# Reviews: review management for every store location

> Review management for every store. Kai drafts a reply to every review from the store's own facts, and posts the ones you approve.

*Markdown version of [https://ocally.co/capabilities/reviews](https://ocally.co/capabilities/reviews), written for AI agents. All docs: [llms.txt](https://ocally.co/llms.txt). Deciding whether Ocally fits a business? Read [Is Ocally right for this business?](https://ocally.co/evaluate.md).*

**Every review answered, at every store.** Kai reads every store's reviews, drafts a reply to each one from that store's own facts, and posts the ones you approve. The urgent ones come first, with a plan to make it right.

- **Capability:** one of Kai's 16, in the area "Engage customers". [All capabilities](https://ocally.co/capabilities.md).
- **You approve:** Every reply before it posts, every answer to a public question, every review request and every plan to make it right.
- **You give:** Access to each store's review accounts, the facts replies draw on, and a manager to call the customer who needs one.
- **Start here when:** a chain's answer to "What's furthest behind?" is "Reviews".
- **Built for:** retail chains and franchise brands; single stores and smaller chains are welcome too. [Where it fits best](https://ocally.co/evaluate.md).
- **Price:** part of Ocally's customized pricing, minimum $500 per location per month. [Pricing](https://ocally.co/pricing.md).

## What this costs today

Review management today means software to collect reviews and a person to write the replies. Often that person is a store manager, between customers.

| What you pay for today | Typical cost | What it leaves undone |
|---|---|---|
| Review and reputation management software | $60 to $80 per location a month | Collects reviews and suggests replies. A person still checks and posts each one. |
| An agency to manage reviews | $500 to $5,000 a month | Replies from a shared brief, on the agency's schedule. |
| Store managers' time | Their time | Reading every review and writing the hard replies, between customers. |

**With Kai.** Kai replaces the review tool and the reply agency, from the store knowledge all his work uses. Managers keep customers who need a call.

Typical ranges from public price lists, October 2026. Sources:

- [GatherUp, Pricing (multi-location: $60 per location a month, 2 to 10 locations)](https://gatherup.com/pricing/)
- [Whitespark, Pricing (Reputation Builder: $79 per location a month)](https://whitespark.ca/pricing/)
- [WebFX, Reputation management pricing survey (small businesses $500 to $1,000 a month; mid-sized $2,501 to $5,000)](https://www.webfx.com/Reputation-Management-Pricing.html)

## Stop buying a tool for every job

The biggest promise of AI is consolidation. The same kind of software that can drive a car can write the reply to your email. So buying one point solution per job, each with its own login, contract and agency, now wastes money.

Judge software the way you’d judge a hire: by the range of work it can take on. That’s what to look for now: one system you can point at many jobs. Ocally is that for your stores: Kai and two people across listings, reviews, local search, social, AI answers, pricing, inventory and store routines, at every store.

Not sure what you could consolidate? Bring your list of tools and what they cost to a free consultation, and we’ll go through it with you.

**The same scope of work for 25 stores, a month (listings, reviews, local search, social and AI answers; the low end of published prices; use your own numbers):**

| Line | Basis | Tools, agencies and people | Ocally |
|---|---|---|---|
| Listings software (Moz Local Lite, $199 a year per location) | $17 per store | $425 |  |
| Review software (Reputation Rep Core, per location) | $80 per store | $2,000 |  |
| AI answers tracker (Peec AI Pro, 150 prompts) | $245 a month | $245 |  |
| Local SEO agency (chains of 20+ stores, "often $5,000+") | $5,000 a month | $5,000 |  |
| Social media agency (mid tier, $2,000 to $5,000) | $2,000 a month | $2,000 |  |
| AI search agency to fix what the tracker finds (small business low end, $1,500 to $5,000) | $1,500 a month | $1,500 |  |
| Staff time to run the tools and agencies | 1 hour per store a week at $54 an hour | $5,850 |  |
| Ocally | from $500 per store: Kai, a growth engineer and a growth specialist |  | $12,500 |
| Your team's time approving Kai's work | 0.25 hour per store a week |  | $1,463 |
| **Total a month** |  | **$17,020** | **$13,963** |
| Per store a month |  | $681 | $559 |

