How to reply to bad Checkatrade or Google reviews using AI

A poor review sits there in public, and the first draft you write at 10pm is usually the one you should not post. A chat tool can hold the tone while you decide the facts. It cannot know whether the ceiling cracked, and it should not offer a refund you have not agreed.

Shaun, 20+ years in UK construction, treats a public reply as a note to the next customer, not a row with the last one. We search the AI world every week so you don't have to. Google and Checkatrade each have their own rules for reviews. Read the rules on that site before you post. This page does not copy those rules out, and it does not invent a success rate for replying.

What the reply is for

The person who wrote the review may never come back. The person who reads it is choosing a tradesperson this week. They want to see that you answer, that you are specific, and that you are not abusive. They do not need your side in twelve paragraphs.

Keep the public reply short. One acknowledgement, one fact you are willing to say in public, and a way to take the rest off the page: a phone number or an email you actually read. Do not put the customer's address, the price, or the layout of their house in the reply. You already know where they live. The rest of the internet does not need to.

If you are angry, write the angry version in a notes app, not in the review box. Then use a prompt on a calmer second pass. Post only the second pass, and only after you have checked it against what happened.

What you must not let the draft do

Do not let it invent an apology for something you did not do. "Sorry the skim failed" is a confession if the skim did not fail. "Sorry you are unhappy" is not the same sentence. Pick the one that is true.

Do not let it offer money, a free return visit, or a discount unless you have already decided that, in those words. A draft that says "we will come back and reskim at no cost" is an offer. If you post it, you have made it.

Do not let it name a legal threat, a defamation claim, or "we will report you". That escalates a review into a dispute, and a chat tool does not know whether you have a claim. If a review is false, say briefly that you do not recognise the account of the job, and move the detail to a private conversation. If you need advice on whether something is unlawful, ask a person who does that work, not a chatbot.

Do not ask the customer, in public, to delete the review in exchange for money or a discount. Offer the remedy you would have offered without an audience, or offer none. Check the review site's own rules before you ask anyone to change a rating.

A reply when the complaint is fair

Sometimes the review is harsh and also partly right. You were late. The dust was worse than you said. You missed a patch. Own the part that is true, say what you will do, and stop.

Draft a public reply to this review. UK English. Calm. Under 80 words.

Rules:
- Do not include an address, a price, or a surname.
- Do not offer money, a free visit, or a discount unless it is written in "remedy" below.
- Do not argue with the reviewer.
- End with the contact line I give you.

Review:
[paste]

The part that is fair: [one line, in your words]
Remedy I will actually offer: [your words, or "none in public, ask them to call"]
Contact line: [phone or email]

Read it aloud. If you would not say it on the doorstep, do not post it. If the remedy line is empty, the draft should not grow one. If it does, delete the offer before you post.

A reply when you think the review is wrong

Wrong can mean a job you did not do, a detail that is muddled, or a customer who is describing a different trade's work. You can say you disagree. You do not have to prove the whole job in the reply. Proof, photos, and the quote belong in a private message or, if it comes to it, with someone qualified to advise you. The public line stays short.

Draft a public reply to a review I dispute. UK English. Under 70 words. No insults.

Do not admit fault. Do not invent a reason. Use only the point I give you. Do not include an address or a price. Invite them to contact me on the line below so I can look it up.

What I am willing to say in public: [for example "I do not recognise this as one of our jobs" or "the ceiling crack was reported before we started"]
Contact line: [phone or email]
Review:
[paste]

If you are not sure it is your job, say that you need the details offline. Guessing that it is "the bathroom in May" in a public reply can identify a household. Leave the month and the room out until you are in a private thread.

Checkatrade, Google, and the next customer

The same draft is not always right for both places. Google is a public search result with your trading name on it. Checkatrade is a trade directory your customers may already be browsing. The tone can match. The facts must match. Do not post one story on Google and a different story on Checkatrade. People screenshot both.

Here is a reply I am willing to post. Check it. UK English. Do not rewrite it unless I ask.

List:
1. Any address, surname, price, or room that identifies the household.
2. Any offer of money, a free visit, or a discount.
3. Any sentence that admits a fault I did not write in "facts".

Facts I accept: [your lines]
Reply:
[paste]

If the list comes back empty, you still read it yourself. The tool misses things. If the list finds an offer you did not mean, take the offer out and run the check again.

After you post, leave it. A second reply that argues with their follow-up comment rarely helps the next customer. If there is a real snag to fix, arrange it by phone and keep that conversation off the review.

Asking for reviews without buying them

A later, separate job is asking a customer who was happy, after they have paid, to leave a review. One ask. No discount for a star rating. Say which site. That prompt sits in the prompts for builders page. Do not bolt it onto a reply to a bad review. The two moments are different, and mixing them looks like you are trading stars for money.

Keep a copy of what you posted, in your own notes, with the date. If you edit the reply later, keep the earlier wording too. You will not remember it in six months, and the chat thread is not a record.

The UK Trades AI Prompt Pack is free when you sign up to the weekly email: prompts for quotes, chasing payment, tax admin, and customers. The signup is on the home page.