Replying to reviews

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.

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.

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.