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Reply to any review in about thirty seconds.
Especially the one-star ones. What you write publicly is read by everybody comparing you afterward, and it matters considerably more than the review itself.
The review
Rules worth following
Why bother
Responses are read by people who are not the reviewer.
The person who left it has usually moved on. The next twelve prospects comparing you against a competitor have not, and they read how you handled it.
It is a ranking factor
Owner response rate is one of the signals in the Proof pillar of the Visibility Score. Replying to everything is free and it moves the number.
A bad review is not the problem
An unanswered bad review is. A calm public reply neutralises most of the damage, and a defensive one multiplies it. That gap is entirely within your control.
Perfect ratings look fake
A 4.7 with a couple of handled complaints reads more trustworthy than a flawless 5.0. People are looking for evidence you are real.
Speed is visible
Replies show a timestamp. Answering within a day says something about how you run the business that no amount of website copy can.