Defaults from: [Moz Local pricing](https://moz.com/products/local/pricing); [Reputation pricing](https://reputation.com/pricing/); [Peec AI pricing](https://peec.ai/pricing); [RankAI: multi-location local SEO cost guide (June 2026)](https://rankai.ai/articles/pricing-multi-location-local-seo-management-cost-guide); [Cloud Campaign: social media management pricing guide (July 2025)](https://www.cloudcampaign.com/blog/social-media-management-pricing-guide); [WebFX: GEO pricing (May 2026)](https://www.webfx.com/blog/seo/geo-pricing/); [BLS: market research analysts and marketing specialists, pay (May 2025)](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/market-research-analysts.htm); [BLS: employer costs for employee compensation (June 2026)](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm).

## What Kai does

1. **Reads every review, everywhere.** Kai watches each store's reviews on Google, Yelp, Facebook, Tripadvisor and Trustpilot through the day, plus private feedback from your in-store QR code.
2. **Drafts a reply from facts.** He writes each reply from that store's hours, products, offers and past replies. Every claim must match a fact on record, so nothing gets promised that isn't true.
3. **Puts the urgent ones first.** He ranks reviews by urgency. When a customer needs more than a reply, he writes a plan to make it right, with an owner and a deadline.
4. **Posts what you approve.** Approve a reply and he posts it, then reads it back to check it's live, word for word. Answers to public questions work the same way.

## What it unlocks

- **Saturday's one-star review has a reply waiting.** Kai drafts it within hours, from that store's facts, with a plan to make it right. Your team says yes, and he posts it right away.
- **See which store has which problem.** Every store's rating, replies owed and the topics customers keep raising, side by side. When the same complaint shows up at five stores, you see it.
- **Review requests after every real visit.** After a real visit, Kai asks each customer who agreed to hear from you for a review. How happy they seemed never decides who gets asked.

## Questions

### How do you respond to Google reviews?

Reply to every review, good or bad, and soon. Thank the customer, answer the point they raised and keep every fact right. Kai drafts each reply from that store's facts. You approve it, and he posts it and checks it went live, word for word.

### How should a business respond to a negative review?

Quickly and calmly. Acknowledge what happened, keep the facts straight, don't argue in public, and offer a way to make it right. Kai drafts that reply and, when the customer needs a person, a plan with an owner and a deadline. You approve both before anything happens.

### How do I get more Google reviews?

Ask every customer after a real visit, and never choose who to ask by how happy they seemed. Selective asking breaks Google's review policy. Kai sends a request by text or email after each visit your systems record, only to customers who agreed to hear from you, once you approve it.

### How do you manage reviews across many locations?

Read every store's reviews in one place, reply to each from that store's own facts, and watch for complaints that repeat. Kai drafts every reply, posts the ones you approve, and puts each store's rating, replies owed and top complaints side by side.

### Does Kai post replies without asking?

No. Every reply waits for its own yes. Once you approve, Kai posts it and reads it back to confirm the live text matches what you approved. The same rule covers answers to public questions and review requests: nothing goes out without a person saying yes.

## Related capabilities

- [Listings](https://ocally.co/capabilities/listings.md): Keeps hours, photos and details right on Google, Yelp and every map.
- [Local SEO](https://ocally.co/capabilities/local-search.md): Works on where every store shows up on Google Search and Maps, and why.
- [AI answers](https://ocally.co/capabilities/ai-answers.md): Gets your stores named, correctly, when shoppers ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google.

Bring the store with the most reviews nobody has answered. [Book a free consultation](https://ocally.co/consultation.md): 30 minutes on one store, and where Kai would start.

## Next steps

- [Is Ocally right for this business?](https://ocally.co/evaluate.md): who it fits and who it does not, the cost, the risks, and how to start.
- [Pricing](https://ocally.co/pricing.md): customized, with a minimum of $500 per location per month.
- [Book a free consultation](https://ocally.co/consultation.md): 30 minutes on one store. Calendar: https://cal.com/ocally/30min.
- [See if we're a fit](https://ocally.co/fit.md): a two-minute check; an agent can submit it for its human, with consent.
- [Every doc](https://ocally.co/llms.txt): the index.

Questions a doc doesn't answer: onboard@ocally.co.