After a customer completes an appointment (booked through your system), they automatically receive a review request message 24-48 hours later via text or email. The message asks them to rate their experience on a simple scale (1-5 stars). If they select 4 or 5 stars, they're taken directly to Google (or Facebook, your choice) to leave a public review. If they select 1-3 stars, they're redirected to a private feedback form that goes only to you, not to any public review platform. This way, happy customers leave public reviews while unhappy customers give you private feedback and a chance to fix issues before they damage your reputation. The entire process is automated and runs in the background for every customer who books with you.

No. You're not paying for reviews, filtering out real negative reviews, or posting fake ones, all of which violate Google's policies. You're simply creating two paths: one for satisfied customers (public review) and one for dissatisfied customers (private feedback). Every customer gets asked; you're not cherry-picking who to request from. Google allows businesses to ask for reviews and manage customer feedback. What you can't do is pay for reviews, post fake reviews, or prevent genuine negative reviews from being published. Our system doesn't do any of that, it just routes unhappy customers to a feedback channel where you can address their concerns before they go nuclear on Google. That's smart reputation management, not manipulation.

The review engine can't prevent someone from going straight to Google and leaving a bad review, that's always possible and you can't control it. What the system does is intercept the feedback process for customers who respond to YOUR automated request. Most customers won't seek out your Google listing to leave a review unless prompted, so by controlling the prompting process, you guide most reviews through your funnel. If someone's determined to leave a public bad review, they will, but you've dramatically reduced the odds by giving unhappy customers an easy private feedback option first. Plus, the steady flow of positive reviews from happy customers dilutes the impact of occasional bad ones.

Industry average is 10-15% response rate for automated review requests. So if you send 100 requests per month, you'd typically get 10-15 reviews. This varies by industry and how good the service actually was, amazing service gets higher response rates; mediocre service gets lower. The key is that even 10-15% is WAY higher than the near-zero percent you get when you don't ask at all. Most businesses get reviews only from extremely happy customers (rare) or extremely angry ones (also rare, but they're motivated). Systematically asking everyone tips the balance heavily toward positive reviews from the majority who were satisfied but wouldn't have bothered without prompting.

Yes. We set up initial templates during your website build, but you can customize the messaging to match your brand voice. You control the timing (24 hours after service, 48 hours, one week, etc.), the message content, and which review platform to direct happy customers to (Google, Facebook, or both). The system is flexible, we just provide proven templates to start from because we know what works. If you want to adjust wording, timing, or platforms later, you can do that anytime.

You receive it via email or in your dashboard (depending on your preference), and you can respond directly to the customer. This gives you a chance to apologize, offer a solution, provide a refund or discount, or whatever makes sense to address their concern. Many businesses successfully turn negative private feedback into resolved issues and even positive reviews later, "They had a problem but made it right immediately" types of reviews. At minimum, you've prevented public reputation damage and learned what went wrong. That's valuable information for improving your service, even if you can't salvage that particular customer relationship.

You should respond to public Google reviews (both positive and negative) because it shows you're engaged and care about customers, plus it's good for SEO. The system doesn't force you to respond, but we recommend it. For private feedback, you should definitely respond to negative feedback because that's your chance to fix the problem. For positive feedback that doesn't get published, a quick "thank you" is nice but optional. The review engine doesn't require responses; it just makes requesting and receiving reviews automatic. How you engage with the feedback is up to you.

The message appears professional and personalized, it includes their name and references their specific service. Some customers might realize it's automated (especially if they're tech-savvy), but most won't care because the request is legitimate and the process is easy. It's like automated booking confirmations or appointment reminders, everyone knows they're automated, but they're helpful and expected. Customers appreciate the easy process for leaving feedback. Nobody thinks less of you for having professional systems in place; if anything, it signals you're organized and care about feedback.

You can direct customers to either platform or both. Most businesses prioritize Google because that's where most local searches happen and where reviews impact local SEO rankings the most. But if your customers are active on Facebook or if Facebook reviews matter for your industry, you can send happy customers there instead or in addition to Google. You choose during setup which platform(s) to target based on what matters most for your business.

The review engine can't delete existing bad reviews (nobody can, Google controls that), but it can bury them under an avalanche of new positive reviews. As you accumulate more 5-star reviews, your overall rating improves and old negative reviews become less prominent and less impactful. Someone with 3 bad reviews and 5 total reviews (2.4 stars) looks terrible. The same 3 bad reviews but 50 total reviews (4.6 stars) looks great, the bad ones are clearly outliers. The strategy is to outpace negative reviews with volume of positive ones, which steadily improves your rating and pushes old bad reviews further down where fewer people read them.

