Reputation

Your Reviews Are Your Sales Team: Using AI to Ask, Answer and Learn

How AI can request reviews where platforms allow it, draft replies you approve, and sum up feedback. Never request Yelp reviews.

By JBthaGREAT4 min read
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Photo: Centre for Ageing Better on Unsplash

Your reviews sit right next to your business name online. Anyone deciding whether to call you, walk in or book you can read them. They work for you around the clock, or against you, depending on what they say and how you answer them.

Requesting reviews where the platform allows it, replying to reviews, and spotting the pattern in the complaints all take time you may not have.

An AI assistant can help with all three jobs: asking, answering and learning. It sends unbiased review requests only on platforms that permit them, drafts replies for you to approve, and sums up what customers keep praising and complaining about. Yelp says businesses must not ask for Yelp reviews. You can still use Yelp reviews for replies and learning. Follow each platform's policy as well as the rules below.

Job 1: Ask without screening, where requests are allowed

First check the destination's policy. Yelp's policy says not to ask anyone for a Yelp review, so leave Yelp out of the request workflow.

On platforms that permit requests, the assistant can send a short, friendly request after a visit, order or job. Apply the same rule to customers whether you think they were happy or not; do not screen for positive feedback.

That last part matters. The Federal Trade Commission was asked whether a business can ask for reviews only from customers it thinks are happy. Its answer: "The rule does not contain a specific prohibition against such conduct. But this practice could violate the FTC Act."

If the request goes out by text, the texting rules apply too. The FCC says: "Commercial texts require written consent." So only text customers who agreed to get texts from you. Any email request must also follow the applicable email rules and the destination platform’s policy; changing channels does not make a Yelp request allowed.

Job 2: Answer every review

When a review comes in, the assistant drafts a reply in your voice. You read it, change what you want, and post it. Nothing posts without your OK.

A good reply to a happy customer thanks them by name and mentions what they liked. A good reply to an unhappy customer:

  • Thanks them for telling you.
  • Owns what went wrong, without excuses.
  • Offers to make it right, and gives a way to reach you directly.
  • Never argues, accuses or threatens.

The FTC says you can respond publicly to a negative review, "and yes, you should watch what you say." Its rule forbids accusations about the reviewer that you know are false, and threats or intimidation to get a review taken down.

Job 3: Learn from what customers say

Once a month, the assistant reads all your new reviews and writes a short summary. What do people praise most? What do they complain about most? Is anything new showing up?

Request reviews only on platforms that allow it; never request Yelp reviews. Approve replies and learn from the monthly summary.

The rules, in plain English

The FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule "went into effect on October 21, 2024." Here's what that means for an AI review assistant:

  • AI never writes reviews. The FTC says a business "could be liable if it wrote or created fake or false reviews." The assistant drafts your replies only.
  • Follow the platform's request policy. Never request Yelp reviews. Where requests are allowed, don't screen out customers you think are unhappy.
  • Never hide negative reviews. The FTC says organizing reviews isn't suppression, but organizing them so negative reviews are hard to find "could be an unfair or deceptive act or practice."
  • Don't reward only good reviews. The FTC warns against incentives "conditioned on the writing or creation of consumer reviews expressing a particular sentiment."

This is a plain-English summary, not legal advice. The FTC's question-and-answer page is linked below.

What you need to set it up

  • Where your reviews live, like Google, Yelp or Facebook, and which platforms currently allow requests. Yelp belongs only in the reply and learning workflow.
  • Your customer list, with each customer's permission to text if you plan to text.
  • A few replies you've written that sound like you.
  • Who gets alerted when a low rating comes in.

Questions to ask before you buy

  • Does it block Yelp review requests and follow each destination’s policy, with no screening for happy customers where requests are allowed?
  • Does anything post without my approval?
  • Does it ever write or post reviews? (The answer must be no.)
  • Can it show me a monthly summary of what customers praise and complain about?

If you want help asking, answering and learning from reviews, tell me what you want built. I'll send you a custom quote. No sales calls.

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