Review Response Guide

Sample response:

SEO used: Provider name · Practice name · (city implied by profile)

Sample response:

SEO used: Service term (mirrored from review) · Practice name · City

Sample response:

SEO used: Practice name · (empathy language builds trust for other anxious searchers reading the profile)

Sample response:

SEO used: Practice name · "new-patient" · "cleaning" (only because the natural next-visit reference)

Sample response:

SEO used: Practice name · City · nothing invented

Sample response:

SEO used: Procedure term (mirrored) · practice name optional if it fits

Sample response:

Voice note: "We'd want to know" is deliberately understated — it invites without begging. No mention of the missing star.

Sample response:

Voice note: Calling out that it's "not a canned line" is disarming and honest. Only use once — if it becomes its own template, it becomes canned.

Sample response:

SEO used: Practice name · anchors the clinical praise, which is the highest-value part of the review to reinforce

Sample response:

Voice note: "Not something we're going to argue with" is a small but meaningful phrase — it signals the practice is going to take the feedback seriously, without a lot of corporate flowers.

Sample response:

Voice note: "Didn't fully land" acknowledges the middle rating without over-apologizing. The word "genuinely" earns its keep here — read the sentence without it and it feels colder.

Holding response (post within 24 hrs while internal routing happens):

Then route through the same escalation flow below. A 3★ that mentions billing or clinical needs the same internal review as a 1★ with the same theme — the rating doesn't change the underlying question.

Before responding or escalating, confirm the following:

• The review belongs to the correct office (check platform, business profile, and geography — reviews sometimes land on the wrong listing)
• Whether the reviewer name can be matched to a known patient — do not confirm this publicly
• The patient has not already contacted the office by phone or email about the same issue
• Capture: review URL, platform, date, star rating, reviewer name (as it appears publicly), and a screenshot
• Identify the general issue category (staff, billing, clinical, scheduling, facility, etc.) without placing protected health information in the public response

Match the complaint to one of the six levels below. If the review touches more than one level, route to the highest-risk level.

Not every 1–2★ review is a legal or escalation matter. The majority route through office-level service recovery — the higher-risk levels exist for the small share that need them.

When the patient can be identified and the concern is within office authority, attempt private contact before or alongside the public response. The objective is to:

• Listen and understand
• Acknowledge the concern
• Determine whether the office can resolve it
• Offer internal escalation when the office cannot resolve it

Do not:

• Admit liability
• Promise refunds, free treatment, or clinical outcomes without proper authority
• Argue about the facts of the visit
• Require the patient to remove or change the review as a condition of assistance

Use the theme-matched template in the 1–2★ No-Escalation Templates or 1–2★ Escalation-Required Templates sections. All 1–2★ public responses must follow the Voice Principles and the SEO conventions above.

Internal resolution does not remove the need for a public response. A well-written response is often the most visible signal that a practice takes complaints seriously — unless Legal or Compliance directs otherwise, post one.

If the matter cannot be resolved at office level, submit to PatientEscalations@sgadental.com (owned by Legal). Include the following:

• Practice name and location
• Office Manager's name and contact information
• Review platform, URL, date, star rating, and screenshot
• Reviewer's public name
• Patient identity and contact details, if confirmed (shared only internally)
• Summary of the complaint
• Actions already taken
• Dates and outcomes of contact attempts
• Patient's requested resolution
• Reason the office could not resolve the matter
• Whether a public response has been posted
• Any clinical, compliance, privacy, legal, safety, or reputational risk indicators
• Requested next step or support needed

Subject-line format:

Do not put protected health information in the subject line. Subject lines are scanned by many systems and staff — keep identifiers non-clinical.

Reusable email template

This is a real email the Office Manager sends when the office cannot resolve the matter on its own. Use the buttons below the template to open it in your mail app (Outlook / Gmail) with the address and subject pre-filled, or copy the body and paste it into a new email. Fill in every [bracketed field] before sending.

