Replying to Reviews
Write public and private replies to engage with customers and build trust.
Responding to reviews demonstrates your business listens and cares. Public replies show all customers how you handle feedback. Private replies let you discuss sensitive issues directly with the reviewer. Both build relationships and encourage loyalty.
Before you start: Your first reply to a review consumes a reply credit. Follow-up replies to the same review are free. Learn about your plan's limits.
Why reply to reviews?
Responding to every review - positive or negative - shows customers you're engaged. Quick, professional replies build trust and demonstrate your commitment to service. Negative reviews are opportunities to show how you solve problems.
Best practice: Reply within 8 hours for maximum TrustIndex impact.
The review detail view
Click any review card in the Reply page to expand it. The detail view shows:
Action bar at the top with: Reply, Push, Report, Tags, Branches, and Review Link. For Google reviews, the Report button is not available.
Customer Details card showing the reviewer's first name and "Click to view details". Expanding this for the first time consumes a review credit and reveals their full name, email, and mobile number. Once unlocked, you can view their details as many times as you want.
View Reviewer History link to see previous reviews from this customer. Clicking this opens a dialog showing the customer's first name and first letter of their surname, along with a list of all their previous reviews. This is useful for understanding whether someone is a repeat reviewer and their history with your business.
Tags and Branch assigned to this review, shown below the customer details.
Conversation section showing the full thread between the reviewer and your business. Your replies appear under your business name in green, with a Public or Private badge and a three-dot menu for editing or deleting. Reviewer messages appear in blue with their name and "(Reviewer)" label. All messages show timestamps.
Add your reply section with a text area ("Write your reply..."), a Public / Private toggle at the bottom left, and a send button (arrow icon) at the bottom right. Use template appears at the top right of this section. On Growth plans, the Private toggle and Use template show a "Premium" badge as these are Premium features.
Team notes section at the bottom for internal notes visible only to your team. Use this to flag reviews for colleagues, add context, or track follow-up actions. Notes show who wrote them and when.
Writing a public reply
A public reply is visible to all customers on Hellopeter and Google (if connected).
1. In the Add your reply section, click the text area ("Write your reply...")
2. Type your response
3. Make sure Public is selected in the toggle at the bottom left
4. Click the send button (arrow icon) at the bottom right
Your reply appears immediately in the conversation thread under your business name with a Public badge.
Note: For Google reviews, only public replies are available.
Using saved replies (Premium only)
Premium plans can save reply templates and reuse them across reviews.
5. Click Use template (top right of the reply section)
6. The Saved replies accordion opens, showing your saved templates with title and preview text
7. Click any template to insert it into the reply field
8. Edit the text if needed
9. Click the send button
To create a new saved reply:
10. Click + Add new saved reply at the bottom of the Saved replies accordion
11. In the Add New Saved Reply dialog, enter a Title (e.g., "Thank you response")
12. Enter your Reply Content
13. Click Save Reply
Your saved replies are available for all future reviews.
Note: Saved replies are a Premium feature. On Growth plans, Use template shows a "Premium" badge.
Writing a private reply (Premium only)
Private replies are visible only to the reviewer when they're signed into Hellopeter. Use private replies for sensitive information or issues you want to discuss privately.
14. Click in the reply text area
15. Type your response
16. Click Private in the toggle at the bottom left
17. Click the send button
Private replies appear in the conversation thread with a "Private" badge. The reviewer gets a notification and can view it in their account.
Note: Private replies are a Premium feature. On Growth plans, the Private toggle shows a "Premium" badge. Private replies are not available for Google reviews.
Adding team notes
Team notes are internal and never visible to the reviewer. Use them to coordinate with colleagues on how to handle a review.
18. Scroll to the Team notes section at the bottom of the review
19. Type your note in the "Add a note..." field
20. Click the + button to save
Each note shows who wrote it (e.g., "Admin") and the date. Your entire team can see and add notes on any review.
Editing a reply
You can edit your replies after sending them.
21. Find your reply in the conversation thread
22. Click the three-dot menu icon on the right of your reply
23. Select Edit
24. Update your reply text
25. Click Save
The edited reply shows an "Edited" label with the date and time.
Deleting a reply
Remove a reply if you made a mistake or need to revise your approach.
