> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.dmly.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Read and reply to Google reviews

> Read your Google Business Profile reviews in DMLY, post a public reply, and understand what Google lets you change.

Once a Google Business Profile is connected, DMLY pulls your reviews in and lets you post the
public owner reply without leaving the app. Replies go straight to Google and appear on your
listing.

<Note>
  Two things gate this page. Reviews only work once you
  [connect a Google Business Profile](/reputation/connect-google-business-profile) — before that,
  every Reputation tab shows sample data badged **Preview** behind a
  **Connect Google Business Profile** banner. And Reputation is a paid feature: on a plan
  without it, connecting a profile and posting a reply are both blocked. See
  [Plans](/billing/plans).
</Note>

## Where the reviews come from

DMLY copies your reviews from Google into your workspace so the list loads fast and the
star numbers can be counted locally. It refreshes them:

* **Every hour**, in the background, for every workspace.
* **When you open the Reviews tab**, at most once every 20 minutes per location.

So a brand-new review can take up to an hour to appear on its own, and opening
**Reputation → Reviews** is the fastest way to force a check. You also get a bell
notification when a genuinely new review arrives — the first sync after you connect does not
notify you about your review history.

<Note>
  If you have several Google locations connected, use **Switch location** in the page header
  to change which one you are looking at. The selector only appears when more than one
  location is connected. See
  [Connect Google Business Profile](/reputation/connect-google-business-profile).
</Note>

## What the Reviews tab shows

**Reputation → Reviews** gives you your average rating, how many reviews it is based on, a
**Reply rate**, a breakdown from five stars down to one, and **Latest reviews** — the review
text, the reviewer's name, when it was left, and whether you have **Replied**.

The star and reply numbers are counted from the reviews DMLY has synced, not queried live
from Google, so they move when the sync runs.

## Reply to a review

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the review">
    Go to **Reputation → Reviews** and find it under **Latest reviews**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Write the reply">
    Select **Reply** and type into **Write a public reply…**. Assume every customer will
    read it — this is published on your Google listing under your business name.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Post it">
    Select **Post reply**. DMLY sends it to Google and confirms with
    **Reply posted to Google.** The review is then marked **Replied** and your text shows
    under **Your reply**.
  </Step>
</Steps>

To change a reply you already posted, select **Edit reply**, change the text, and post it
again.

## What Google allows, and what it does not

<Warning>
  A reply is public and permanent enough to matter. It is attributed to your business,
  visible to anyone reading the review, and there is no draft or approval step in DMLY —
  **Post reply** publishes immediately.
</Warning>

* **One reply per review.** Google keeps a single owner reply. Editing does not add a second
  one, it overwrites the first.
* **You cannot delete a review from DMLY.** Nothing in DMLY removes a review — a business
  cannot delete customer reviews, only respond to them.
* **You cannot change a rating, a reviewer's name, or the review text.** Those belong to the
  customer.
* **You can only reply to reviews DMLY has synced.** A review Google has not handed over yet
  is not on the list, so wait for the next sync rather than assuming it is lost.
* **Google is slow to confirm.** A reply you post may take a moment to show on the public
  listing. DMLY does not overwrite your reply with an empty one while Google catches up.

## Reviews in the Inbox

Separately from this page, Google reviews are also polled into the [Inbox](/inbox/overview)
as one-shot threads — the stars and the comment, roughly every half hour. Each review shows
up as its own thread; there are no back-and-forth messages, because Google has no direct
messaging on a Business Profile.

## When something looks wrong

<Accordion title="A banner says the connection expired">
  Reconnect the profile under **Integrations → Channels**. Until you do, DMLY keeps showing
  the reviews it already synced, but new ones will not arrive and replies will not post.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="A review is on Google but not in DMLY">
  Open **Reputation → Reviews** to trigger a sync, then wait — DMLY checks at most once
  every 20 minutes per location, and hourly in the background. If it still never arrives,
  check the connection is healthy and that you are looking at the right location in
  **Switch location**.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="A reply will not post">
  You will see **Could not post the reply to Google. Please try again.** This is usually the
  Google connection rather than the text — reconnect under **Integrations → Channels** and
  retry. If your plan does not include Reputation, replying is blocked entirely.
</Accordion>

## Next

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Request reviews" icon="paper-plane" href="/reputation/review-requests">
    Ask happy customers on WhatsApp with a tracked review link.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Connect Google Business Profile" icon="plug" href="/reputation/connect-google-business-profile">
    Connect a location, or add a second one.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Posts and performance" icon="chart-line" href="/reputation/posts-and-performance">
    Publish updates and see how people find you.
  </Card>

  <Card title="CSAT" icon="face-smile" href="/analytics/csat">
    Rate a chat, then route the happy ones to Google.
  </Card>
</Columns>