Reviews

Your Google reviews are one of the biggest factors in whether a nearby customer chooses you. theStacc pulls every review for your Google Business Profile into one place so you can read them, reply quickly with an AI-drafted response, and keep an eye on your overall rating - all without leaving the dashboard.

Keep dashboard#

Open Local SEO > Reviews for the business you want to manage. theStacc shows the reviews it has synced from your Google Business Profile, newest first.

If you don't see any reviews yet, click Sync Data to fetch them. theStacc reads your reviews from Google (it does not delete or alter them) and refreshes automatically when your data is stale - see Data Sync for how and when syncing happens. Each pull captures both your newest reviews and your lowest-rated ones, so negative reviews that need a reply never get buried.

When reviews refresh, any work you've already done is preserved. A review you've replied to or marked as handled keeps its status; only genuinely new reviews come in flagged as needing attention.

Sub-tabs#

At the top of the list you can switch between two views:

• All Reviews - every review for this business.
• Replied - only reviews that already have an AI response drafted, copied, or published.

Filtering and sorting#

Filter by status#

Every review carries a status that tells you where it is in your workflow:

• New - synced from Google and not yet handled. These are the ones that need your attention.
• Response generated - theStacc has drafted an AI reply, but you haven't acted on it yet. The dashboard labels this Responded.
• Response copied - you copied the reply to paste into Google yourself. The dashboard labels this Copied.
• Response published - the reply was posted directly to your Google Business Profile from theStacc.
• Ignored - a review you've chosen to set aside so it stops showing up as needing attention.

Filter by rating#

Use the rating dropdown to narrow the list:

• All Reviews - the full history.
• Needs Attention - every review rated 3 stars or lower. These are the reviews where a thoughtful reply matters most.
• 5 Star, 4 Star, 3 Star, 2 Star, 1 Star - show only reviews with that exact rating.

Each option shows a live count next to it, so you can see at a glance how many 1-star reviews you have or how many still need attention.

Sorting#

Reviews can be ordered by:

• Newest (the default) - most recent reviews first.
• Oldest - oldest reviews first.
• Lowest - lowest star ratings first, so unhappy customers rise to the top.
• Highest - highest star ratings first.

Review details#

Each review in the list shows:

• The reviewer's name (or "Anonymous" if Google didn't share one) and profile photo when available.
• A star rating badge, color-coded green for 4-5 stars, amber for 3 stars, and red for 1-2 stars.
• The date the review was posted.
• The review text. If the customer left a rating with no written review, theStacc shows "Rating only - no written review."
• A status badge showing where the review is in your workflow.
• Your AI response (if one has been drafted) and, where relevant, the date it was generated, copied, or published.

AI responses#

For any review, theStacc can draft a professional, personalized reply for you.

1. Find the review you want to reply to.
2. Click Generate Response.
3. theStacc writes a reply and the review moves to the Responded status.

The reply is tailored to the review's tone:

• Positive reviews (4-5 stars) get a warm thank-you that references what the customer praised and invites them back.
• Neutral reviews (3 stars) thank the customer, acknowledge their concerns, and offer to improve their next visit.
• Negative reviews (1-2 stars) open with a sincere apology, take responsibility without being defensive, address the specific issue, and offer a way to make it right.

Responses are short and natural - usually two to four sentences - and use your business name. They avoid generic filler, excuses, and blaming the customer.

Add your own touch#

When generating a reply you can optionally provide:

• An owner or signer name - the reply is signed off from that person instead of "the business team."
• Additional context - anything specific you want the reply to mention or account for (for example, "we've since fixed the wait-time issue" or "offer them a free coffee on their next visit").

Regenerate#

Not happy with the draft? Click Regenerate to get a fresh take. theStacc writes a new reply from scratch, and you can keep regenerating until it sounds right.

Copy or publish#

Once you have a reply you like, you have two ways to use it:

• Copy - copies the reply text to your clipboard so you can paste it into Google yourself. theStacc marks the review as Copied so you can track which ones you've handled manually.
• Post Reply - publishes the reply directly to your Google Business Profile, no copy-paste needed. This button only appears when your Google Business Profile is connected. (See Google Business Profile to connect.)

You can only post a reply after a response has been generated for that review.

Publishing a reply directly#

When your Google Business Profile is connected, Post Reply sends your drafted response straight to Google.

To post the reply to the correct review, theStacc matches your review against the review inbox on your connected profile. It matches on the reviewer's name, the full review text, and the timestamp (within a 24-hour window). Requiring an exact text match plus a tight time window makes it effectively impossible to reply to the wrong review.

A few things to know:

• If theStacc can't confidently single out the matching review - for example, two different reviews look identical - it will refuse to post and ask you to copy and paste the reply manually instead. This is a safety feature, not a bug.
• If the review hasn't finished syncing to your connected profile yet, posting may not be available immediately. Try again in a little while, or use Copy to publish it manually.
• If a publish attempt fails, theStacc records the reason and shows it on the review so you know exactly what went wrong before trying again.

After a successful post, the review moves to the Published status and is labeled Published Reply.

Compliance check for regulated businesses#

If your business is in a regulated field (such as legal, healthcare, or finance) and you've turned on the compliance layer, every reply is checked before it can be posted to Google.

The check runs automatically when you click Post Reply. If the reply contains language that needs a human's review, theStacc holds it back, does not post it, and shows you the reason on the review. There's no way to override the hold - this is by design, so a non-compliant reply can never reach the public. Fix the reply (regenerate it or adjust your context) and try again, or copy it out for manual handling after your own review.

For most businesses this check does nothing at all and replies post normally. To learn what the compliance layer does and how to enable it, see Advertising Compliance.

Metrics#

The Reviews dashboard tracks the health of your reputation over time:

• Total reviews - the total number of reviews on your Google Business Profile, taken directly from Google's own count.
• Average rating - your overall star rating, taken directly from Google.
• Rating distribution - how many reviews you have at each star level, from 1 to 5.
• Reviews this week - how many new reviews came in over the last seven days.
• Needing a response - how many reviews are still in the New status and haven't been handled.
• Needs attention - how many reviews are rated 3 stars or lower.

Your total review count and average rating always come straight from Google rather than being calculated from the sample theStacc syncs, so they match what customers see on your listing.

Best practices#

• Respond to every review, positive or negative. An active review profile is a local ranking signal and shows prospective customers you're engaged.
• Reply quickly - within 24 to 48 hours has the most impact. Use the Needs Attention filter to triage the reviews that matter most first.
• Personalize the AI draft. The generated reply is a strong starting point - add the owner name or extra context, or regenerate, so it sounds like a real person from your team.
• Lead with empathy on negative reviews. Apologize, take responsibility, and move the conversation offline by offering a way to make it right.
• Connect your Google Business Profile so you can post replies in one click instead of copying and pasting. See Google Business Profile.
• Keep your reviews fresh by letting theStacc sync regularly, so new reviews surface for a reply while they're still recent. See Data Sync.