How to reply to Google reviews, with templates
Every reply you write is read by people who have not decided whether to use you yet. That, rather than the reviewer, is who you are writing for.
BY CHRIS EVANS · UPDATED 28 AUGUST 2026 · 7 MIN READ
Reply to everything, keep it short, and write for the next customer rather than the last one. Positive reviews want a sentence that names what happened and nothing more. Negative reviews want acknowledgement, one line of substance, and a way to continue the conversation off the page. Never argue, never explain at length, never mention the reviewer’s personal details, and never accuse someone of lying in public even when you are certain of it. A calm reply under a bad review does more for your rating than the review costs you.
Who the reply is actually for
The reviewer has already formed their opinion and most of them will never read your response. The audience is the person scrolling your profile deciding whether to book, and they are reading the replies to work out what you are like to deal with when something goes wrong.
That changes what a good reply looks like. It is not a rebuttal and it is not customer service. It is a short, public demonstration of how you behave.
Replying to a good review
The mistake here is volume. Ten identical replies saying thank you for your kind words read as a template, which is worse than no reply. Name the specific thing, keep it to two sentences, and move on.
Thanks Sarah, glad the colour came out how you wanted it. See you in a few weeks.
Thanks for the five stars, David. Much appreciated.
Thank you, this made Tom’s day. He will be pleased you said so.
One quiet benefit: replies are indexed. If a reviewer says you fixed their boiler in Stockton and your reply repeats the service and the place naturally, that is a phrase on your profile you did not have to write copy for. Do it lightly. A reply stuffed with search terms reads exactly as it is.
Replying to a three-star review
These are the most useful reviews you will get and the ones most owners ignore. A three-star review usually contains one specific complaint inside an otherwise fine experience, and it is the easiest thing in the world to answer well.
Thanks for taking the time, Rachel. You are right that the wait was too long that afternoon, we were a member of staff down. We have changed how we cover Saturdays since. Hope to do better next time.
Acknowledge, give one line of fact, say what changed. Do not defend the wait, and do not ask them to reconsider the rating.
Replying to a bad review
Four sentences is the ceiling. Acknowledge, take responsibility for the part that is yours, offer a route off the page, sign off. Nothing else.
I am sorry, that is not the standard we work to and I would like to put it right. Could you email me at [email] or call [number] so I can look into what happened? Either way, thank you for telling us.
Sorry to see this. We do not have a record that matches, but I would genuinely like to understand what went wrong. If you can email [email] I will look into it.
We cannot find a booking or a visit matching this, so it is possible it has reached the wrong business. If we have got that wrong, please email [email] and I will look into it properly.
That last one is the hardest to write, because the temptation is to say this is fake. Do not. A reader cannot tell who is telling the truth, and the person who stays measured wins that exchange every time. Report it to Google separately if it breaks a policy.
More reviews to reply to
A stand that opens your Google review page on the customer’s own phone. One-off £19.99, programmed before it ships, no subscription and no app. Free UK delivery.
See the standFour things never to put in a public reply
- The reviewer’s personal details. Not their booking reference, not what they spent, not their medical or personal circumstances, not what they said on the phone. Beyond being a bad look it can put you the wrong side of data protection.
- An accusation. Calling a review fake, a lie, or a competitor’s work reads badly whether or not you are right.
- A long explanation. Length signals defensiveness. If the reply needs five paragraphs, it needs a phone call instead.
- A request to change or remove the rating. It rarely works and it looks like the review was the problem rather than the experience.
A working routine
- Check reviews once a day, or set Business Profile notifications so you are not relying on remembering.
- Reply to good ones in a batch, in under a minute each, varying the wording.
- Sit on anything under three stars overnight, then write four sentences.
- Keep a note of what people complain about. Three mentions of the same thing is not a review problem, it is an operations problem.
- Edit replies later if you fix the thing they raised. A reply that says this has now changed is worth more than the original.
What replying will not do
It will not raise your average. Only new reviews do that, and the arithmetic is unforgiving once you have a low rating on a small number of reviews. Replying well protects the reviews you have and reassures the people reading; collecting steadily is what actually moves the number.
Common questions
Should you reply to every Google review?
Yes, including the good ones. Replies are public and they are read by people deciding whether to use you, so a profile where the owner answers everything reads as a business that pays attention. Replies also give you a second chance to use the words customers search for.
How quickly should you reply to a bad review?
Within a day or two if you can, but not within the first hour. The gap is useful: it stops you writing the reply you want to write rather than the one that helps. Anything longer than a week looks like nobody is reading.
Can you get a bad Google review removed?
Only if it breaks a policy: fake, off-topic, abusive, containing personal information, or posted by a competitor. Google will not remove a review for being unfair or inaccurate. Report it if it qualifies, and reply calmly either way, because the reply is the part you control.
Should you offer a refund in a public reply?
No. Offer to sort it and move the detail to a phone number or an email address. A public refund offer invites people to leave a bad review to get one, and it commits you before you know what happened.
Does replying to reviews help local ranking?
Google states that responding to reviews shows you value your customers and their feedback. Treat the ranking effect as secondary: the reliable benefit is that a reader deciding between you and a competitor sees an owner who answers.