# Google Review Responder: AI Reply Generator (`subtle_pluto/google-review-responder`) Actor

Draft replies to Google reviews automatically. Each daily run returns only new reviews, each with an AI-drafted owner reply, themes and a priority flag, plus a ready-to-send alert email for low ratings. Built for agencies managing many Google Business Profiles.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/subtle_pluto/google-review-responder.md
- **Developed by:** [Subtle Pluto](https://apify.com/subtle_pluto) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $30.00 / 1,000 reply drafts

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Google Review Responder: AI Reply Generator and New Review Alerts

**Never miss a bad review again, and never start a reply from a blank page.** Add your clients' Google locations and schedule a daily run. Each run returns only the reviews posted since the last run, with a priority flag, the themes behind each review, a drafted owner reply, and a ready-to-send alert email for anything that needs attention.

Built for agencies and multi-location businesses. Reputation tools charge $45 to $99 per location a month. This runs on your schedule and you pay only for new reviews.

### What you get for every new review

- **Priority**: high for low ratings (you choose the cutoff), medium for 3 stars, low for 4 and 5
- **Themes**, such as wait time, staff and service, price and billing, or communication
- **A drafted owner reply** in a calm, professional voice that never argues, never blames, and never promises refunds
- **An alert email** (subject and body) for every high-priority review, ready to forward to your client
- **Only new reviews**: duplicates removed and reviews seen on earlier runs skipped

### Sample output

```json
{
  "business": "Acme Dental",
  "priority": "high",
  "stars": 1,
  "reviewText": "Waited an hour and the receptionist was rude.",
  "themes": ["wait time", "staff and service"],
  "suggestedReply": "Thank you for taking the time to share this, and we are sorry your experience fell short. We would like to understand what happened and make it right. Please contact us directly at office@acme.example so we can help.\n\nThe Acme Dental Team",
  "alertEmail": {
    "subject": "New 1-star Google review for Acme Dental",
    "body": "A new 1-star review was posted on Google for Acme Dental.\n\n\"Waited an hour and the receptionist was rude.\"\n\nBelow is a suggested response: ..."
  }
}
```

### Who uses it

- **Marketing and SEO agencies** managing reviews for many local clients
- **Multi-location businesses**: dental groups, clinics, restaurants, home services, franchises
- **Owners** who want every new review in one place with a reply ready to post

### How to respond to Google reviews with AI

1. Add each location's Google Maps link under **Business locations**. Add `{"business": "Acme Dental", "client": "Acme"}` under User data.
2. Set the reply signature and the contact line unhappy reviewers should use.
3. Run it once. The first run drafts replies for reviews from the last 30 days (you can change this).
4. Schedule it daily. Every later run returns only reviews posted since the last run.
5. Optional: add a webhook to send high-priority alerts to Slack, Gmail drafts, Zapier, Make, or n8n.

### Pricing

| Event | Price |
| --- | --- |
| Location checked | $0.05 |
| New review with drafted reply | $0.03 |

A daily check of one location costs about $1.50 a month before new reviews. Reviews are read through the Google Maps Reviews Scraper, which bills its own small per-review fee to your account (about $0.45 or less per 1,000 reviews at the time of writing).

### Privacy by design

Reviewer names, profile links, and photos are never collected. Each review is read with personal data turned off, and only the review text, rating, and date are used.

### Good to know

- Replies are drafts. Review each one before posting it on Google.
- Locations that fail to load are reported with status `error` and are not charged.
- Seen review IDs live in a named key-value store in your own account (`review-responder-state` by default).

### FAQ

#### How do I respond to Google reviews with AI?

Add each location's Google Maps link, your reply signature and a contact line for unhappy reviewers, then schedule a daily run. Each new review comes back with a drafted owner reply you can paste into Google Business Profile.

#### Does it post replies to Google automatically?

No. It drafts replies and leaves posting to you or your client, so a person approves every public reply.

#### Can I manage Google reviews for many client locations?

Yes. Add every location to one run and tag each with the business and client name under User data. Each run returns only the reviews posted since the previous run.

