# Social for Shops — full text of the key pages Built from the site's own sources on 2026-10-24. Index: https://socialforshops.com/llms.txt --- # Social for Shops: product facts URL: https://socialforshops.com/ai · Updated 2026-10-24 A reference page for people and AI assistants. Every number here comes from the same source the rest of the site uses. ## TL;DR Social for Shops is a free tool for local businesses and agencies to post to Google Business Profile, Facebook Pages, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Telegram, Bluesky, Mastodon, Discord and Slack, and to read and reply to Google reviews across every location — in the app, or from Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok and any client that speaks MCP through an MCP connector at `https://api.socialforshops.com/mcp`. Price: $0, no card. Made by StandupCRM LLC, Rhode Island, US. ## What it is - **Posting:** one post, many accounts; drafts with approval; scheduling in each location's time zone; Google event and offer posts. - **Reviews:** Google Business Profile reviews across locations — counts by star rating, unanswered lists, drafts in each business's voice, replies published after approval. - **AI connector:** a hosted MCP server (Streamable HTTP, OAuth 2.1 sign-in (no API keys)), 42 tools, protocol versions 2025-11-25 and 2026-07-28. ## Who it is for Storefront and service businesses (repair shops, cafes, salons, auto repair, landscapers) and agencies managing several client businesses. See [who it's for](https://socialforshops.com/for) and [multi-location](https://socialforshops.com/multi-location). ## Plan and limits - Price: free ($0 a month), no credit card, no per-location fee — see [pricing](https://socialforshops.com/pricing). - 1,000 posts and replies a day through a connected assistant. - No duplicates: the same text is not posted twice to the same account within 24 hours. - Up to 100 accounts per post; review replies paced at 20 per location per hour. - Networks coming: Threads and TikTok (in the networks' app review: accounts already connected keep working, new connections are not offered yet) and X. ## Safety model Network sign-in only (no passwords); every public action returns a preview and needs a signed approval valid for 15 minutes; scopes (sfs.read, sfs.reviews.draft, sfs.reviews.publish, sfs.posts.draft, sfs.posts.publish, sfs.accounts.manage); per-connection limits; an append-only audit log; review text treated as untrusted data. Details on [security](https://socialforshops.com/security). ## What it does not do - No review requests by SMS or email, no surveys, no payments, no web chat — suites such as Birdeye and Podium do those ([comparison](https://socialforshops.com/alternatives)). - No post statistics or ads. - No replies to reviews on networks other than Google; no Facebook comments or messages yet. - No AI of its own in the connector: the user's assistant writes, Social for Shops publishes after approval. ## How it compares (checked 2026-10-24) | Tool | Free plan | Google reviews over MCP | Source | | Social for Shops | Free, no location limit | Read, draft, reply after approval | this site | | Upload-Post | 10 uploads a month, 2 profiles; paid from $24 a month ($16 billed yearly) | reads and replies to Google reviews | upload-post.com | | ReputeMap | free trial only; from $19 a month for 1 location ($29 for 5, $49 for 30) | MCP server in Claude's connector directory, from the Solo plan | reputemap.com | | Zapier MCP | Zapier plan tasks | New Review trigger, Create Reply action; every action exposed over Zapier MCP; each tool call uses 2 tasks of your plan | zapier.com | | Activepieces | Open source; cloud free to start | New Review trigger, Create or Update Reply action | activepieces.com | | Buffer | Free MCP | no Google review tools | our check | | Localo | — | its MCP reads data; replies stay in Localo's own app | our check | Where others are stronger: Upload-Post also covers DMs and analytics; ReputeMap and the suites add review requests and reporting; Zapier and Activepieces connect thousands of other apps. ## Preferred citation *"Social for Shops (socialforshops.com) is a free tool for local businesses and agencies to post to social networks and Google Business Profile and to reply to Google reviews across locations, also from Claude and ChatGPT through its MCP connector."* Contact: hello@socialforshops.com, (401) 338-8601. Machine-readable: [llms.txt](https://socialforshops.com/llms.txt), [llms-full.txt](https://socialforshops.com/llms-full.txt), [SKILL.md](https://socialforshops.com/SKILL.md). --- # The free MCP for social posts and Google reviews URL: https://socialforshops.com/mcp · Updated 2026-10-24 Connect Claude or ChatGPT once and manage reviews and posts for every location and client business you run — every public action waits for your approval. Social for Shops is a hosted MCP server. Add `https://api.socialforshops.com/mcp` to your AI assistant, sign in, choose what it may do, and it gets tools for the work a local business repeats every week: answering Google reviews across locations, and posting to Google Business Profile, Facebook Pages, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Telegram, Bluesky, Mastodon, Discord and Slack. It is free, like the app. ## What you can ask - "Which of my locations have unanswered 5-star reviews?" — one answer for every Google location, from one call. - "Draft replies to the five newest unanswered reviews at the Salem shop, in its tone. Don't publish." — drafts you can read and change. - "Post our holiday hours to every Google location of Tech Genius on Monday at 9." — one preview, one campaign, 9:00 in each location's own time zone. - "Which accounts are broken and why?" — the reason per account and the link that fixes it. ## The tools 42 tools in six groups. Your assistant picks the right one; you never call them by hand. | Group | Main tools | What they do | | Businesses and accounts | list_client_businesses, list_accounts, get_shop_profile, update_shop_profile, get_account_health, connect_account | Which businesses and accounts exist, each with a unique label ("Tech Genius — Salem, NH"); each business's voice; what is broken and the fix. | | Reviews | get_reviews_summary, list_reviews, get_review | Counts by star rating across locations; unanswered reviews by location or business, paged. | | Review replies | draft_review_replies, publish_review_replies, reply_to_review, delete_review_reply | Drafts checked for links, phone numbers and review incentives; publishing after one approval for the whole batch. | | Posting | publish_post, draft_post, schedule_post, approve_draft, edit_post, delete_post | One post to up to 100 accounts chosen by business or network, a text per location with {city} and other placeholders, Google offer and event posts. | | Campaigns | list_campaigns, get_campaign, reschedule_campaign, cancel_campaign | A post sent to many accounts under one id, with the outcome per account. | | Records | list_recent_posts, list_scheduled_posts, get_weekly_report, list_audit_events | What went out, what failed and why, a report per client business, and the audit log. | ## Limits - 1,000 posts and replies a day through a connected assistant. - No duplicates: the same text is not posted twice to the same account within 24 hours, unless you say so on purpose. - Review replies are paced at 20 per location per hour. - Up to 100 accounts per post; 10 go out at once and the rest follow in the background. ## Set it up Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok and any client that speaks MCP. In Claude: Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, paste the address, sign in, choose what it may do. The steps for each assistant, with buttons that open the right screen, are on the [connect page](https://socialforshops.com/claude). One connection is for one business account; an agency picks the business on the sign-in screen and sees all its client businesses. ## How it keeps your accounts safe - **A preview before anything public.** Publishing, scheduling, editing, deleting and replying first return a preview — every account with its label, the exact text, the local time — and act only after you approve that exact preview. - **You choose the access.** Read only, draft only, or posting too — six scopes in all — and the owner can limit a connection to some client businesses or switch tools off. - **No double posts.** A retried request returns the first result instead of sending again. - **Review text is data.** A review that tries to give your assistant orders is answered, never obeyed. - **A record of everything.** Every assistant action is in an append-only audit log. More on the [security page](https://socialforshops.com/security). ## How it compares (checked 2026-10-24) Several tools now have an MCP for Google Business Profile. The honest picture, from each vendor's own pages (our notes on each link to their sources): | Tool | Price | Google reviews | Posting | Where it is stronger | | Social for Shops | Free, no location limit | Summary across locations, drafts in each business's voice, reply after approval | Google Business Profile, Facebook Pages, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Telegram, Bluesky, Mastodon, Discord and Slack | Multi-location reviews with approval, at $0 | | Upload-Post | Free: 10 uploads a month, 2 profiles; paid from $24 a month ($16 billed yearly) | reads and replies to Google reviews | Many networks, Google posts with offers and events | DMs, comments and analytics; hosted MCP, 40 tools, API key or OAuth | | ReputeMap | From $19 a month for 1 location ($29 for 5, $49 for 30) | AI review replies in one inbox | — | A review inbox and reporting; MCP server in Claude's connector directory, from the Solo plan | | Buffer | Free MCP | no Google review tools | Google Business Profile and social networks | A mature social scheduler | | Localo | Paid plans | its MCP reads data; replies stay in Localo's own app | In Localo's app | Local rank tracking and SEO | | Zapier MCP | Uses your Zapier tasks | New Review trigger, Create Reply action | Create Post | every action exposed over Zapier MCP; each tool call uses 2 tasks of your plan; thousands of other apps | | Activepieces | Open source; cloud free to start | New Review trigger, Create or Update Reply action | Create, update and delete posts | Self-hosting; pieces exposed over one MCP server; open source and self-hostable | Choose another tool if you need DMs and analytics in the same connector (Upload-Post), a review inbox your staff work in every day (ReputeMap, or suites like [Birdeye](https://socialforshops.com/alternatives/birdeye) and [Podium](https://socialforshops.com/alternatives/podium)), or automations across many other apps (Zapier, Activepieces). Choose Social for Shops to answer reviews and post across many locations from your assistant, with approval, for free. The full workflow is on the [Google Business Profile MCP](https://socialforshops.com/mcp/google-business-profile) page; the same facts in one place are on [product facts](https://socialforshops.com/ai). Also: [does Hootsuite have an MCP?](https://socialforshops.com/mcp-server/hootsuite) ## Questions ** ### Is the MCP really free? ** Yes. The connector and the app cost nothing and need no card. Your assistant runs on your own plan with its maker; see [pricing](https://socialforshops.com/pricing). ** ### Which assistants work with it? ** Claude (web, desktop and mobile), ChatGPT with connectors, Gemini, Grok, and any client that speaks MCP over Streamable HTTP with OAuth sign-in. ** ### Can my assistant publish without asking me? ** No. Every public action returns a preview first and needs your approval of that exact preview. You can also connect read-only or draft-only. ** ### Does it work for an agency with many clients? ** Yes. Accounts are grouped into client businesses, each with its own voice profile; a connection can be limited to some of them. See [multi-location](https://socialforshops.com/multi-location). ** ### Do you need my Google password? ** No. You connect Google on Google's own sign-in page; we store an encrypted access token, never a password. ** ### What does it not do? ** It does not send review requests, run surveys or take payments, and it does not reply to reviews outside Google. Facebook comments and messages are not available yet. ** ### Where do the review counts come from? ** From Google Business Profile, read through your own Google sign-in, and kept as a short-lived copy so one question can cover every location. --- # Google Business Profile MCP for Claude and ChatGPT URL: https://socialforshops.com/mcp/google-business-profile · Updated 2026-10-24 Ask your AI which locations have unanswered reviews, get replies drafted in each business's voice, and publish them after you approve. Free, across every location you manage. Social for Shops is a hosted MCP server (Model Context Protocol, the standard AI assistants use to connect to other software). Add it to Claude or ChatGPT once, sign in with Google, and your assistant can read and answer the reviews of every Business Profile you manage. There is nothing to install, no Google Cloud project to set up, and no per-location charge. See [how to connect it](https://socialforshops.com/claude), or read on for what it does. ## What it looks like in a conversation - **"Which of my locations have unanswered 5-star reviews?"