How it works#
The Google Reviews automation reads the public reviews of a business on Google Maps. Once a day, Heropost imports new reviews as items, each with the reviewer's name, the star rating, the review text and one of your business's photos. Post the best ones as social proof, or let Heropost post new reviews for you.
You don't sign in to Google. Any business listed on Google Maps works.
To reply to reviews of your own business, connect your Google Business Profile and use the Social Inbox: see The Social Inbox.
Set it up#
- Search for your business on Google Maps and open its page.
- Copy the address from your browser's address bar. A share link (
maps.app.goo.gl/…orshare.google/…) also works. - In Heropost, click Automations in the left menu, then Create Automation.
- On the Google Reviews card, press Add Automation.
- Paste the link in Google Maps Link and press Save. Heropost shows "Google Reviews automation created! Your items are being imported and will appear shortly."
- Press Settings on the new automation, select your accounts, choose Read from Source or Publish Immediately, and press Save.
What each item contains#
| Part | From Google |
|---|---|
| Title | The rating as stars, then the reviewer's name, for example ★★★★☆ — Jane D. |
| Description | The review text. A review with no text reads "Rated 4/5 stars" followed by when it was posted. |
| Picture | One of your business's photos on Google, a different one for each review. |
| Link | None. Reviews have no View Source. |
How often, and how many#
- Once a day. Google Reviews automations are checked once a day, whatever Check for New Posts says.
- The five newest reviews. Each check sees only the five most recent reviews Google returns. If your business gets more than five reviews in a day, the others aren't imported.
- Every rating. Reviews of every star rating are imported. To keep low ratings from being posted, use the word filter below.
- Auto-posting skips old reviews: with Publish Immediately and an empty Publish posts which contain these words, reviews posted more than 7 days before Heropost finds them aren't posted.
Skip low ratings#
With Publish Immediately, add the star patterns of the ratings you don't want to Don't publish posts which contain these words, separated by commas and without spaces. To skip 1, 2 and 3-star reviews:
★☆☆☆☆,★★☆☆☆,★★★☆☆
Skipped reviews stay in the feed, where you can still post them by hand. To choose every review yourself, keep Action on New Item on Read from Source.
Settings that work well#
- Preferred Post Type: Image, since reviews have no link. Story also works on Facebook and Instagram.
- Caption: Custom is filled with
{{title}}, a blank line, then{{description}}: the stars and name, then the review. Add your own words, for exampleWhat our customers say: {{title}}followed by{{description}}. - Attach Link to Caption: reviews have no link, so this setting changes nothing.
All settings: Automations: how they work.
If it doesn't work#
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "Invalid URL" | The link isn't a full web address. A Place ID on its own isn't accepted. | Paste the full Google Maps address of your business, starting with https://. |
| "An unexpected error occurred while processing your request." when you save, or "Could not resolve Google Place from URL" | Heropost couldn't match the link to a business on Google. A link to search results or to the map, instead of to your business's own page, may not be recognized. | Open your business's own page on Google Maps and copy that address, or use its share link. If it still fails, contact support with the link. |
| A new review doesn't appear | Reviews are checked once a day, and only the five newest are seen. | Wait for the next day's check. A review that was pushed out of the five newest won't be imported: share it with a post you write yourself. |
| A low rating was posted | The automation posts every rating unless you filter them. | Add the star patterns above to Don't publish posts which contain these words. Delete the post on the network. |
Questions#
Can I post reviews of a business I don't own?
The automation reads any business on Google Maps. Only share reviews you have the right to share.
Can I import all my older reviews?
No. Each daily check sees the five newest reviews Google returns, so older reviews can't be imported.
Can I choose Every Hour for faster reviews?
You can pick it, but Google Reviews automations are still checked once a day.
Can Heropost reply to the reviews?
Not from the automation. Connect your Google Business Profile, and reviews of your business appear in the Social Inbox, where you can reply. See The Social Inbox.