26. Find your reply in the conversation thread
27. Click the three-dot menu icon on the right of your reply
28. Select Delete
29. Confirm the deletion in the popup
Deleted replies are removed from the conversation thread immediately.
Warning: Deleted replies cannot be recovered.
Understanding reply credits
Your first reply to a review consumes one reply credit. Follow-up replies to the same review are free.
Your plan's reply limit:
• Free Trial: Same as G1
• Growth Monthly: Monthly reply credits that renew on your billing date
• Growth Annual: Yearly reply credits included with your plan
• Premium P1-P3: Set number of reply credits for the year
• Premium P4: Unlimited reply credits
When you run out of credits, the reply section shows Reply Locked with the message "You've used all your reply credits" and the text area is disabled. Two buttons appear: Buy Credits and Upgrade Plan.
On Growth Monthly plans, you can wait for credits to renew on your billing date, upgrade to a higher Growth Monthly tier, or switch to Growth Annual or Premium. On Growth Annual and Premium P1-P3 plans, you can purchase additional credits inline using the Buy Credits button.
Viewing customer details
The Customer Details card shows the reviewer's first name with "Click to view details". Expanding it for the first time consumes a review credit, which unlocks the customer's full name, email, and mobile number.
When you've used all your review credits, the details appear as redacted dashes. The card shows "You've used all your review credits" with Buy Credits and Upgrade Plan buttons.
Using Push
The Push button in the action bar opens a dropdown with four options:
• Create an Ad - Create a social proof ad from this review
• Push to Facebook - Share the review to Facebook
• Push to X - Share the review to X
• Push to LinkedIn - Share the review to LinkedIn
Reporting a review
If a Hellopeter review violates the platform's guidelines, click Report in the action bar. Select a reason and submit. The review is flagged for investigation by the Hellopeter team. You can track the status using the Report Status filter on the Reply page.
Note: Reporting is only available for Hellopeter reviews. Google reviews cannot be reported through the portal.
Assigning tags and branches
Click Tags in the action bar to add or remove tags from a review. Click Branches to assign the review to a specific branch location. These help you organise and filter reviews.
Review Link
Click Review Link in the action bar to copy a direct link to this review on Hellopeter. Useful for sharing specific reviews internally or on social media.
What to include in a reply
Good replies:
• Thank the reviewer for their feedback
• Acknowledge their specific concern (show you read carefully)
• Apologise if something went wrong (take responsibility)
• Explain what you're doing to fix it
• Keep it professional (no arguments, no defensiveness)
• Stay brief
What NOT to include in a reply
Never include in public replies:
• Reviewer's full name (use "Hi" or initials only)
• Email address or phone number
• Account numbers or ID numbers
• Sensitive personal information
Use private replies (Premium only) if you need to discuss personal details.
Replying to follow-up comments
When a reviewer responds to your reply, the conversation continues in the Conversation section. You can reply again using the same process. Check your Unreplied comments filter to see reviews waiting for your follow-up.
Dealing with negative reviews
Negative reviews are learning opportunities, not attacks.
How to respond:
30. Stay calm: Don't reply immediately if you're upset
31. Read carefully: Understand exactly what went wrong
32. Apologise: Even if you disagree, show empathy for their experience
33. Explain: What happened and why
34. Offer resolution: Ask how you can make it right
35. Take it offline: Suggest they contact you directly to resolve the issue
Addressing negative reviews shows all customers you care about fixing problems.
Tip: Private replies (Premium) are ideal for negative reviews so you can discuss sensitive issues directly with the unhappy customer.
Replies and review channels
Hellopeter reviews: Public and private replies available. Can report reviews. Full action bar.
Google reviews: Public replies only. No private reply option. Cannot report through the portal.
Common issues
"My reply section shows Reply Locked"
You've used all your reply credits. Click Buy Credits to purchase more or Upgrade Plan to increase your limit.
"I don't see a private reply option"
Private replies require a Premium plan. On Growth plans, the Private toggle shows a "Premium" badge.
"Customer details show dashes instead of contact info"
You've used all your review credits. Click Buy Credits or Upgrade Plan to unlock customer data.
Still need help? Use the live chat inside your portal to get in touch with our customer success team.