Responding to product reviews is a great way to build trust, show appreciation, and resolve customer concerns. Whether you're thanking someone for a glowing review or addressing an issue, your reply can help create a more transparent and engaging shopping experience.
This guide shows you how to reply to reviews publicly, privately, or by using our AI reply generator.
Considerations
Replying to a review is one-way within Judge.me — there is no back-and-forth thread on the review itself. However, when you reply to a review, your customer receives a notification email (if enabled) and can reply to that email. If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can also use the "Reply privately via email" option to contact the customer directly.
Customers can still edit their own review (rating, title, body, and photos) through their Judge.me reviewer profile at any time. This cannot be disabled — it is part of GDPR compliance (right to rectification). If you have review notifications enabled you will be notified when a review is updated, and you can moderate it accordingly.
Reply publicly
How it works
When a customer leaves you a review, you can reply to the review publicly.
Public replies appear directly beneath the review in your Review Widget, helping potential buyers see how you interact with customers.
The reply section in the Review Widget includes:
The store name (as a heading, e.g. "Store Name replied")
The reply content
The reply section in the Review Widget does not include your reply date.
We can also send an Reply notification email to the customer to notify them of your reply.
Add a public reply
Available on the Free plan
To reply publicly to a review:
If you're part of the Early user program:
From your Judge.me admin, go to Reviews.
Find the review you want to reply to.
Click the Reply button on the right of the review.
In the Reply pop-up, make sure Publicly in widgets is selected at the top.
Enter your response (or use AI to generate one)
Click Send reply.
If you're not part of the Early user program:
From your Judge.me admin, go to Reviews.
Find the review you want to reply to.
Open the Reply dropdown on the right of the review.
Select Reply publicly.
Enter your response and click Send reply.
Edit or delete your public reply
Available on the Free plan
To edit or delete your public reply:
From your Judge.me admin, go to Reviews.
Find the reply you want to adjust.
Click the three-dot icon (...) on the right of the reply.
Select Edit public reply to edit your reply, or Delete reply to remove it.
Reply notification email
1. Enable reply notification email
Available on the Free plan
To choose whether to send a reply notification email:
From your Judge.me admin, go to Settings > Email templates > Reply notification.
In the Reply notification email section at the top, select one of the following options:
Notify reviewer about new replies – a notification email will be sent to your customer when you publicly reply to their review.
Disabled – no email will be sent when you reply public to a review.
Click Save.
2. Customize the texts
Available on the Awesome plan
To adjust the texts in the reply notification email:
From your Judge.me admin, go to Settings > Email templates > Reply notification.
Scroll down to the Template section.
Adjust the default texts in the following fields to your likings:
Email subject: "
{{ reviewer_first_name }}, your review just got a reply!"Preheader text: "
{{ shop_name }}replied to your recent review."Email title: "Your review got a reply!"
Email content:
"Hi
{{ reviewer_first_name }},Thanks for leaving a review for
{{ product_title }}. Your review:{{ block_review }}Here's the reply from
{{ shop_name }}:{{ block_reply }}"
Click Save.
Reply display name
By default, your replies will display your store name. You can customize this name in your Review Widget settings.
To edit your store display name in the reply:
If you're using the Review Widget (new version):
From your Judge.me admin, go to Settings > Widgets > Review Widget.
Scroll down and open the Text section.
In the Reply author name field, adjust the store name to your preference.
Click Save.
If you're using the Review Widget (legacy version):
From your Judge.me admin, go to Settings > Widgets > Review Widget.
Scroll down and open the Text section.
Scroll down to Review details.
In the Store name label field, adjust the store name to your preference.
Click Save.
Reply privately (via email)
Available on the Free plan
To reply to the review via email:
If you're part of the Early user program:
From your Judge.me admin, go to Reviews.
Find the review you want to reply to.
Click the Reply button on the right of the review.
In the reply modal, select Privately by email at the top.
Enter an email subject and your message (or use AI to generate both)
Click Send reply.
If you're not part of the Early user program:
From your Judge.me admin, go to Reviews.
Find the review you want to reply to.
Open the Reply dropdown on the right of the review.
Select Reply privately via email.
Write your message and click Send reply.
As private replies are sent via email immediately, they can't be unsent, edited, or deleted.
Generate replies with AI
Save time by using Judge.me's AI tool to generate thoughtful, on-brand replies in seconds by following these steps:
If you're part of the Early user program:
From your Judge.me admin, go to Reviews.
Click the Reply button on the right of the review.
An AI-generated reply is automatically created when the Reply pop-up opens.
(Optional) Choose a Tone of Voice: Direct, Elegant, or Friendly.
(Optional) Add Additional Instructions (e.g. "mention our return policy").
Click Generate Reply to regenerate with your tone/instructions.
Review the reply, then click Send reply.
Note:
When replying privately by email, the AI also generates an email subject line automatically.
If you close the modal by clicking the X or outside the Reply pop-up, your draft (including reply content, tone, and instructions) is automatically saved and restored when you reopen the reply for the same review.
However, clicking Cancel does not keep a draft.
If you're not part of the Early user program:
From your Judge.me admin, go to Reviews.
Find the review you want to reply to.
Open the Reply dropdown on the right of the review.
Select either Reply publicly or Reply privately via email.
Open the Generate reply with AI dropdown.
Select one of the following tones of voice:
Simple
Friendly
Elegant
Supportive.
Add specific instructions (e.g., "mention our return policy").
Click Generate Reply.
Review and click Send reply.
Currently, AI-generated replies are only available on individual reviews — bulk auto-replies are not yet supported.
Note: AI-generated replies are limited to 500 per day. If you reach this limit, a banner will appear in the reply modal letting you know. The limit resets every 24 hours.