The problem
Reviews go unanswered for weeks, or a rushed reply gives away that the reviewer was a patient. If you get 12 reviews a month and each reply takes 8 minutes, that's 96 minutes a month.
What the AI does
Paste the review text into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, without the reviewer's name, and ask for a short, warm reply that thanks them and invites contact by phone. For critical reviews, ask for a reply that does not confirm they were a patient or mention any treatment. The practice manager edits and posts it.
A worked example
An independent optician in Stirling gets about 12 Google reviews a month and replies to them on Friday afternoons.
Before
8 minutes per reply, 96 minutes a month
After
About 3 minutes to check and post each reply, 36 minutes a month
What it's worth
About 1 hour a month saved (5 minutes on each of 12 replies), worth around £30 if a manager's time is worth £30 an hour.
How to set it up
- Paste in the review text without the reviewer's name.
- Ask for a short reply that thanks the reviewer and, for a complaint, invites them to contact the practice by phone.
- Tell it never to confirm that the reviewer is a patient or mention their care.
- Read the reply, add the practice manager's name and post it from your own account.
- Pass real complaints to your complaints procedure.
What goes wrong
- Confirming that someone is a patient, or discussing their care in public, breaches confidentiality. Keep every reply generic.
- Replies that read as identical teach readers they are automated. Change the wording.
- Never paste clinical or patient information into a consumer plan.
- Don't ask for, or write, fake reviews.