Google review management software where every reply is approved before it posts
Google review management means reading, answering and tracking the reviews on your Business Profiles. OpenGMB puts every location's reviews in one inbox. You draft a reply with Claude, the built-in AI or by hand. Rules check it, it gets approved, and only then does it publish.
Last updated 2026-10-23
What can you do with Google Business Profile reviews in OpenGMB?
Three steps, from the first sync to a live reply.
See every review in one inbox
Reviews from all your locations land in one list. Filter by location, star rating, replied or not, topic and sentiment. Ten locations or one, the inbox looks the same.
Draft the reply your way
Ask Claude over MCP, use the built-in AI draft, start from a reply template or type it yourself. A reply from Claude goes through the same rules and the same approval step as one you type.
Rules check it, then it is approved
Rules check the text first. Then it is approved, either by someone with approval rights or by the star rule if you turned it on. Approving and publishing are separate steps unless you also turn on auto-publish.
New reviews sync every 2 hours.
How do I assign a review and add internal notes?
Open a review, pick a teammate, add an internal note and set a due date. That is the whole job.
Assign to an owner, admin or manager. Client roles cannot be assigned a review.
Add internal notes, up to 2,000 characters each. Notes stay with your team: they never go to Google, and clients cannot see them.
Set a due date. A review is overdue when the date has passed and it still needs a reply.
The assignee gets an in-app notification, plus the daily email digest when email is set up. The notification names the location, never the review or the note.
Built in: what stops a bad reply from going live?
Every reply is checked against rules before anyone can approve it. Then it is approved. Then it publishes.
Blocks and warnings
A block stops the reply. Nobody can approve a blocked draft until someone edits the text. U7.url blocks a link and U7.email blocks an email address.
A warning flags something worth a second look. It has to be acknowledged before the reply can go on.
The rules run again just before the reply is sent to Google, so a late edit cannot sneak past. Every reply runs the universal rules. A healthcare client adds the healthcare pack, and a law firm adds the legal pack. The healthcare pack blocks a reply that confirms or implies someone is a patient (H1).
The audit log
Each draft, approval and publish is recorded with who did it. The audit log is also an MCP resource, audit-recent, so Claude can read the last 100 rows.
One optional exception: an auto-approve rule for 4- and 5-star reviews, or for 5-star reviews only. It is off until an owner or admin turns it on, and 1 to 3 star replies always wait for a person. See Google Business Profile guardrails and approvals.
Thank you for the kind words! Book your next tune-up at example.com/book and mention this review.
- U7.url (blocks publishing) Reply contains a URL or web address.
Can I reply to many Google reviews at once?
Yes, as drafts. Bulk drafts go through the same approval as single replies.
Pick the reviews
Open Bulk reply for one client. Filter by location and star rating, then select the unreplied reviews you want.
Choose a template or AI
Pick a reply template and create drafts for up to 50 reviews at a time. Reviews that cannot take the template are skipped with the reason shown. AI drafts take up to 20 reviews at a time.
Every draft is still checked
Each draft is checked by the rules and approved like a single reply, including the star rule if it is on. You can also copy the list for your agent.
Can I see which topics reviewers mention?
Yes. Review analytics shows reply rate and time to reply. Topic and sentiment sorting shows what people talk about.
The analytics view works out the average rating, reply rate and the median hours from review to reply. It is plain arithmetic over your synced reviews, with no AI involved, and it compares the period you pick with the one before it.
Topic sorting uses AI. Each review with text gets one or more of 9 topics, each marked positive, negative or mixed. Weekly trends cover the last 12 weeks, so you can see whether complaints about wait time are growing. Sorting uses AI credit, so the daily automatic run is off until you turn it on.
- Staff
- Wait time
- Price and value
- Cleanliness
- Results and quality
- Communication
- Booking and scheduling
- Location and parking
- Other
Who uses it for Google reviews: home services businesses and agencies
Home services owner
A furnace tune-up season brings a wave of 5-star reviews and a few complaints about arrival windows. Thank the happy customers in one bulk pass, and assign the 2-star review to your dispatcher with a due date of tomorrow.
Replies wait for your approval, even when you are on a job site at 9 PM, unless you turn on the star rule for 4- and 5-star reviews.
Agency managing several clients
Each client has its own reviews, reply templates and approval rules. Your team assigns and notes reviews internally, and clients approve their own replies in the client portal.
The audit log shows who approved what for which client. One price covers the account.
Which credits does Google review management use?
As of 2026-10-24, OpenGMB costs $10 a month per account. The $10 is usage credit, and only AI drafts and rank scans use it.
A typical reply draft is about $0.0004. That is an estimate, not a price: each draft is charged at its metered cost plus 28%.
Details are on pricing.
Guides and related features
Related features
- Review requestsEmail campaigns, a link, a QR code or a website widget.
- GuardrailsRule packs block links, emails and impossible hours before approval.
Questions about Google review management
What is Google review management software?
It is software that collects the reviews from your Google Business Profiles, helps you reply and tracks how you are doing. OpenGMB adds rules that check each reply and an approval step before publishing, and it works across many locations.
Can Claude reply to my Google reviews?
Claude can draft replies over MCP. A draft from Claude goes through the same rules and the same approval step as a reply you type. You choose how much your agent can do, and a token can also be read only.
Does every reply need approval?
Yes, with one optional exception. An owner or admin can turn on an auto-approve rule for 4- and 5-star reviews, or for 5-star reviews only. It is off by default. Replies to 1 to 3 star reviews, and to reviews with no star rating, always wait for a person.
How much does it cost to reply to a review?
Publishing a reply is free, and so is reading reviews. Google work is free with a fair-use limit. AI drafts and topic sorting use credit at our cost plus 28%.
How often do reviews sync?
Every 2 hours, in the background. Background syncs cost nothing, and new reviews show in the inbox after the next sync.
Reply to your next review from one inbox.
$0.50 free credit, no card. Rules check every reply before it goes out.