Managing reviews and mentions online has become a critically important part of every modern business strategy. So today, we’re launching a new tool to make reputation management easier than ever before: the Review Response Assistant (RRA).

Why do review responses matter? Because you can amplify positive comments, mitigate negative ones, and engage with your audience one-on-one. There’s also a significant SEO factor: each successive update to Google’s algorithm places more importance on reviews and review responses, so reputation management should be a priority if you’re trying to enhance your online visibility.

Of course, it can also be extremely time consuming. The more reviews you receive across hundreds of store locations and dozens of websites, the harder it becomes to respond in a timely, cohesive way. The Assistant solves that problem for multilocation brands.

How does it work?

The Review Response Assistant is the next logical step from our Pre-Populated Review Responses, offering an intelligent way to respond to reviews based on set rules rather than manually selecting templated replies. It automatically posts responses based on each review’s source, star rating, and content, selecting from a set of potential responses with zero ongoing effort from the business owner or marketing team.

Importantly, the real people tasked with review responses are always in control—after all, there are few things more dispiriting for customers than replies that are obviously automated, repetitive, or flagrantly off-topic. The Assistant will never overwrite a custom response, and anything submitted by the tool can always be edited by the team, who retain complete control of all public-facing content.

The Assistant saves you a priceless commodity: time

Most businesses want more reviews, but that also means carving out more time to respond to them. With the Review Response Assistant, you’re not only ensuring that every review gets a response—you’re saving time for your team to focus on the reviews that really matter. Text-heavy reviews, for instance, can reveal valuable insights on how to improve your business. Negative reviews, on the other hand, demand an appropriate response and action plan. You can give both these situations the attention and priority they need while the Assistant takes care of all the heavy lifting.

Most marketers already know that search engines are prioritising reviews as a ranking factor. But did you know that they’re also using review content to answer to voice search queries and automatically populate business listings? Your customers, meanwhile, expect review responses within 24 hours and don’t consider reviews over three months old to be relevant.

It all adds up to one thing: reviews have become a critical aspect of modern marketing, and businesses that fail to engage in conversations with their customers are handing their competitors an advantage. So check in with our experts to see how the Review Response Assistant—and our wider local marketing platforms—can help you transform your online reviews into a potent promotional tool.