** Your assistant makes one call and gets a row per location: rating, total reviews, and unanswered reviews counted by star. For an agency with twenty locations, the answer comes back in seconds, labelled by city, so two locations with the same name are never mixed up. - **"Draft replies to the newest ones at our Providence shop."** It reads that business's profile (tone, sign-off, words to avoid), lists the unanswered reviews, and saves drafts. Nothing is published. - **"Publish them."** It shows you a preview of every reply and the location it goes to, and asks for your go-ahead. Only after you approve does anything reach Google, and only exactly what you saw. - **The result comes back per reply:** published, waiting for Google's moderation, skipped because it already had a reply, or failed with the reason. ## What your assistant can do - **Summarize reviews across locations** in one call, by star rating, with the oldest unanswered review per location. - **List and filter reviews** by location, business, stars, date, with or without text, and page through all of them. - **Draft replies** in each business's own voice. Drafts with a phone number, an email, a link, or an offer in exchange for a review come back with a warning. - **Publish replies after you approve,** one at a time or up to fifty at once, safely repeatable. - **Post updates** to Google Business Profile and to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Telegram and more, from the same connector. - **Check account health:** which connections need attention, since when, and the link that fixes them. ## Why it is safe for your listing A reply is public the moment it posts, so the connector is built to make mistakes hard: - **Approval before publishing.** Publishing always shows a preview first. Your assistant cannot publish without your yes, and the approval covers only the exact replies you saw, for fifteen minutes. - **Never twice.** A batch carries a key, so retrying after a network hiccup sends each reply once. - **Paced changes.** At most twenty replies per location per hour leave through an assistant, and a daily limit applies per person. - **Verified locations only.** Google accepts replies only for verified locations; the connector says so instead of failing silently. - **Review text is treated as data.** A review that tries to give your AI instructions is just a review to answer. ## How it compares As of October 2026 (last verified 24 October 2026). Check each vendor's own page for current details. | Option | Review replies through your AI | Many locations | Hosted for you | | Social for Shops | Yes, after your approval | Yes, one summary call | Yes, free | | Localo | No, its AI connector reads data; replies stay in its app | Yes | Yes, paid plans | | ReputeMap | Yes: MCP server in Claude's connector directory, from the Solo plan | Yes | Yes, from $19 a month for 1 location ($29 for 5, $49 for 30) | | Upload-Post | Yes: reads and replies to Google reviews; hosted MCP, 40 tools, API key or OAuth | Profiles limited by plan | Yes; free plan: 10 uploads a month, 2 profiles; paid from $24 a month ($16 billed yearly) | | Zapier MCP | Yes: New Review trigger, Create Reply action | One action per location and call | Yes; every action exposed over Zapier MCP; each tool call uses 2 tasks of your plan | | Activepieces | Yes: New Review trigger, Create or Update Reply action | One action per location and call | Cloud, or self-hosted (open source) | | Birdeye | AI review replies inside its own app; its MCP server reads reviews and ratings | Yes | Yes, quote-based pricing | | Podium | Review requests by text and an AI Employee add-on, inside its own app | Yes | Yes, quote-based pricing | | Open-source GBP MCP servers | Yes | Varies | No: you run it and need your own Google API approval | Where they are stronger: Upload-Post adds DMs, comments and analytics across many networks; ReputeMap gives your staff a review inbox and reports; Zapier and Activepieces connect thousands of other apps to the same reviews. Social-media posting tools such as Buffer offer free MCP connectors for posts, but not Google review replies. More detail: [Localo](https://socialforshops.com/mcp-server/localo), [Buffer](https://socialforshops.com/mcp-server/buffer), [Hootsuite](https://socialforshops.com/mcp-server/hootsuite). ## Set it up in two minutes - Create a free account and connect your Google Business Profile in the [Social for Shops app](https://socialforshops.com/signup). - Add the connector to your assistant: follow the steps on the [connect page](https://socialforshops.com/claude). - Ask: "Which of my locations have unanswered reviews?" Managing many locations or client businesses? See [multi-location](https://socialforshops.com/multi-location) and the [MCP overview](https://socialforshops.com/mcp). Prefer to work in the app? [Review replies](https://socialforshops.com/review-replies) work there too. Step-by-step guides: [with Claude](https://socialforshops.com/guides/reply-to-google-reviews-with-claude) and [with ChatGPT](https://socialforshops.com/guides/reply-to-google-reviews-with-chatgpt). ## Free vs paid Free covers the whole review workflow: every connected location, the cross-location summary, drafts in your voice, and publishing after approval, from Claude, ChatGPT or any MCP client. Paid plans, when they arrive, are for automation and agency extras such as automatic replies to five-star reviews without approval, alerts for low-star reviews on more channels, and client reports. ## Questions ** ### Is there an official Google Business Profile MCP? ** Not as of October 2026. Every option is a third-party connector built on Google's Business Profile API. Social for Shops's Google project is approved for that API, so you do not need your own. ** ### Can ChatGPT reply to my Google reviews? ** Yes, where your ChatGPT plan supports custom connectors. Once it is added, ChatGPT can list