How to set up a Google review reply bot

You've got a dozen Google reviews waiting for a reply, and every week you mean to get to them. Unanswered reviews, especially negative ones, sit there for every new customer to read.

Step by step

1. Make sure you're an owner or manager on your Google Business Profile.
2. In Zapier or Make, use the Google Business Profile trigger for new reviews (or a review-monitoring tool if your plan doesn't include it).
3. Add an AI step with a prompt that includes your business name, tone and rules: thank positive reviewers, never argue with negative ones, offer to fix offline.
4. Send the draft to yourself by email or Slack, not straight to Google.
5. Read, tweak and post the reply yourself.
6. Once you trust it, consider auto-posting replies to 5-star reviews only.

Watch-outs

• Keep a human on negative reviews. Always.
• Never ask for or reward reviews in ways that break Google's policies or Australian Consumer Law.
• Don't paste customer personal details into replies.

A worked example

A Newcastle cafe connects its Google Business Profile to Zapier. Each new review triggers an AI step with a short prompt: the cafe's name, a friendly Aussie tone, thank happy customers and mention one thing they liked, and for anything under four stars, acknowledge, don't argue, and invite them to email the manager.

The draft lands in the owner's email. She reads it, tweaks a word or two and pastes it into Google. Most replies take under a minute. Negative reviews still get her full attention, but she's no longer starting from a blank page when she's annoyed.

What it costs in Australia

Google Business Profile is free. Zapier's free plan gives 100 tasks a month and two-step Zaps; Professional starts at US$19.99 a month billed yearly (approx. A$29) or US$29.99 monthly (approx. A$43) for 750 tasks. Make has a free plan with 1,000 credits a month; check Make's site for current paid prices. If you add an AI step, AI by Zapier is included on paid Zapier plans, or you can connect your own OpenAI or Anthropic API key and pay per use (usually cents per draft for small volumes). Dedicated review-management tools exist too, usually priced from around A$50 to several hundred dollars a month; check each vendor.

Prices are approx., October 2026, converted at about A$1.43 per US$1 where the vendor charges in US dollars. Your bank may add a foreign transaction fee. Check the vendor's pricing page before you buy.

The legal bits

Replying to reviews is a public post, not a marketing message, so the Spam Act doesn't apply to the reply itself. Australian Consumer Law does apply to reviews: don't offer incentives only for positive reviews, don't hide negative ones, and don't post fake ones. Never reveal personal details about a customer in a reply.

Privacy Act: if your chatbot or bot collects names, emails or phone numbers, that's personal information. Tell people what you collect and why, link your privacy policy, and know where your vendor stores the data (APP 8 covers sending personal information overseas). The Australian Privacy Principles apply to businesses turning over more than $3 million and to some smaller ones, such as health providers. Following them anyway is good practice and builds trust.

Questions

Can it auto-reply to everything?

It can, but I wouldn't. Bad replies to unhappy customers are public forever.

What if I have no reviews yet?

Set up the review request first (see the review request guide), then this one.

Should the chatbot or AI reply to negative reviews?

Draft only. A human should read, edit and post every negative reply.

Is there a free way to do this?

Yes. Turn on review notifications in Google Business Profile and use a saved AI prompt manually. No automation required.

Do this today

Turn on review notifications in your Google Business Profile, then reply to your three most recent reviews using an AI draft.

Related guides

• How to set up a lead follow-up bot
• How to set up an FAQ chatbot on your website
• How to set up a social media posting bot

Need prompts for the AI steps? See 40 AI use cases with copyable prompts. Want a hand? Get in touch.