Insights · LinkedIn
A customer took the time to write about you. Did anyone answer?
A customer took the time to write about you. Did anyone answer?
BrightLocal asked 1,002 local business owners how they handle reviews this year. Only 51% said they respond. In BrightLocal's 2026 consumer survey, 89% of people said they expect the owner to reply, and 42% said they're unlikely to use a business that ignores its reviews entirely.
The people reading your reviews aren't only the ones who wrote them. They're your next customers, checking whether anyone's home.
Speed matters more than it used to. 19% of consumers now expect a reply the same day, up from 6% a year earlier. 81% expect one within a week. And a copy-paste "Thanks for your feedback!" doesn't count. Half said generic, templated replies make them unlikely to choose the business.
This doesn't take new software. It takes an owner and a habit.
Pick one person who checks reviews twice a week. Answer every one, good or bad, and mention something the customer actually said. Take the hard ones offline with a name and a phone number, then come back and note that it's handled. Ask for reviews where the job already ends, on the invoice or in the thank-you email.
Your reviews are a conversation happening in public. Make sure you're in it.
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