
- Anything the reviewer did not say: their order history, their visit time, who they came with.
- "Thanks for your feedback, hope to see you again soon!" Harmless, and says nothing — see below.
Why the stock thank-you costs more than it looks
664 sentences in what we read appear word for word at two or more separate businesses; the most repeated one turns up at 68 different cafés. A customer comparing three cafés on a Tuesday night may read your closing line under someone else's name first.
When to reply
Reviews do not arrive during opening hours. Of the 12,022 reviews we read with a usable timestamp, 6 per cent were written between ten at night and six in the morning. Reply when you can give it a clear head — the same day is good, the same minute is not necessary.
If you would rather not write them yourself
ReviewVoice writes a reply to every new review on the Business Profile you connect, in your café's voice, checks it against a fixed set of rules — including the five above — and publishes the replies that pass from the same Google account without waiting for manual approval. Each publication is recorded with a Google stamp, date and time.
Type your café's name on reviewvoice.co.uk to read the reply we would publish to one of your unanswered reviews. The first ten replies are free, with no card; after that, one monthly plan per café: Start £29 (up to 30 replies a month), Pro £49 (up to 60), Elite £89 (up to 120) or Maestro £149 (up to 250).