Reply to several reviews
How do I reply to several reviews at once?
Tick the reviews you want to answer on a single location's All Reviews tab, choose Bulk Respond, write one reply, and Synup saves that text as a draft on every review you ticked. Nothing is published. Generate AI responses does the same thing with a different AI-written draft for each review.
You then open each review, read the draft against that reviewer's words, and send it from its own card. That keeps the public step one review at a time.
Key facts
| Where it lives | Reviews → All Reviews for one location. The selection bar does not exist in the all-locations view |
| What it saves | A Draft reply on each ticked review, with the line "Draft, not visible on {platform} until sent." |
| What it never does | Publish to Google or Facebook, or ask a client to approve |
| Which reviews you can tick | Only reviews Synup can post to (Google Maps and Facebook), and only if they have not been removed |
| Text limit | 2,000 characters; longer text is cut off |
| Who can use it | Any agency member with Reviews access, for the clients they can see |
Why this matters
The button label and the dialog can read as if the reply is sent. It is not: a bulk reply is a way to put a starting draft on many reviews at once. Knowing that lets you use it for volume (a standard thank-you on dozens of five-star reviews) without worrying that something went public under your business name.
Steps
Open Reviews, choose the location, and stay on All Reviews.
Tick the checkbox on each review you want to answer, or choose Select all. A bar appears with Select all, a count such as 2 selected, Generate AI responses, Bulk Respond and an X to deselect everything.
Choose Bulk Respond. The dialog is titled Bulk respond to {count} reviews. Write the reply once. The line under the box shows whether it meets the destination's requirements; in this dialog the checks are shown but never hold the save.
Choose Send in the dialog. Despite the wording ("The same reply will be posted…", Send), this saves drafts. A message reads "Saving drafts for 2 reviews…", then "Saved 2 drafts — review and send each from its card."
Look at each review. It now carries your text with a Draft badge. Edit it with the pencil, remove it with the bin (Discard this draft?), or choose Send reply to publish that one.
Generate AI responses
Generate AI responses works the same way, except Synup writes a separate draft for each selected review from that review's rating and text, following the location's brand profile. Each draft is saved on its review and the message reads "Saved 2 AI drafts — review and send each from its card." Read each one properly before you send it; AI writes fluently about a review it cannot verify.
What the states mean
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Saving | The bulk job is working through your selection. The page checks its progress every couple of seconds |
| Draft | Saved on the review, visible only to your team. Not live |
| Waiting for client approval | You asked a client to approve the draft; still not live |
| Pending | You sent it and the platform is checking it (Google does this) |
| Posted | Live. The only state that counts as replied |
| Failed | The send was refused. The card says why, with Reconnect, Retry or Edit reply |
Where does my reply actually go? explains each badge in detail.
Sending the drafts
Each draft is sent on its own card with Send reply. That is where Content checks apply: a guideline you marked as mandatory blocks the send, and one marked "can be sent anyway" offers Send reply anyway. Sending many replies to one location in a short time can run into Google's per-profile limit ("Too many replies went to this profile just now"); wait a minute and use Retry.
To have a client approve several drafts, open the Review Inbox for that client, tick the reviews with drafts, and choose Request approval. Only reviews from one client can be sent together, and only those with a drafted reply are included ("Only 1 has a drafted reply").
Which reviews you can actually select
Only reviews Synup can post to on your behalf: Google and Facebook, and not a review that has been removed from its source. Everything else (Yelp, Tripadvisor, anything Synup collects by fetching public pages) shows Respond on {site} instead, which opens the review where you reply. Hover a greyed-out checkbox and it says "Replies aren't supported for this source".
Look at how many rows can be ticked before you plan a bulk reply. That number, not the total, is the size of the job. If Select all is ticked and the bar reads 1 selected, nothing is broken: only one review on the page could be selected.
If a review cannot take a draft (for example it was removed while you worked), it is counted as failed: the message reads "Saved 3 of 4 drafts; 1 failed."
What you'll see when it's done
- A Draft badge and your text on every review that was saved
- A message with the number saved, and the number that failed if any
- No change on Google or Facebook until you send each draft
- No change to your response rate yet: drafts count as unanswered
Watch out for
- One text for every review. Keep a bulk reply generic. A line that reads well on a five-star review can read badly against a complaint, so edit the drafts on negative reviews before sending.
- Drafts are not approvals. A draft is not sent for client approval unless you choose Request approval.
- It only works on one location. Switch to the location's All Reviews tab; there is no bulk reply bar across all locations.
Questions people ask
I used Bulk Respond and nothing appeared on Google. Is it broken?
No. It saved drafts. Open the reviews and choose Send reply on each draft you want to publish.
Can I send all the drafts at once?
Not from the bulk bar. Each draft is sent from its own card, so you read it against that review first. To have a client approve several at once, use Request approval in the Review Inbox.
Why can I not select some reviews?
Because Synup cannot post to their source, or the review was removed. The checkbox is disabled on any review that offers Respond on {source}.
Can Sydekick do this for me?
Yes. Sydekick can save one reply text as a draft on up to 50 reviews, the same safe result as Bulk Respond, and it can publish replies only after you confirm. Check the drafts it saves in the same place you would check your own.