Google Maps Negative Review AI Monitor

Monitor and manage your Google reviews — new negative reviews and owner replies since the last check. By default, the queue includes unanswered reviews below 3 stars. Run it again tomorrow and get only the changes that need attention.

Planning package only. This Actor has not been scaffolded, deployed, or published yet.

Engine spike required first: see ../../../docs/engines/gmaps_engine/prd.md. First ship target is monitoring with built-in dataset exports and optional AI reply drafts. Replies are never posted automatically.

Fleet slot: #1.

Use this Actor when you need to

• Create a saved baseline for one or more Google Maps locations.
• Find new unanswered reviews at or below your selected star gate.
• Detect owner replies added since the last check.
• Close resolved alerts without rebuilding a review spreadsheet.
• Run a small daily or weekly reply queue through an MCP client or Apify schedule.

Do not use this Actor for

• Exporting every Google Maps review.
• Sentiment analysis or complaint-theme mining.
• Competitor benchmarking.
• Google Maps listing phone, website, or opening-hours changes.
• Posting replies automatically to Google Maps.

Exports and AI drafts

Capability	What it does	Availability
Dataset exports	Downloads the same queue as JSON, JSONL, CSV, XLSX, XML, HTML, or RSS.	First ship target
Optional AI reply drafts	Adds suggestedReply to eligible open negative-review rows when generateAiReplyDrafts=true.	Opt-in

The default Apify dataset handles file downloads. No custom export service is needed. AI drafts are suggestions for human review and are never posted automatically.

For raw review exports, use Kaix Google Maps Reviews Scraper or Compass Google Maps Reviews Scraper.

For broad reputation intelligence, use Google Maps Reviews Scraper + Reputation Intelligence.

How it works

1. Give the Actor Google Maps location URLs and a stable monitorId.
2. The first run stores a baseline snapshot.
3. Later runs fetch the review window needed for the diff.
4. Reviews are deduplicated by their stable Google review ID.
5. The Actor returns:
   • new unanswered reviews that pass stars <= maxStars,
   • owner replies newly observed on old alerts,
   • one summary row per checked location.

The saved snapshot is the product value. A raw scraper answers "what exists now." This Actor answers "what changed and what needs a reply."

Input

Create an explicit baseline:

{
  "locationUrls": [
    "https://www.google.com/maps/place/..."
  ],
  "monitorId": "acme-us-stores",
  "mode": "reset_baseline",
  "language": "en"
}

Check changes later:

{
  "locationUrls": [
    "https://www.google.com/maps/place/..."
  ],
  "monitorId": "acme-us-stores",
  "mode": "check_for_changes",
  "maxStars": 2,
  "generateAiReplyDrafts": true,
  "language": "en"
}

Field	Required	Default	What it does
locationUrls	yes	-	Google Maps place URLs to monitor
monitorId	yes	-	Stable saved-watchlist name reused on later runs
mode	no	check_for_changes	reset_baseline or check_for_changes
maxStars	no	2	Include unanswered reviews with stars <= maxStars; allowed values are 1, 2, or 3
generateAiReplyDrafts	no	false	Add a suggested human-reviewed reply to eligible open review rows
language	no	en	Google Maps language code

check_for_changes creates a baseline automatically when no prior snapshot exists. The selected maxStars value is stored with the monitor. Create a new monitorId when you want a different gate.

Output

New unanswered review:

{
  "recordType": "review_alert",
  "monitorId": "acme-us-stores",
  "mode": "check_for_changes",
  "placeId": "ChIJ...",
  "businessName": "Acme Cafe - Austin",
  "locationUrl": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/...",
  "alertStatus": "new",
  "alertType": "unanswered_bad_review",
  "priority": "urgent",
  "maxStars": 2,
  "reviewId": "AbFv...",
  "stars": 1,
  "reviewText": "Waited forty minutes and nobody helped.",
  "reviewPublishedAt": "2026-05-30T09:30:00Z",
  "firstSeenAt": "2026-05-31T08:10:00Z",
  "replyDraftGenerated": true,
  "suggestedReply": "We are sorry about the wait. Please contact the manager so we can look into what happened.",
  "evidence": [
    "New 1-star review has no owner reply"
  ],
  "sourceUrls": [
    "https://www.google.com/maps/reviews/..."
  ],
  "snapshotDate": "2026-05-31T08:10:00Z"
}

