Google Review Automation Tool
Automation is what keeps asking from depending on memory. It is also where review tools most often cross a line, so it is worth being precise about what is automated and what must not be.
25 free Google review requests get added to your first month's plan
What is worth automating
- Sending the review link the moment a job is finished, instead of whenever someone remembers.
- Choosing the channel: SMS and WhatsApp, so the message reaches the customer wherever they read.
- Skipping customers who have already been asked or have already reviewed.
- One polite reminder to those who have not replied.
- Keeping the count of requests per branch, per month, against your plan.
What must never be automated
A tool that asks customers how they felt and then sends only the happy ones to Google is doing review gating. Google’s policy prohibits selectively soliciting positive reviews, and the reviews collected that way can be removed. Some tools sell this as a feature. It is a risk to your profile, not a feature.
- Writing or posting reviews on a customer’s behalf.
- Offering discounts, gifts or entries in return for a review.
- Filtering who gets asked based on how happy they seem.
- Reviews from staff, friends or family, automated or not.
Automation still needs a human at two points
- 1
The moment of the ask
Someone decides the job is done and the customer is happy enough to be asked. In LocalFirst that is the three taps at the counter.
- 2
The reply
Replies are public and are read by the next customer. A short, specific reply, especially to a bad review, is worth more than the automation that collected it.
Common questions
Can reviews be collected completely automatically?
The request can be automatic; the review cannot. Only the customer can write and post it, signed in to their own Google account.
Does automation risk my Google Business Profile?
Asking every customer with the same message does not. Incentives, gating and bought reviews do, and Google removes those reviews and can restrict the profile.
Can I automate replies to reviews?
You can, but a generic reply reads as one. Replies are short; writing them yourself is worth the few minutes.
Automate the asking, not the reviews
Every customer asked at the right moment, by SMS and WhatsApp, within Google’s rules.