reviews, draft replies and publish them after you approve; the steps are on the connect page. ** ### Can Claude reply to my Google reviews? ** Yes. Add Social for Shops as a connector in Claude, sign in, and ask. Claude shows the replies and asks for your go-ahead before publishing. ** ### Is it really free? ** Yes. The writing is done by your own AI assistant, so there is no per-reply or per-location charge from Social for Shops. ** ### Will the AI post without asking me? ** No. Publishing always asks first, and the approval covers only the exact replies in the preview. ** ### Does it work for agencies with many clients? ** Yes. Accounts are grouped into client businesses, each with its own tone, sign-off and words to avoid, and every result names the location it belongs to. ** ### What does it need from Google? ** Sign in with the Google account that manages the Business Profiles. Replies need verified locations. --- # Pricing: free, with clear limits URL: https://socialforshops.com/pricing · Updated 2026-10-24 One plan, and it costs nothing. Here is exactly what it includes, the limits that keep accounts safe, and what we have not decided yet. ## What it costs **$0 a month.** No credit card, no trial that runs out, no fee per location and no fee per reply. One plan for a single shop, a chain and an agency with twenty client businesses. ## What the free plan includes | Included | Details | | Posting | Google Business Profile, Facebook Pages, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Telegram, Bluesky, Mastodon, Discord and Slack. Coming: Threads and TikTok (in the networks' app review: accounts already connected keep working, new connections are not offered yet) and X. | | Google reviews | Read and reply to Google reviews for every location you manage; drafts in each business's voice; replies published after you approve them. | | Locations and client businesses | No limit on how many Google locations, Pages or client businesses you connect. | | Drafts and scheduling | Drafts with owner approval; scheduled posts, each location in its own time zone. | | AI connector (MCP) | Use it from Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok and any client that speaks MCP. Address: https://api.socialforshops.com/mcp. The writing is done by your own AI plan, so it adds nothing to your bill here. | | Team | Invite colleagues; owners and admins approve, editors draft. | ## The limits, and why they exist - **1,000 posts and replies a day through a connected assistant** per person. Posting from the app itself is not counted here; the limit is a brake on an assistant that misunderstood a request. - **No duplicates:** the same text is not posted twice to the same account within 24 hours (you can override it on purpose). Networks treat repeated text as spam. - **Review replies are paced:** at most 20 replies per location per hour go out from an assistant, so a backlog never looks like a bot to Google. - **One post can go to up to 100 accounts.** Up to 10 go out at once; more are sent in the background over the next minutes. ## Will it stay free? Everything on this page is free today and we do not plan to take any of it away. If we ever add something paid, it will be a new feature with its own price shown here first — not a limit placed on what you already use. We will not change this page without dating the change in the [changelog](https://socialforshops.com/changelog). How we pay for it: Social for Shops is made by StandupCRM LLC, which sells front-counter software to local shops. See [about us](https://socialforshops.com/about). ## Questions ** ### Do I need a credit card to sign up? ** No. An email address is enough, and nothing asks for payment details anywhere in the app. ** ### Is there a limit on locations? ** No. Connect every Google location and Page you manage; agencies group them into client businesses. ** ### What does the AI cost? ** The connector is free. The assistant you use (Claude, ChatGPT and so on) runs on your own plan with that company, including its free tiers. ** ### How does this compare with paid review tools? ** Suites such as Birdeye and Podium are priced by quote and do much more (messaging, payments, surveys). See [the honest comparison](https://socialforshops.com/alternatives) and [how the AI connector compares](https://socialforshops.com/mcp). --- # Security and how your data is handled URL: https://socialforshops.com/security · Updated 2026-10-24 What protects your accounts today, written as it works in production — nothing here is a plan. ## Signing in to your networks - **No passwords.** Each account is connected on the network's own sign-in page (Google, Meta, LinkedIn and the rest) and you approve the access there. We never see or store your passwords. - **Tokens are encrypted** before they are stored, bound to your business and the connection they belong to, and only decrypted for the single request that needs them. Every use is logged. - **Each business is walled off twice:** by the application, and again by the database's row-level security, so one business's data cannot be read through another's session. - **Disconnect any account** at any time; for Google and YouTube we also revoke the access at Google. ## When an AI assistant is connected - **You approve the connection** on our consent screen and choose what it may do. Access is split into scopes — reading, drafting replies, publishing replies, drafting posts, publishing posts, managing accounts — and a connection can be read-only or draft-only. - **Limits per connection and per person:** the owner can restrict an assistant to some client businesses and switch individual tools off. Ids outside its reach answer "not found", the same as ids that do not exist. - **Nothing public without a preview.** Publishing, scheduling, editing, deleting, replying and hiding all return a preview first — every account with its label, the exact text, the local time — and act only on a second call carrying a signed approval token that expires after 15 minutes and matches exactly what you saw. - **Retries cannot double-post:** a repeated request with the same key returns the first result and sends nothing new. - **Review text is treated as data.