How to respond to reviews: a guide for businesses

Reviews are free feedback from your customers. A good reply shows that you listen, both to the person who wrote and to everyone who reads it. Here are some simple tips.

How do you reply publicly?

With a paid premium listing, the business can reply to reviews publicly through its personal manager. Replies are marked as replies from the business. Read more in What paid services are there for businesses? and the Terms for Paid Services.

Replying to positive reviews

• Say thank you, briefly and personally.
• Mention something specific that the customer brought up.
• Avoid advertising and links. Spam and advertising are removed.

Replying to criticism

1. Read the review calmly and wait until you are no longer annoyed.
2. Thank the customer for the feedback, even if you disagree.
3. Explain objectively what happened or what you have changed.
4. Suggest a solution and how the customer can contact you directly.
5. Do not write personal data about the customer or your staff.

A calm and factual reply to a negative review often makes a better impression than ten five-star reviews.

What you may not do

• write reviews about your own business or about competitors
• order or buy reviews
• offer money, discounts or gifts so that a customer changes or removes a review

Fake reviews are prohibited under the Swedish Marketing Act, and the Swedish Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket) supervises these rules. We do not remove honest negative reviews for payment. More in Why real reviews matter more than fake ones.

If the review breaks the rules

Does the review contain threats, insults or false statements, or does it come from a competitor? Then you can complain, see How to complain about an unfair or fake review. We assess the complaint and decide whether the review is kept, corrected or removed. The rules are in Review moderation.

Related

• How to complain about an unfair or fake review
• Why real reviews matter more than fake ones
• What paid services are there for businesses?
• Review moderation
• Terms for Paid Services

Sources

• Swedish Marketing Act, marknadsföringslagen (2008:486), in Swedish (riksdagen.se)
• Swedish Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket): Review of consumer reviews, memo 2023, in Swedish (konsumentverket.se)