Managing online reviews on Google and other sites can be time consuming for hotels and other accommodation businesses.
But not paying attention and taking time to respond to them can damage businesses' reputation, with customers talking about them in a negative way.
Step forward Kurt Walker, a former Google Maps engineer, and co-founder Kevin Andres, a former Amazon engineer, who are automating the process and helping hospitality businesses manage their online reputation through their startup Replyable.
The New York-based business uses artificial intelligence to automate the review response process for businesses and provide them with actionable insights into improving online reputation.
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Walker, CEO of Replyable, said that on top of being a big personal user of Google Reviews, he had observed many businesses chasing search rankings.
“I love to see what reviews are saying and how businesses are responding," he said. "When you see them responding, it does show they care and are trying to put effort into resolving [issues] and looking at all the feedback.”
The technology works by notifying businesses when a review has been left and suggesting ways to respond to reviews as well as what tone to respond in.
While the AI model has already been trained with certain responses, once businesses join the platform they can suggest their own responses, which will further train the model and develop the service.
”We understand the critical role that customer reviews play in shaping a business' online reputation," Walker added. "Our platform not only empowers businesses to respond effectively and efficiently but also provides them with the tools to track and analyze the impact of these engagements, ultimately driving positive outcomes."
The startup is also working on new features that analyze the sentiment of reviews using AI, which provides businesses, especially those with multiple locations, with a fuller picture of how customers feel about their business or enabling owners to drill down into specific issues around one location.
So far Replyable works with Google Reviews, but the hope is to integrate Yelp and other review services such as Tripadvisor going forward.
The startup charges businesses a fee per month and per location with those with multiple locations paying less per location.