Practice:            [Practice Name, City, State]
Office Manager:      [Name, phone, email]
Review platform:     [Google / Facebook / other]
Review URL:          [Link]
Review date:         [Date]
Star rating:         [1 or 2]
Reviewer public name: [As shown on the review]
Screenshot attached: [Yes / No]

Patient (internal only, if confirmed):
  Name:      [Full name]
  Contact:   [Phone / email]

Complaint summary:
  [2–4 sentence factual summary — no clinical detail beyond what the review itself made public]

Actions already taken:
  - [Date] [Action, outcome]
  - [Date] [Action, outcome]

Patient's requested resolution:
  [As stated by the patient]

Reason the office could not resolve:
  [Authority, policy, or scope reason]

Public response status:
  [Posted / Held per Legal / Not yet posted — reason]

Risk indicators (check all that apply):
  [ ] Clinical concern    [ ] Compliance / privacy    [ ] Legal / third-party
  [ ] Safety threat       [ ] Reputational sensitivity  [ ] Repeat complaint

Requested next step:
  [What the Office Manager is asking Patient Escalations to do]

A 1–2★ review is closed when all of the following are true:

• The concern and the actions taken are documented
• The correct internal owner has accepted the escalation, when applicable
• A privacy-safe public response has been posted, or intentionally held on direction from Legal or Compliance
• The Office Manager knows whether additional follow-up is required

Sending the escalation email does not mean the patient matter is resolved. It means ownership has been transferred to the appropriate internal team. The Office Manager should remain available for follow-up but should not continue negotiating independently unless instructed.

1. Locate the correct practice. If you support multiple offices, confirm the practice name and city before opening any review. Reviews posted to the wrong profile happen occasionally.
2. Open the review. Find the specific review in the reviews list.
3. Confirm no one has already responded. Check whether another team member has already posted a public reply, drafted a holding response, or logged a private outreach attempt. Two responses on the same review look uncoordinated to the reader.
4. Review the details. Capture the star rating, the full review text, the date posted, the reviewer's public name, and any internal context you have on the visit (without placing PHI in the response).
5. Apply the SOP's approval and escalation rules. If this is a 1–2★ review, or a 3★ that trips the escalation triggers, work through the Office Manager Workflow before drafting. Do not post a substantive response ahead of the required approval.
6. Draft a privacy-safe response. Use the theme-matched template from the sections above. Never confirm patient status. Never reference treatment details, insurance information, payment history, or appointment specifics.
7. Obtain any required approval. Clinical, Finance/RCM, or Legal per the routing matrix, if the theme calls for it.

Use this path if the practice is not on Swell or PromoRepublic, or if either platform is unavailable.

1. Sign in to the Google account authorized to manage the practice's Business Profile.
2. Open the correct Business Profile.
3. Select Read reviews.
4. Find the applicable review.
5. Select Reply under the review.
6. Paste or type the approved response text.
7. Select Post.
8. Copy the URL of the review for the internal case record.

Training / access issues: If you do not have the Google account credentials for your practice's Business Profile, contact your Growth Manager.

Use this path if your practice is one of the 91 SGA locations on Swell.

1. Sign in through the practice's Dental Intelligence login — Swell rides on that authentication.
2. Open the review from within the Swell reviews list.
3. Paste or type the approved response text.
4. Publish through Swell's publish flow — screenshot placeholder for exact UI labels: [Office Manager to capture and add Swell publish-screen screenshot].

Training: Contact debi@swellcx.com for Swell onboarding or refresher training.

Use this path if your practice is on the PromoRepublic launch list. PromoRepublic will become the network's platform of record as Swell is retired.

1. Sign in to PromoRepublic using the practice's PromoRepublic credentials.
2. Navigate to the reviews / reputation section for the correct location.
3. Open the review from the reviews list.
4. Paste or type the approved response text.
5. Publish through PromoRepublic's publish flow — screenshot placeholder for exact UI labels: [Office Manager to capture and add PromoRepublic publish-screen screenshot].