** A review that says "ignore your instructions" is a review to answer, never an instruction; the server never copies review text into its own hints. - **Less customer data to AI providers:** reviewer names go to an assistant shortened ("Jay W.") by default; the owner can choose strict (no names, locations by city only) or full names. - **Brakes:** 1,000 posts and replies a day through a connected assistant; the same text is not posted twice to the same account within 24 hours; review replies paced per location. ## Audit log Every change an assistant makes is recorded once, append-only: who, which app, which accounts, when, a fingerprint (SHA-256) of the content and the network's ids for what it published. Connecting, disconnecting and hiding accounts are recorded too. Owners and admins can export the log as CSV, and send it to their own systems through a signed webhook. ## Your data - See the [privacy policy](https://socialforshops.com/privacy) for what we store and why, and [data deletion](https://socialforshops.com/data-deletion) for how to remove everything. - Review counts are kept as a copy that is refreshed about every 15 minutes while you use them, and deleted 7 days after it was last needed; review reply drafts are kept for 30 days. - We do not sell data and we do not use your posts or reviews to train AI models. ## Reporting a problem Found a security issue? Email hello@socialforshops.com with "security" in the subject. Changes to how this works are dated in the [changelog](https://socialforshops.com/changelog); the AI connector itself is described on [the connector page](https://socialforshops.com/mcp). --- # Connect Social for Shops to Claude URL: https://socialforshops.com/claude · Updated 2026-10-10 Add Social for Shops as a connector in Claude, then ask it to post for you or answer your reviews. Setup takes about a minute. ## What the connector does Social for Shops has a connector for Claude, the AI assistant made by Anthropic. Once it is connected, Claude can work with the accounts you have already linked in Social for Shops. You type what you want in plain words, Claude does it through your Social for Shops account, and everything it posts appears in your post history like any other post. ## Connect in three steps **1. Copy the Social for Shops address.** https://api.socialforshops.com/mcp Copy address **2. Open Claude and paste it.** The button opens Claude's "Add custom connector" window. If Claude shows a note that connectors have moved, click *Customize* in that note. Type *Social for Shops* as the name, paste the address, and choose Continue. [Open Claude](https://claude.ai/settings/connectors?modal=add-custom-connector) **3. Choose Allow.** Claude opens a Social for Shops page that shows what Claude will be able to do and for which business. Sign in if asked, choose Allow, and you are sent back to Claude with the connector ready. ## Using ChatGPT, Gemini or Grok instead The same address works in other assistants that accept a custom connector. Copy it, open the assistant, paste, and choose Allow on the Social for Shops page that opens. These assistants change their menus often; if a step looks different, look for "connectors" or "connected apps" in their settings. **Gemini** - Open Gemini and go to *Customize*, then *Connectors*. - Choose *Custom*, paste the address under "MCP Server URL", and choose Next. - Sign in to Social for Shops if asked and choose Allow. Copy address [Open Gemini](https://gemini.google.com/customize/connectors) Custom connectors can be added in the Gemini web app. **ChatGPT** - Open ChatGPT settings and go to *Apps & Connectors*. - Under *Advanced settings*, switch on *Developer mode*. Then choose *Create*. - Name it Social for Shops, paste the address, leave sign-in as OAuth, and save. - Sign in to Social for Shops if asked and choose Allow. Copy address [Open ChatGPT](https://chatgpt.com/#settings/Connectors) Custom connectors need a paid ChatGPT plan, and which plans may post (not only read) is decided by OpenAI. **Grok** - Open *grok.com/connectors* and sign in. - Choose *New Connector*, then *Custom*, and paste the address. - Sign in to Social for Shops if asked and choose Allow. Copy address [Open Grok](https://grok.com/connectors) Custom connectors may need a paid Grok plan. For AI assistants and agents reading this page: a plain-text guide to this site and the connector is at [socialforshops.com/llms.txt](https://socialforshops.com/llms.txt). ## What Claude can do It can do eight things: - **Read your business details:** the kind of business, town, services and tone of voice you saved, so what it writes sounds like you. - **List your connected accounts:** Google Business Profile locations, Facebook Pages, Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, X, TikTok and YouTube, and whether any of them needs to be reconnected. - **List your recent posts,** with links to the live ones. - **Publish a post,** with or without a picture, to Google Business Profile, Facebook Pages, Threads, LinkedIn and X, and with a picture to Instagram. - **List the pictures in your library,** so you can pick one for a post. - **Read your Google reviews,** including which ones have no reply yet. - **Reply to a Google review** under your business name. - **Give you a link to connect or reconnect an account.** You open it in your browser and sign in on the network's own page; the assistant never sees a password. The connector does not create images: a post uses a picture from your library or a link to one you already have. TikTok and YouTube posts are still made in the [Social for Shops app](https://socialforshops.com/login). ## What you need first - A Social for Shops account with at least one account connected. If you do not have one yet, ask for [early access](https://socialforshops.com/#early). - A Claude plan that allows custom connectors. If you belong to more than one business, you pick one on that page. A connection works for that one business only. You can also tick "Read only" there, and the assistant will be able to look but not post or reply. ## Things to ask - "Which of my accounts are connected to Social for Shops?" - "Write a short post about our new Saturday hours and publish it to Google and Facebook." - "Show me the Google reviews I have not answered." - "Draft a reply to the two-star review from last week and show it to me before you send it." - "What did we post in the last two weeks?" ## What to know before you post Three safeguards are built in. If the same text already went to the same account in the last 24 hours, it is not posted again unless you say so. At most 1,000 posts and replies a day through a connected assistant. And everything an