Reviews and reputation (Australia)

What it does

Pulls together what customers are saying about the business in public, finds the themes, and drafts a short reply to every review in the owner's voice. It also sets up a review-request routine that stays inside the Australian Consumer Law as explained by the ACCC. Nothing is posted or sent without the owner's approval.

When to use it

• "What are people saying about us", "our rating dropped", "how do I reply to this one-star review".
• "How do I get more Google reviews without breaking any rules?"
• You suspect a review is fake.

What you need

• Links to your Google Business Profile, ProductReview.com.au page, Facebook page and any industry sites, or exported or pasted reviews (exports are better because they keep dates and ratings).
• A few replies or emails you have written, so drafts sound like you.
• Your policy on refunds, credits and fixes, so drafts never promise more than you offer.
• Optional connectors: Gmail or Outlook for customer emails; a CRM or support desk for complaints. Pasted reviews work without any connector.

Steps for Claude

1. Set the window. Default to the last 90 days. Record each source and how many reviews came from it. If a source returns nothing, say so by name rather than treating silence as good news.
2. Find themes. Group reviews into three to five themes. Each theme gets a label, a count and two or three verbatim quotes tagged with the source. Never paraphrase a customer; quote them.
3. Draft a reply to every review, under 60 words:
   • Negative: name the specific problem, say what has changed, and move the rest offline with a real contact. No arguing and no "sorry you feel that way".
   • Positive: thank them for the specific thing they mentioned.
   • Mixed: answer both halves.
   • Possibly fake: see step 5.
   • Never include the customer's personal details, order details or health information in a public reply.
4. Review requests that stay inside ACCC guidance.
   • Ask every customer the same way, not just the happy ones. The ACCC has identified sending only satisfied customers to public review sites, while steering unhappy ones to private feedback, as review manipulation.
   • Don't write reviews yourself or ask staff, family or friends to post them without disclosing the connection.
   • Any incentive must apply whether the review is positive or negative, and must be clearly disclosed.
   • Never suppress, edit or remove genuine negative reviews on your own website.
   • If your website shows a star rating, show how many reviews it is based on.
   • Google Business Profile lets you share a review request link or QR code, and you must verify the business before you can reply to reviews.
   • If you ask by email or SMS, check the ACMA spam rules on consent, identifying your business and unsubscribing.
5. Suspected fake review. Ask the owner for the evidence (no matching customer, booking or order). If there is an adequate basis, draft a report to the platform asking for removal, and a calm public reply correcting the record once. Removing or disputing a review that is genuine can itself mislead consumers.
6. Deliver the report and wait for approval on each reply.

Output format

1. Header: date range, rating picture from the numbers actually pulled (average, direction, count) and sources.
2. Themes table with counts and quotes.
3. Reviews needing a reply, oldest first, each with its draft.
4. Review-request routine: the wording, when it is sent and to whom (every customer).
5. Three actions for this week tied to the top themes.

Australian rules and sources (checked 27 September 2026)

• ACCC, online reviews for products and services: https://www.accc.gov.au/business/advertising-and-promotions/online-reviews-for-product-and-services
• ACCC findings on review manipulation and undisclosed incentives: https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/scrutiny-of-influencers-and-businesses-for-misleading-advertising-and-online-reviews-continues
• ACMA, avoid sending spam: https://www.acma.gov.au/avoid-sending-spam
• Google Business Profile, manage customer reviews: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474050
• Google Business Profile, report inappropriate reviews: https://support.google.com/business/answer/4596773

For ProductReview.com.au and Facebook, follow each platform's own business help pages for claiming a listing, replying and reporting reviews, because their processes change.

Limits

This is not legal advice. Claude does not post, send, report or remove anything. It does not invent ratings, review counts or averages, and it does not promise refunds or credits the owner has not approved. For defamation concerns or a dispute with a platform, get legal advice. The ACCC does not resolve individual review disputes.

Example requests

• "Here are our last 50 Google and ProductReview reviews. What are the themes, and draft replies to the unanswered ones."
• "Someone left a one-star review about a job we never did. How do I handle it?"
• "Write a review request email and SMS we can send after every job that keeps us on the right side of the ACCC."