# Replying to reviews

> How to write and publish a reply, use templates and AI drafts, what the check before publishing looks for, how approvals work for low ratings, and what happens when a site refuses a reply.

Source: https://docs.bifrostorbit.com/presence/everyone/replying/

Replies are written in the reply box under the review. Where the site allows it, Presence Orbit publishes the reply on the site itself: Google, Facebook and Trustpilot do. Replies you or a colleague post on the site directly come back into Presence Orbit with the next sync, so the inbox never disagrees with Google.

## Write a reply

1. Open the review in **Reviews**.
2. Write in the box, or start from **Use a template** or **Draft with AI**.
3. Select **Publish reply**, or press ⌘ Enter (Ctrl Enter on Windows).

The review is marked done once the reply is published. **Save draft** keeps your text for later, and a review with a draft stays under **Needs reply**.

A good reply thanks the reviewer by name, answers what they actually wrote, and for a problem apologises briefly and invites them to get in touch. For example: "Thank you, Ingrid, and sorry the kayak strap let you down in Bergen. We'd like to hear more: please get in touch with the shop."

## Templates

**Reply templates**, under **Settings** in the sidebar, keeps the replies your team uses often. A template can fill in the reviewer's first name `{first_name}`, the location `{location}`, your business name `{organisation}` and your signature `{signature}`. Templates that fit the review's rating and language are offered first. Change a word or two before you send: copied replies are easy to spot.

## AI drafts

**Draft with AI** writes two different drafts in the review's language, using the location's details and your brand voice. Select one to put it in the box, then edit it. See [AI drafts and topics](https://docs.bifrostorbit.com/presence/everyone/ai/).

## The check before publishing

Every reply is checked as you type:

- **Stops publishing:** an order, booking or case number, which confirms details about the customer in public; or asking the reviewer to change or remove their review, or linking a reward to it, which Google, the US FTC and the UK's DMCC Act forbid.
- **Warns:** an email address or phone number, in case it is the customer's rather than yours, and a promise of a refund.

## Approvals

Under **AI**, an Admin can choose that replies to low ratings, such as three stars or fewer, need approval. Approvals are in the Growth plan and above.

- An Editor's reply to such a review shows **Send for approval**. It waits under **Waiting for approval**, and everyone who approves gets a notification.
- An approver opens it, edits it if needed and selects **Approve and publish**, or writes what to change and selects **Send back**. The writer gets a notification either way.
- Approvers' own replies are published straight away.

Admins always approve. An Admin can let an Editor approve too, under **People**. See [Approving replies](https://docs.bifrostorbit.com/presence/everyone/approving-replies/).

## When a site refuses a reply

Sometimes a site doesn't take a reply, for example when Google's rules reject it or a connection has expired. The reply is kept, the review shows what the site said, and Admins get a notification. Fix the text or the connection and select **Try again**.

## Sites without replies

Reviews imported from a file, or from sites that don't take replies through their API, show **Copy and mark as replied**. Presence Orbit copies your reply and opens the review on the site, so you can paste it there, and marks the review as replied.

## Edit or remove a published reply

Select **Edit the reply** to change it on the site. **Remove it** deletes it on Google and Trustpilot; on Facebook, remove it on Facebook itself.