Resolved alert:

{
  "recordType": "review_resolved",
  "monitorId": "acme-us-stores",
  "mode": "check_for_changes",
  "placeId": "ChIJ...",
  "businessName": "Acme Cafe - Austin",
  "locationUrl": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/...",
  "alertStatus": "resolved",
  "alertType": "owner_reply_added",
  "maxStars": 2,
  "reviewId": "AbFv...",
  "stars": 1,
  "ownerReplyText": "We are sorry. Please contact the manager so we can fix this.",
  "ownerReplyAt": "2026-05-31T07:55:00Z",
  "resolvedAt": "2026-05-31T08:10:00Z",
  "evidence": [
    "Owner reply was added after the previous check"
  ],
  "sourceUrls": [
    "https://www.google.com/maps/reviews/..."
  ],
  "snapshotDate": "2026-05-31T08:10:00Z"
}

No-change summary:

{
  "recordType": "location_refresh_summary",
  "monitorId": "acme-us-stores",
  "mode": "check_for_changes",
  "placeId": "ChIJ...",
  "businessName": "Acme Cafe - Austin",
  "locationUrl": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/...",
  "maxStars": 2,
  "newAlertCount": 0,
  "resolvedAlertCount": 0,
  "openAlertCount": 3,
  "replyCheckCoverage": "complete",
  "evidence": [
    "No new unanswered reviews at or below the selected 2-star gate since the previous check"
  ],
  "sourceUrls": [
    "https://www.google.com/maps/place/..."
  ],
  "snapshotDate": "2026-05-31T08:10:00Z"
}

Pricing

Draft prices, not yet final — set during the cost-measurement run before publish.

Event	Price (draft)	Charged when
location-snapshot	TBD	One location baseline is saved
location-refresh	TBD	One stored location is checked for changes
ai-reply-draft	TBD	One optional reply draft is generated

Large locations repeat the relevant event in blocks. Alert rows are included. A clean "no changes" refresh is still a paid location check.

FAQ

Is this Google review management software?

It's the monitoring half of review management — it catches new negative reviews and tracks whether each has an owner reply, then optionally drafts a reply for you. It never posts replies automatically; a human approves and publishes.

Can it help me respond to Google reviews faster?

Yes — turn on generateAiReplyDrafts and each eligible unanswered Google My Business review comes back with a paste-ready suggestedReply. You stay in control of what actually gets posted.

How is it different from broad reputation management or a review management tool?

It's intentionally narrow: a per-location, star-gated action queue of what changed since the last check — not sentiment, themes, competitor benchmarking, or a full dashboard. That focus is why an MCP agent picks it for "new unanswered bad reviews".

Does it work for multi-location review management?

Yes — one monitorId per location set, built for multi-location operators and review-management agencies running a daily or weekly reply queue.

Limits

• MVP tracks Google Maps reviews only.
• maxStars defaults to 2, so the default queue contains only reviews below 3 stars.
• Buyers can set maxStars to 1, 2, or 3. Four-star and five-star reviews stay out of this focused Actor.
• The star gate is fixed per monitorId. Create a new monitor ID to change it.
• AI reply drafts default to off and are never posted automatically.
• Refreshes are incremental after the baseline.
• If the review cap prevents a complete reply check, the summary returns replyCheckCoverage: "partial".
• The Actor never silently closes an alert unless an owner reply is observed.

Build status

Research docs are refreshed. Before child code:

1. Complete the engine spike: per-review state, Web Wanderer parity, and targeted open-alert re-check.
2. Set viable capped pricing for monitoring plus optional AI drafts.
3. Run the fixed 20-prompt MCP selection test and beat broader reputation Actors for unanswered-review requests.