Google's local search algorithm heavily weighs review quantity, review quality (star rating), and review recency. Businesses with more reviews rank higher in local searches, especially in the "local pack" (the map with 3 businesses shown). Fresh reviews signal an active business that customers currently use. The review engine helps you consistently get new positive reviews, which tells Google you're popular, trusted, and relevant. This directly improves your local search visibility, which drives more traffic, which leads to more customers, which generates more reviews. It's a virtuous cycle, better reviews lead to better rankings lead to more business lead to more reviews.

No arbitrary limits. Every customer who books through your system can automatically receive a review request. If you book 10 customers per month, 10 requests go out. If you book 100, then 100 requests. The system scales with your business volume. You're not paying per request or hitting some cap where it stops working. This is included in your standard website subscription, unlimited review requests for all your customers. It's worth noting, you should not send lots of review requests to the same customers.

Most won't, typical response rates are 10-15% as mentioned earlier. That's normal and expected. The system isn't designed to get 100% response rate; it's designed to systematically capture reviews from the percentage of customers willing to leave them. No follow-up or pestering, just one clean request at the optimal time. If they ignore it, that's fine. You move on to the next customer. The value is in consistently asking everyone, which accumulates reviews over time even with modest response rates. 15 reviews per 100 customers is still 15 more than you'd get asking nobody.

Yes. You can pause and resume the automation anytime from your dashboard. If you're closed for two weeks or going through a transition where you don't want review requests going out, just pause it. When you're ready to resume, turn it back on. The system is flexible, you're in control. Most businesses leave it running continuously because there's no downside to asking customers for reviews, but you have the option to manage it however makes sense for your situation.

Asking personally is awkward, inconsistent, and easy to forget when you're busy. It also feels like begging, which customers can sense. The automated system removes the awkwardness, it's professional, consistent, and happens automatically whether you're busy, on vacation, or just forget. Customers also respond better to a clean, simple automated request than to being put on the spot in person. Plus, the automated system reaches customers 24-48 hours after service when the experience is fresh, whereas in-person asking happens during service when they're focused on other things. Automation is simply more effective and scalable than manual requests. Plus the automations are linked to the platform, so it makes it easier for the customer to respond by simply clicking the link in the request.

That's exactly why the interception system exists. Unhappy customers get directed to private feedback first, dramatically reducing the odds of public bad reviews. You'll still get occasional negative reviews (that's unavoidable in any business), but far fewer than if you weren't managing the process strategically. The bigger risk is NOT asking anyone for reviews and letting your online reputation stagnate or be defined by the random few people motivated enough to leave reviews (often the angriest ones). Proactive review management gives you control rather than leaving it to chance.

In theory, yes. In reality, no. Happy customers are busy, they got what they needed and moved on with their lives. They're not thinking "I should go leave a review now" unless something was extraordinarily exceptional or unless you ask them. Meanwhile, angry customers have motivation and time to leave reviews because venting is therapeutic for them. This imbalance means great service providers often have mediocre review profiles simply because they're not systematically capturing the positive feedback they deserve. You need to prompt the process, or you'll be outshined by competitors with worse service but better review collection systems.

Not if it's done professionally. Customers are used to automated review requests now, Amazon does it, airlines do it, hotels do it, every service business does it. It's expected business practice. What's tacky is being pushy or begging in person. A professional automated message saying "We hope you enjoyed your service! If you have a moment, we'd appreciate your feedback" is polite, not tacky. The system makes it easy for them (one click to rate, one more click to review), which customers actually appreciate versus being asked to "find us on Google and leave a review" with no guidance.

Better reviews directly translate to more customers and higher revenue. Studies show that a one-star increase in Google rating can increase revenue by 5-9%. If your business does $100K/year, that's $5K-9K in additional annual revenue just from better ratings. Plus, higher review counts improve your local SEO rankings, which drives more organic traffic and captures more leads you would've otherwise missed. If the review engine helps you go from 10 reviews (3.8 stars) to 50 reviews (4.6 stars) over 6-12 months, the business impact is substantial. More visibility, more trust, more conversions, all from systematizing something you should be doing anyway.

Immediately. The system goes live with your website, and review requests start going out after your first appointment. You'll typically see your first new reviews within the first week or two as customers respond. Over the first 3-6 months, you'll accumulate a meaningful number of reviews that start impacting your overall rating and local search visibility. Unlike SEO that takes months to show results, review collection shows immediate results, you'll see new reviews appearing on your Google listing within days of launching the system. The impact compounds over time as review count grows and your rating improves.