TL;DR: You can respond to every Google review your business gets in about 10 minutes a week using ChatGPT or Claude and one reusable prompt. The catch is that you have to set it up so the replies sound like you, not like a bot. Here’s the exact setup I use.
Most local business owners I talk to fall into one of two camps on Google reviews. Camp one doesn’t respond at all. Camp two responds to the angry ones at 11pm and regrets it in the morning. Both camps are leaving money on the table, because Google has said for years that responding to reviews is a ranking signal for your Business Profile, and customers reading reviews absolutely notice whether the owner shows up.
The reason people don’t respond isn’t that they don’t care. It’s that writing a fresh, warm, non-robotic reply to “great food, would come back” for the 40th time is soul-crushing. That’s a batching problem, and batching is what AI is good at.
The setup (do this once, 20 minutes)
Open a new chat in ChatGPT or Claude and paste in a “voice brief.” This is the part everyone skips, and it’s the part that makes the difference between replies that sound like you and replies that sound like a hotel chain.
You help me respond to Google reviews for [BUSINESS NAME], a [TYPE] in [CITY]. How we talk: [2-3 sentences. Example: "Casual and warm. We use first names. We say 'y'all.' We never say 'we apologize for any inconvenience.'"] Things we always do: - Thank them by name if their name is visible - Mention one specific thing from their review so it's clearly not a template - Keep it under 60 words for positive reviews - Sign off as [OWNER FIRST NAME] Things we never do: - Argue with a negative review - Offer refunds or discounts publicly - Use the words "valued customer," "feedback," or "inconvenience" For negative reviews: acknowledge the specific issue, take responsibility without making excuses, and invite them to reach me directly at [EMAIL OR PHONE]. Keep it under 80 words. I'll paste reviews in batches. Give me one reply per review, numbered.
Fill in the brackets with how you actually talk. If you’re not sure, pull up three texts you sent a regular customer and copy that tone. Save this prompt somewhere you can find it (a note on your phone is fine).
The weekly routine (10 minutes)
Minute 0 to 2: Open your Google Business Profile, go to Reviews, and copy every review from the past week that doesn’t have a reply. Name and star rating included.
Minute 2 to 4: Paste them all into the chat under your voice brief. Something like: “Here are this week’s reviews:” and then the list.
Minute 4 to 9: Read every reply before you post it. This is not optional. You’re checking three things: is the specific detail it pulled actually correct, does it sound like you, and did it accidentally promise something you can’t deliver. Fix anything that’s off. Usually that’s one or two out of ten.
Minute 9 to 10: Paste the replies into Google. Done until next week.
What good looks like
A review that says “Came in for my daughter’s birthday, our server Marcus was great, the key lime pie was the best I’ve had” should get a reply like:
Happy birthday to your daughter! I’ll tell Marcus you said so, he’ll be thrilled. And that key lime pie is our pastry chef’s grandmother’s recipe, so I’ll pass that along too. See y’all next time. – Justin
Not:
Thank you for your valuable feedback! We are delighted to hear that you enjoyed your dining experience with us. We look forward to serving you again soon.
The first one took the AI eight seconds and me five seconds to approve. The second one is what you get without a voice brief.
Three rules that keep this from going wrong
- Never let it post directly. Some tools will auto-reply to reviews for you. Don’t. The whole value is that a human read it. Ten minutes a week is the cost of that.
- Negative reviews still get eyes from you first. Let AI draft the reply, but read the review yourself before you read the draft. Sometimes the right answer is a phone call, not a public reply.
- Refresh the voice brief every few months. New menu, new staff, new season. Two minutes of edits keeps the replies current.
Try this
Set a 10-minute calendar block for Monday morning. Copy the prompt above, fill it in, and run last week’s reviews through it. If the replies don’t sound like you, the fix is almost always in the “how we talk” section of the brief, not in the AI. Adjust and run it again.
Justin Peters runs Zoomies Media, an AI-powered marketing agency for local and hospitality businesses in Orlando. This post was drafted with AI assistance and edited by Justin. Read about how this site works.