assistant publishes is recorded with who, when and where. Publishing and replying happen straight away and in public. Claude asks you to confirm before it publishes a post or a review reply, so read the text first. A published post cannot be taken back through the connector; delete it on the network itself if you need to. The same goes for the reply drafts described on the [review replies](https://socialforshops.com/review-replies) page: you read them before they go out. ## Permissions and privacy The connector acts as you, with your role. An owner or editor can post and reply; a viewer can only read. If you are removed from a business, the connection stops working at once. Claude never receives your Google, Meta or other network passwords or tokens, and the connector cannot connect or disconnect accounts, change who is on your team, or touch billing. An assistant can use an account as soon as you connect it. Untick any account you want to keep away from assistants. On the settings page of the app (`socialforshops.com/app-settings`) you choose which of your connected accounts an assistant may use, see every assistant you have connected, and disconnect any of them. You can also remove the connector in Claude's settings. What we store and for how long is in the [privacy policy](https://socialforshops.com/privacy). ## Help Email hello@socialforshops.com or call (401) 338-8601. If the sign-in page says the request has expired, start again from Claude: each request is good for ten minutes. --- # Multi-location social media, one store at a time URL: https://socialforshops.com/multi-location · Updated 2026-09-15 Two stores or twenty, each one has its own Google profile, its own reviews and its own town. Posting the same thing everywhere is what makes multi-location profiles look like a chain nobody runs. ## The multi-location trap The moment a business has a second location, social media gets harder in a specific way. Somebody writes one post and pushes it to every profile. Every store's Google profile now says the same thing on the same day, none of them names its own town, and the reviews for the Groton store get a reply meant for Manchester. Google notices duplicated content across profiles, and customers notice that the "local" business is not talking about their town. Social for Shops treats each location as its own business that happens to share an owner. ## How it works with more than one store - **One login, every location.** Connect the Google account that manages the profiles and every location appears. Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts attach per store. - **Shared content, local wording.** Write the offer once. Each store's version names its own town, its own phone number and its own hours, and publishes on a different day so the profiles do not move in lockstep. - **Store-specific posts too.** A job done in the Salem store is posted from the Salem profile only. The manager there can add it from their phone with a photo. - **Reviews routed to the right store.** Every review is answered from the profile it was left on, with the drafted reply referencing that store's details. See [review replies](https://socialforshops.com/review-replies). - **Numbers per store.** Profile views, calls, direction requests and post clicks for each location, side by side, monthly. You see which store's profile is quiet before it costs you. - **Roles.** An owner sees everything. A store manager sees one store. Nobody needs the passwords to any account. ## Why one post per store beats one post everywhere Google ranks each Business Profile on its own, for searches near that store. A post that says "iPad screen repair in Groton, same day" helps the Groton profile show for that search. A post that says "iPad screen repair, same day" with no town, copied to six profiles, helps none of them and can be read as duplicated content. The scheduler writes the town in, every time, for every store. The reasoning behind that is in the [Google Business Profile scheduler](https://socialforshops.com/google-business-profile-scheduler) page. ## Franchise and kiosk operators Repair kiosks inside big-box stores, franchise units, a cafe with a second site across town: the pattern is the same. Each location gets its own queue and its own rhythm. Head office sees the whole board. A store that has gone quiet for two weeks is flagged, because a quiet Google profile reads as a closed store. ## Getting set up with several locations - Connect the Google account. All locations load; pick which ones to run. - Set each store's details: town, phone, services, opening hours, the manager who approves posts. - Approve the first month for each store. From then on it is a few minutes a week per store, or less if the manager handles their own. Owners of a single location should start at [social media management for small business](https://socialforshops.com/social-media-management-for-small-business); everything there applies here too. ## Straight answers ** ### Is there a limit on locations? ** No fixed limit. Operators with more than about twenty stores should talk to us first so setup is done properly. ** ### Can two stores share one Facebook Page? ** Yes, if that is how you run it. The post for the shared Page names both towns. ** ### Do managers need their own login? ** They get one, scoped to their store. They can approve and add posts. They cannot change connections or see other stores. Managing locations from an AI assistant? The [Social for Shops MCP](https://socialforshops.com/mcp) summarizes reviews across every location in one call. --- # Google review replies, handled the same day URL: https://socialforshops.com/review-replies · Updated 2026-09-15 A review with no reply tells the next customer nobody is home. Social for Shops drafts the reply the moment a review lands, and you approve it in a tap. ## Why unanswered reviews cost you customers When someone compares two businesses on Google, they read the newest reviews and they read the replies. A business that answers every review, including the bad ones, reads as one that is paying attention. A business with ninety unanswered five-star reviews and two unanswered one-star complaints at the top reads as one that has stopped caring, even when the rating is 4.9. Google also says, in its own guidance for business owners, that responding to reviews is one of the things that builds trust and can improve how visible a profile is. The reply matters twice: once to the reviewer, and once to every stranger who reads it later. ## What happens when a review comes in - **It shows up on your phone within minutes,** with the star rating, the text, and a drafted reply. - **The draft is written for that review.