How it works
ChatGPT on its own cannot see your Google Business Profile. A connector gives it that access: ChatGPT asks the connector for your reviews, writes the replies, and sends them back through the connector once you approve. Social for Shops is such a connector, built on Google's Business Profile API. It is free, and it works across every location you manage, so you do not need a Google Cloud project of your own.
Before you start
- A ChatGPT plan with custom connectors. They are a paid-plan feature, and OpenAI decides which plans may write as well as read. If ChatGPT can list your reviews but will not publish, that is the plan limit, not the connector.
- Verified Google locations. Google accepts replies only for verified profiles.
- A free Social for Shops account with your Google account connected.
Setting it up
- Open ChatGPT settings and find the connectors section. Custom connectors sit behind a developer-mode switch in the advanced settings.
- Create a connector and paste the address from the connect page.
- ChatGPT opens a Social for Shops page. Sign in, check which business it is for, and choose Allow.
Menus in ChatGPT change often. If a step looks different, look for "connectors" or "apps" in settings; the address and the Allow step stay the same.
First conversation
Start with an overview rather than a single review: "Using Social for Shops, which of my locations have unanswered reviews, by star rating?" The connector answers in one call with a row per location, each named with its city, so similar names stay apart. Then go location by location: "List the unanswered reviews at the Salem location, newest first."
Prompts that work well with ChatGPT
- Name the connector in the first message ("Using Social for Shops, …"), so ChatGPT reaches for it instead of answering from general knowledge.
- Ask for drafts first: "Draft replies but do not publish." Drafts are saved and can be changed before anything goes out.
- Give the voice once: "Our tone is friendly and short, sign as the EZ FIX team, never mention prices." It is saved to the business profile and used every time.
- Keep batches reasonable: ten to twenty replies per round is easy to read through properly.
Publishing
When you ask ChatGPT to publish, the connector first answers with a preview of every reply and the location it goes to. ChatGPT shows it and needs your approval; only then are the exact replies in the preview sent. Each comes back with its own result. A reply Google holds for moderation is reported as pending; if Google rejects one, the reason is included so it can be rewritten.
Negative reviews
Do not let any AI argue with an unhappy customer in public. A good pattern: "Draft a calm reply to each review under three stars: apologise for the experience, do not dispute the details, invite them to call the shop and ask for the manager." Read these one by one before approving. The replies are for the next customer reading the review as much as for the reviewer.
Things to avoid
- Offering discounts or gifts for reviews. It breaks Google's review policies; drafts that look like this come back with a warning.
- Customer phone numbers or emails in a public reply.
- Identical replies everywhere. Ask for one detail from each review to be mentioned.
If something goes wrong
- "Needs reconnecting": the Google sign-in behind a location has expired. Ask ChatGPT for the reconnect link; it comes from the connector and opens the sign-in page.
- A location is skipped as not verified: finish Google's verification for it first; until then Google keeps its reviews closed to replies.
- Some replies were not sent: repeat the same request. Replies already published are not sent again.
- Held by the hourly limit: at most twenty replies per location per hour leave through an assistant. Continue later.
Claude or ChatGPT?
Both use the same connector and the same safety steps. The Claude guide walks through the full review inbox, and the Google Business Profile MCP page covers what the connector does and how it compares with other tools.
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