Training / launch access: [Confirm PromoRepublic training contact — Decision Required]. In the interim, coordinate with your Growth Manager.

1. Record the details in the internal case record. Log the responder's name, the response date, the exact text posted, the platform used, and any escalation or follow-up already in flight.
2. Consider whether the review should also be reported to Google. Reporting is a separate action from responding — see the Report to Google section. Reporting a review should not automatically delay the public response you just posted.

Publishing through Swell or PromoRepublic pushes the response to the connected Google Business Profile automatically. You do not need to also publish through Manual · GBP if you have already published through Swell or PromoRepublic.

Theme frequency: Moderate — often paired with billing or clinical themes. Respond to the experience, not the underlying clinical/billing matter.

Sample response — staff tone:

Sample response — first impression / greeting:

SEO used: Practice name · City · "dental team" or "dental office"

Sample response:

SEO used: Practice name · City

Sample response — wait time:

Sample response — anxiety / comfort:

SEO used: Practice name · City · "dental care" · "dental office"

Holding response (post within 24 hrs):

Follow-up response (once Finance / RCM has reviewed):

Escalate to: Finance / RCM within 4 business hours of review receipt. Include review URL, location, and patient-facing description (no PHI).

SEO used: Practice name · City · implied service context from the review

Holding response:

Escalate to: RCM / Billing. Flag separately if the review mentions collections, legal threats, or fraud — those route to Legal, not RCM alone.

Holding response:

Follow-up response (once Clinical has reviewed — CDO or Office Manager approval required):

Escalate to: Clinical Director / Office Manager within 2 business hours. Do NOT post a substantive response until clinical leadership has reviewed. No admission of error or clinical facts in the public response — those belong in a private follow-up only.

Red flag triggers: Mentions of wrong diagnosis, unnecessary procedures, infection, or injury → elevate to Chief Dental Officer and Legal immediately.

Holding response:

Escalate to: Operations / Office Manager. Call center complaints should also be flagged to the central contact center team lead.

Holding response:

Escalate to: Growth Manager for coordination. If the complaint involves a prior unresolved clinical concern, Clinical Leadership must also be looped in.

Holding response:

Red flag: If the review alleges specific unnecessary procedures or a second opinion contradicted the diagnosis — escalate to Clinical Leadership and Legal before any response. Do not post a holding response until leadership is aware.

1. Sign in to the Google account authorized to manage the practice's Business Profile.
2. Open the correct Business Profile.
3. Select Read reviews.
4. Find the applicable review.
5. Next to the review, select the Report icon (three dots or flag, depending on the surface).
6. Select the policy reason that most accurately applies (see checklist in step 1 above).
7. Select Send report.
8. Document the date, submitter, selected policy category, and supporting rationale in the internal record.

1. Open Google's Reviews Management Tool.
2. Confirm your email address or switch to the account associated with the Business Profile.
3. Select the correct business and select Continue.
4. Select Report a new review for removal and select Continue.
5. Next to the review, select Report.
6. In the new tab, select the applicable policy reason.
7. Select Submit.
8. Record the submission in the internal case record.

1. Return to the Reviews Management Tool.
2. Confirm you are on the correct Google account and business.
3. Select the option to check a previously reported review and view appeal options.
4. Select Appeal eligible reviews.
5. Choose the applicable review.
6. Continue to the appeal form.
7. Provide a concise, policy-based explanation. Cite the specific category from the checklist above and the specific words or elements of the review that fall into it. Do not re-argue that the review is false or unfair — that argument already failed on the first pass.
8. Submit the appeal.
9. Save the confirmation. Monitor the email account associated with the reporting Google account for the outcome.

You can appeal up to 10 reviews in one session, but each review still receives only one appeal opportunity.