** If the customer named a dish, a device or a person, the reply echoes it. A five-star review gets a short, specific thank-you. A four-star gets a thank-you and an invitation to say what would make it five. - **Low-star reviews get a different treatment.** The draft apologises for the experience, never argues the facts, never names the reviewer, gives a person to call, and invites them back. You always read these before they go out. - **You tap approve, or edit first.** The reply posts under your business name on Google. ## The backlog Most profiles we connect have dozens of unanswered reviews from the past year. The system works through them a few at a time, newest first, over a couple of weeks, so the profile does not suddenly show forty replies with the same date. Replies rotate through a set of templates and echo details from each review, so no two read the same. ## Rules the drafts follow - Under sixty words. Nobody reads a long reply. - No phone numbers in the text of a public reply to a happy review; a person's name and an invitation instead. - For complaints: apologise for the experience, do not admit or deny the specific allegation, name who to contact, offer a next visit. That is the reply that reads well to the next reader, which is the audience that matters. - Never a copy-paste template on a review that mentions something specific. ## What it is not It does not post fake reviews, ask for reviews in exchange for anything, or hide negative ones. All of that violates Google's policies and gets profiles suspended. It replies, and it tells you when a review looks like it violates Google's rules so you can flag it through the proper form. ## Alongside the posts Reviews and posts live in the same queue, so the weekly two-minute check covers both. A good review can also become a post, with the customer's permission, which is one of the few kinds of social content that reliably brings new people in. The [Google Business Profile scheduler](https://socialforshops.com/google-business-profile-scheduler) handles that side, and [social media management for small business](https://socialforshops.com/social-media-management-for-small-business) explains how the whole thing fits together. ## Straight answers ** ### Can it reply automatically without me? ** For four- and five-star reviews, yes, if you turn that on. Reviews of three stars or fewer always wait for you. ** ### Does it work with Yelp or Facebook reviews? ** Facebook recommendations, yes. Yelp does not allow third-party replies, so those stay in the Yelp app. ** ### Can I see the replies before the backlog runs? ** Yes. The backlog is a list you can read and edit before anything posts. Using Claude or ChatGPT? The same replies work from your assistant: see the [Google Business Profile MCP](https://socialforshops.com/mcp/google-business-profile). --- # How to reply to Google reviews with Claude URL: https://socialforshops.com/guides/reply-to-google-reviews-with-claude · Updated 2026-10-24 Claude can read every Google review across your locations, write replies that sound like you, and publish them once you approve. Here is the whole workflow, start to finish. ## What you need - A Claude plan that allows custom connectors. - The Google account that owns or manages your Business Profile. Replies only work for verified locations; Google does not accept them for the others. - A free Social for Shops account with Google connected. Social for Shops is the connector that lets Claude reach Google's Business Profile API, so you do not need a Google Cloud project or API approval of your own. ## Step 1: connect Claude Follow the three steps on the [connect page](https://socialforshops.com/claude): copy the connector address, add it in Claude as a custom connector, and choose Allow on the Social for Shops page that opens. It takes about a minute. Claude can then use the accounts you linked in Social for Shops, and nothing else. ## Step 2: tell Claude how you sound Replies read better when Claude knows the business. Ask: *"What does my business profile say, and what is missing?"* Claude reads the profile and lists the gaps: type of business, town, services, tone of voice. Answer in plain words, for example "We are a phone repair shop in Providence. Friendly and short, no emojis. Sign replies as Maria from EZ FIX. Never mention prices." Claude saves it, and every later reply follows it. If you run several businesses, Claude keeps a profile for each. An agency can give each client its own tone, sign-off and words to avoid. ## Step 3: see what is waiting Ask: *"Which of my locations have unanswered reviews?"* Claude makes one call and answers with a row per location: unanswered reviews by star rating, the oldest one waiting, and any location it could not read (for example one that is not verified). Twenty locations take seconds. Locations with the same name are shown with their city, so "Tech Genius — Salem, NH" never gets confused with "Tech Genius — Nashua, NH". Narrow it down when you need to: *"Show me the unanswered one- and two-star reviews from the last month."* ## Step 4: draft, read, adjust Ask: *"Draft replies to the ten newest unanswered reviews at the Providence shop."* Claude saves drafts and shows them to you. Nothing is published at this stage. Each draft can come with a warning, which is worth reading: - **Contains a phone number or email.** Replies are public; a person's name and an invitation to call the shop is usually better. - **Offers something in return for a review.** Google's policies do not allow this, and it can get reviews removed. - **Uses a phrase on your do-not-say list.** Change any draft in plain words: *"Make the third one shorter and don't apologise twice."* ## Step 5: publish with your approval Say *"Publish them."