How Indian businesses can reply to Google reviews without sounding scripted

Short answer: reply to reviews with something specific and true, keep it to a couple of sentences, thank customers by name where they have used one, and move any complaint to a phone call or WhatsApp instead of arguing under the review.

Every reply on a Google my business listing is public. The person reading it most closely is often not the reviewer at all — it is the next customer in Kochi or Jaipur deciding whether to trust your shop, clinic or agency over the one three doors down.

A short structure, every time

1. Name what they actually said. "Thank you for mentioning the quick installation" reads as genuine; "Thanks for your feedback" does not.
2. Add one real fact. A correction, an update, or what happens next.
3. Invite them back where it fits naturally.

Two to four sentences is usually enough. Skip anything that repeats personal details such as a full phone number, order ID or address back to the reviewer.

Illustrative examples

These are illustrative examples only, not real reviews from a real business — adapt them, and only mention details (staffing, hours, changes) that are true for you.

Positive (illustrative): "Excellent service, Ramesh sorted our AC before the Chennai heat set in."

Thank you — we'll pass this on to Ramesh. Glad it was sorted before the heat really arrived; call us again ahead of next summer for a check-up.

Mixed (illustrative): "Good food but the delivery during Diwali week was very late."

Thank you for the kind words about the food, and sorry the delivery was late — Diwali week is our busiest, and we've since added an extra rider for that period. We'd like another chance to get the timing right.

Negative (illustrative): "No one came for the scheduled repair visit."

This isn't the standard we aim for. Please call the number on our listing and quote this review so we can find out what went wrong and fix it.

What to avoid

• Do not offer a discount, refund or free service in exchange for a customer editing or removing a review — this sits alongside review gating that Google's policies already prohibit.
• Do not get drawn into a public back-and-forth; India's Consumer Protection Act 2019 and the Department of Consumer Affairs both point toward resolving genuine grievances through proper channels, not comment threads.
• Do not copy-paste the same reply to every review; Google's own guidance discourages generic, repeated responses.
• Do not reply in anger. A short pause before typing usually produces a better reply.

A weekly routine

Set aside ten minutes, perhaps on the same day you check your Justdial or Practo messages, to read and answer new reviews across every platform you use. Consistency here matters more than eloquence — see also our guide on handling negative or fake reviews if a review looks fabricated rather than simply unhappy.

Replying in Hindi, Tamil or another regional language

Many Indian customers write reviews in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali or Hinglish. Reply in the language the customer used wherever someone on your team can write it properly. A reply in the reviewer's own language shows you actually read it, and it reads naturally to the next customer who searches in that language. If nobody on your team writes that language well, a short, polite English reply is better than a machine translation that changes the meaning. Never paste a translated reply without having someone fluent check it first.

Where the BIS standard and consumer law fit

IS 19000:2022, the Bureau of Indian Standards standard on online consumer reviews, sets out principles for how reviews are collected, moderated and published: reviews should be genuine, and a business should not suppress unfavourable reviews or publish paid ones as organic. It is mainly aimed at review platforms, but it is a useful benchmark for any business replying publicly. Alongside it, the Consumer Protection Act 2019 covers misleading claims, so a reply should never promise something your business will not do — "full refund guaranteed" in a public reply is a commitment readers can hold you to.

Worked example: a dental clinic in Pune

This is an illustrative example, not a real client or real reviews.

A two-chair dental clinic in Pune gets three new Google reviews in the week after Ganesh Chaturthi:

• A five-star review in Marathi thanking the dentist for a painless root canal.
• A three-star review in English saying treatment was good but the waiting time on a Saturday was long.
• A one-star review from an account with no other activity, describing a procedure the clinic does not offer.

The receptionist, who writes Marathi fluently, replies to the first in Marathi, mentioning the root canal and thanking the patient by the name shown on the review. The owner replies to the second in English: thanks for the kind words about the treatment, an honest note that Saturdays are the busiest day, and one true change — Saturday appointments are now booked in 30-minute slots instead of walk-ins. The owner does not reply defensively to the third. Because it describes a service the clinic does not provide, they check it against Google's prohibited and restricted content policy, report it through their Business Profile, and post one calm line: "We couldn't find a record of this visit and don't offer this treatment; please call the clinic on the number on our listing so we can look into it." They log all three reviews in the same weekly routine they use for Practo messages.

Nothing in this example says reviews were removed or ratings improved, because neither outcome can be promised.

Frequently asked questions

Can I reply to Google reviews in Hindi or another regional language?

Yes. Google shows your reply in whatever language you write it in, and replying in the reviewer's own language is usually the most natural choice. Keep the same rules: be specific, stay polite, and have a fluent speaker check the reply rather than relying on an automatic translation that might change what you meant.

Does IS 19000:2022 apply to a small business replying to reviews?

The standard is mainly written for organisations that collect and publish reviews, such as platforms and e-commerce sites. A small shop or clinic replying on Google is not the main audience, but its principles — genuine reviews, no suppression of negative ones, no paid reviews presented as organic — are a sensible guide for how you ask for reviews and respond to them.

Should I reply to every review on Justdial, Practo and Google?

Aim to reply to every review on the platforms your customers actually use, starting with Google because its reviews appear in Search and Maps. Replies do not need to be long. A consistent weekly routine across Google, Justdial, Practo or IndiaMART is more realistic, and more useful, than long replies on one platform and silence on the others.

What should I do if a review looks fake or comes from a competitor?

Do not accuse the reviewer publicly. Check the review against Google's prohibited and restricted content policy, report it from your Business Profile if it breaks the rules, and post a short, factual reply inviting the person to contact you. Google decides whether a review is removed; no business or tool can guarantee a removal.

Local SEO AI is software built to help businesses across Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai draft and track review replies in one place; live Google connection is awaiting approval, so replies drafted in the tool are currently posted through your own Google account. See how it fits a business in Delhi or check pricing, billed in GBP (£).