NightshiftDirect

Glossary

Review replies

A review reply is the public answer a business posts under a customer's review on its Business Profile. It appears as the business, not as a person, and everyone who reads the review can read it.

Also called review responses, owner responses.

By NightshiftDirect Research. Published . Updated .

How a reply gets posted

Only a verified business can reply. Each reply is checked against Google's content policies before it goes up, which usually takes minutes and sometimes much longer (Google Business Profile Help). Once approved, it appears below the review in your business's name rather than yours.

Google tells the reviewer that you answered, and they are free to edit their review after reading it (same page).

What Google suggests you write

Google treats replying as good practice and asks for replies that are professional, polite, short and simple (Google Business Profile Help). Spend the effort where a reply adds something, an update or an answer to a question, instead of posting one stock thank-you under every review. Replies are no place for deals or promotions (same page).

For a critical review the same page goes further. Keep the reviewer's private details out of it, do not attack them, invite them to phone or email when the matter is complicated, and say honestly what you can and cannot do (same page).

Answering a bad review within the FTC rule

The Federal Trade Commission's guidance on its reviews rule says a business may answer a negative review in public, and should be careful about what it writes (FTC questions and answers). The rule prohibits accusing the reviewer of something you know to be untrue, or saying it with reckless disregard for whether it is true. It also prohibits physical threats or intimidation aimed at getting the review altered or deleted (same page). This is general information, not legal advice.

Before you post, read the reply as the reviewer will. If it says something about them you could not show to be true, or reads as pressure to take the review down, rewrite it.

Health practices: never confirm a patient

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Office for Civil Rights, settled with a California dental practice over patient information it disclosed in replies to online reviews. HHS says that disclosing protected health information in answer to patient reviews is illegal under HIPAA (HHS).

So a practice's reply says nothing that confirms the reviewer is a patient, and nothing about their care. One test before it posts: would the reply read the same if this person had never been through your door? This is general information, not legal advice.

Replies, ranking and our part

Google's tips on local ranking present replying as a way to show customers that their feedback matters to you, and say that helpful replies can set a business apart (Google Business Profile Help). They do not list replies among the factors that decide local results.

Our Review Engine includes "drafted replies to every review within one business day", as the plan puts it. Replies to negative reviews that mention facts wait for your approval. Your reviews are beyond the free scan; they appear among the things it does not measure.

Questions

Does a star rating with nothing written need a reply at all?

Yes, a brief one. Google lists replying to reviews as best practice (Google Business Profile Help). A bare rating gives you nothing to pick up on, so one line is the whole reply. For a good rating that line is thanks. For a low one, keep it polite and ask them to call or email so you can hear what went wrong (same page).

Can a reply offer an unhappy customer money off next time?

No. Google's tips rule out deals and promotions in replies (Google Business Profile Help), and its Maps policy forbids any incentive to revise or take down a negative review, which an offer in a reply can look like (Google Maps content policy). Invite them to call, sort it out off the page, and keep whatever you agree separate from the review.

How long should a reply to a review be?

A few lines. Google asks for replies that are short and simple (Google Business Profile Help). For a good review, that is usually one sentence that picks up something the customer said and one that adds a useful detail. A health practice keeps even that reply to thanks, since picking up on the visit can tell readers the reviewer is a patient. A bad review may need a third sentence, with a way to reach you.

Can our practice thank a patient by name in a reply?

Leave the name out. "Thank you for the kind words" needs no name, and a reply that would fit under anyone's review gives nothing away. What has to stay out is anything that tells readers the reviewer was treated by you: the visit, the treatment, who saw them. HHS treats that kind of disclosure in review replies as illegal under HIPAA (HHS). This is general information, not legal advice.

Where this fits in our work

We handle this as part of Review management: Review requests after every job and a drafted reply to every review, within the rules Google and the FTC set.

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