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, 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, Buffer, Hootsuite.
Set it up in two minutes
- Create a free account and connect your Google Business Profile in the Social for Shops app.
- Add the connector to your assistant: follow the steps on the connect page.
- Ask: "Which of my locations have unanswered reviews?"
Managing many locations or client businesses? See multi-location and the MCP overview. Prefer to work in the app? Review replies work there too. Step-by-step guides: with Claude and 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.
Post everywhere at once — free
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