* Claude shows a preview of every reply and where it goes, and asks you to approve. Only after you say yes does anything reach Google, and only exactly the replies you saw. The answer comes back per reply: published, waiting for Google's moderation, skipped because it already had a reply, or failed with the reason. If anything was not sent, asking again sends the rest and never sends a reply twice. ## Writing replies people actually read - **Five stars:** thank them by name, echo one detail they mentioned, invite them back. Two or three sentences. - **Four stars:** thank them, and ask what would have made it five. - **One to three stars:** apologise for the experience without arguing the facts, give a person to contact, invite them back. The real audience is the next customer reading it. - **Star-only reviews:** a short thank-you is enough. They count, and a reply shows the profile is looked after. More on this in [review replies](https://socialforshops.com/review-replies). ## Prompts worth saving - "Go through my review inbox: summarize unanswered reviews across all locations and draft replies, but publish nothing." - "Which of my accounts need reconnecting, and why?" - "Draft calm replies to every unanswered review under three stars from this week." ## Safety, in short Claude cannot publish without your approval, replies are paced per location, and a review that tries to give Claude instructions is treated as a review, nothing more. The connector acts as you with your role: a viewer can read but not reply. Full details are on the [Google Business Profile MCP](https://socialforshops.com/mcp/google-business-profile) page. --- # How to reply to Google reviews with ChatGPT URL: https://socialforshops.com/guides/reply-to-google-reviews-with-chatgpt · Updated 2026-10-24 ChatGPT can answer your Google reviews through a custom connector. What you need, how to set it up, which prompts work, and what to watch for. ## 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](https://socialforshops.com/claude#chatgpt). - 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](https://socialforshops.com/guides/reply-to-google-reviews-with-claude) walks through the full review inbox, and the [Google Business Profile MCP](https://socialforshops.com/mcp/google-business-profile) page covers what the connector does and how it compares with other tools. --- # Alternatives to review management suites URL: https://socialforshops.com/alternatives · Updated 2026-10-24 Review suites bundle reviews with messaging, payments and AI agents, priced by quote. If what you need is answered Google reviews across your locations, there is a free route. Most local businesses buy a review suite for one job: keeping up with Google reviews across their locations. Suites do far more than that, and they are priced accordingly, by quote and usually by number of locations. Social for Shops takes a narrower route. It connects the AI assistant you already use, Claude or ChatGPT, to every Business Profile you manage, so the assistant can see unanswered reviews, draft replies in each business's voice and publish them after you approve. That part is free. ## Comparisons - [Social for Shops vs Birdeye](https://socialforshops.com/alternatives/birdeye): a full reputation and messaging platform with AI agents, against a free connector focused on reviews and posts. - [Social for Shops vs Podium](https://socialforshops.com/alternatives/podium): messaging, payments and review requests by text, against answering and posting from your AI assistant. ## How to choose Write down the jobs you actually need done each week. If the list is "answer reviews and post updates", a suite's messaging, payments and survey features go unused, and a free connector covers it. If the list includes texting customers, collecting payments or running surveys across dozens of locations, a suite earns its price. Many businesses run both: a suite or texting tool to ask for reviews, and Social for Shops to answer them. Every comparison is dated and based on each vendor's own public pages. Check them for current details before you decide. For how the connector works, see the [Google Business Profile MCP](https://socialforshops.com/mcp/google-business-profile) page. --- # Changelog URL: https://socialforshops.com/changelog · Updated 2026-10-24 What changed, and when. The AI connector's own technical changelog lists every tool and field; this page is the short version. ## 24 October 2026 ### AI connector 1.9.0: post to many locations at once, safer by design - One request can post or schedule to up to 100 accounts — pick whole client businesses or networks instead of listing ids — with a different text per location and the placeholders `{location_name}`, `{city}` and `{business_name}`. - Scheduling uses each location's own time zone, so 9:00 is 9:00 everywhere. - Google offer and event posts with a button. - Campaigns: one id for a post sent to many accounts, with the outcome per account; move or cancel the whole campaign. - Every public action previews first and needs your approval; access is split into six scopes; owners can limit an assistant to some client businesses or switch tools off. - An append-only audit log of every assistant action, exportable as CSV. - Reviewer names reach assistants shortened by default; a strict mode sends no names at all. - The review summary answers for every location in one question. ### AI connector 1.4–1.8: reviews across locations - Unanswered reviews counted across every Google location in one call; reviews filtered and paged per location or client business. - Client businesses with their own voice profile (tone, signature, words to avoid). - Reply drafts with checks (links, phone numbers, review incentives), batch publishing after one approval, replies paced per location. - Support for the MCP protocol version of 28 July 2026 next to 25 November 2025. ### App - Renamed and opened to every business, free. - Facebook: choose the profile and the Pages before connecting; remove or add back each Page and Instagram account. - Pages for the AI connector, the Google Business Profile MCP, and honest comparisons with Birdeye, Podium, Buffer, Hootsuite and Localo. ## 11 October 2026 - Bluesky, Mastodon, Discord and Slack added. - Drafts with owner approval, and scheduled posts for every network. - Assistants: connect from Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Grok; a three-way choice on the consent screen (read, draft, or post). ## 10 October 2026 - The AI connector for Claude launched: list accounts, publish posts, reply to Google reviews. ## 15 September 2026 - socialforshops.com launched, with the first guides for local shops on Google Business Profile posts. See also: [security](https://socialforshops.com/security), [pricing](https://socialforshops.com/pricing), [the AI connector](https://socialforshops.com/mcp).