The first rule most businesses want is the simplest one: thank every 5-star review, so nobody who took the time to praise you is left without an answer. This page builds it step by step.
What you need: at least 1 connected source, and the role of owner, administrator or manager. Other roles can see rules but not change them.
1. Create the rule
Open Automation, stay on the Rules tab, and press Create rule. Give it a name your team will recognize in the activity log and in Insights, for example "Thank every 5-star review".
2. Set the trigger
In the When step, pick Rating is at or above and set the stars to 5.
The When step of the rule editor set to Rating is at or above 5 stars.
A review with no stars never matches a rating trigger. The one exception is a Facebook recommendation: one that recommends you matches Rating is at or above 4 or 5, and one that does not matches Rating is at or below 1 or 2. For any other treatment, build a rule on Review is on a site for Facebook.
3. Write the reply
In the Then step, press Add action and choose Reply to the review. Write a short thank-you.
Then press Add variant and write 2 more. One variant is picked at random each time, so a regular customer does not read the same line twice. Rewrite beside a variant offers a fresh wording of it.
The reply action with 3 variants and the note that one is picked at random each time.
Keep each one short and specific to your business. "Thank you, we are glad the new menu landed well" beats "Thank you for your review".
4. Add a short wait
In the Wait step, choose Random and set it to a few minutes. A reply that lands 3 seconds after the review reads like a bot. A short random wait keeps it human.
5. Pick the sources
In the Where step, leave every source unticked to cover all of them, including sources you connect later. On a site without a reply API the rule writes a draft instead of posting, and the editor says so beside the site.
6. Check it
Press Run backtest in the Check step. It shows how many reviews in the last 30 days would have matched, and lists a few. Read them. A 5-star review that is really a complaint ("5 stars for the food, but the wait was an hour") deserves a person, not a template.
7. Save it in trial mode
Save the rule, switch it live and turn on Trial mode. For a week, it records every review it would have answered and posts nothing. The row reads "Would have fired" and a count.
When the count looks right, turn trial mode off. From then on, every 5-star review gets a thank-you within minutes.
What to build next
- A rule on Rating is at or below 2 stars that flags the review and assigns it to a manager.
- A rule on Private feedback that notifies the team.
Both are in Rules worth starting with.
What this costs
Each action a rule takes counts as 1 credit. This rule has 1 action, so each thank-you spends 1. Trial mode and the backtest spend nothing.