#### What happens when a 1 star review comes in?

Reviews at or below your alert threshold, 2 stars by default, get high priority and a ready-to-send alert email for your client. Add a webhook to push those alerts to Slack, Gmail drafts, Zapier, Make or n8n.

#### Does it store reviewer names?

No. Reviewer names, profile links and photos are left out of the output.

### More tools from Subtle Pluto

- [Website Change Monitor with AI Alerts](https://apify.com/subtle_pluto/ai-website-change-monitor): real changes on competitor pricing, plan and policy pages, explained by AI.
- [Hiring Signals from Greenhouse, Lever and Ashby](https://apify.com/subtle_pluto/hiring-signal-feed): a ranked list of target accounts that are hiring now, with a why-now note and an opener.
- [Shopify Competitor Price Tracker](https://apify.com/subtle_pluto/shopify-catalog-watch): every price change, sale, sellout and launch on competitor Shopify stores.

### Support

Open an issue on the Issues tab. We aim to reply the same day.

# Actor input Schema

## `locations` (type: `array`):

Google Maps place links, copied from the address bar or the Share button. If you have a place ID, enter it as https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:YOUR_PLACE_ID. Under User data you can add {"business": "Acme Dental", "client": "Acme"} so replies and alerts use the right name.

## `replySignature` (type: `string`):

How each drafted reply is signed, for example: The Acme Dental Team.

## `contactLine` (type: `string`):

Where low-rating reviewers are invited to reach out, for example: office@acme.com or (555) 010-0100.

## `voiceNotes` (type: `string`):

Anything about tone, for example: warm and family-friendly, never use exclamation marks.

## `alertAtOrBelowStars` (type: `integer`):

Reviews at or below this rating get high priority and a ready-to-send alert email.

## `alertSignature` (type: `string`):

Signature block for the alert emails you send to your clients.

## `firstRunLookbackDays` (type: `integer`):

On the first run for a location, only reviews this recent are drafted. Later runs return only reviews posted since the previous run.

## `maxReviewsPerLocation` (type: `integer`):

A cap on how many of the newest reviews are read per location each run.

## `includeAnsweredReviews` (type: `boolean`):

Also draft replies for reviews the owner has already answered.

## `useAI` (type: `boolean`):

When on, replies are written for each specific review and themes are detected with AI. When off, built-in templates are used.

## `language` (type: `string`):

Language code for reviews, for example en or es.

## `notifyWebhookUrl` (type: `string`):

High-priority reviews and their alert emails are POSTed here as JSON. Connect it to Gmail drafts, Slack, Zapier, Make or n8n.

## `anthropicApiKey` (type: `string`):

Optional. Leave empty to use the built-in AI.

## `maxLocations` (type: `integer`):

A safety cap on how many locations one run checks.

## `stateStoreName` (type: `string`):

Seen review IDs live in this named key-value store in your account, so each run returns only new reviews.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "locations": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJaXQRs6lZwokRY6EFpJnhNNE",
      "userData": {
        "business": "Empire State Building"
      }
    }
  ],
  "alertAtOrBelowStars": 2,
  "firstRunLookbackDays": 30,
  "maxReviewsPerLocation": 100,
  "includeAnsweredReviews": false,
  "useAI": true,
  "language": "en",
  "maxLocations": 100,
  "stateStoreName": "review-responder-state"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "locations": [
        {
            "url": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJaXQRs6lZwokRY6EFpJnhNNE",
            "userData": {
                "business": "Empire State Building"
            }
        }
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("subtle_pluto/google-review-responder").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "locations": [{
            "url": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJaXQRs6lZwokRY6EFpJnhNNE",
            "userData": { "business": "Empire State Building" },
        }] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("subtle_pluto/google-review-responder").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "locations": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJaXQRs6lZwokRY6EFpJnhNNE",
      "userData": {
        "business": "Empire State Building"
      }
    }
  ]
}' |
apify call subtle_pluto/google-review-responder --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,subtle_pluto/google-review-responder"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/6ITZetJAF1gLCajv1/builds/VAf6QSeX2PYGBsx8l/openapi.json