Reviews are what decide whether a customer calls you or the business listed below you. Reviews, in the Grow section of the left menu, opens the Review Manager: your reputation on Google, what customers keep saying about you, and everything Beside is doing to bring more reviews in.
A number next to Reviews in the menu means something there needs you.
Where you stand
Your reviews gives you your rating, how many reviews you have on Google, and the breakdown star by star - so a single one-star review is visible rather than buried in an average.
Two counters sit underneath:
Need a reply - reviews nobody has answered
Replied - reviews that have been answered
And a plain sentence pulling it together, for example You're at 5 stars across 157 Google reviews. 68 of 157 still have no reply.
What customers are saying
Beside reads your reviews rather than just counting them, and tells you the verdict in a couple of words - Almost all positive - with the split between positive, neutral and negative.
Underneath, the themes: what customers keep praising or questioning, as short phrases such as Skilled, attentive technicians or Clean, welcoming atmosphere.
This is the part worth reading before you change anything about how you work. Your reviews already tell you what you are good at - most owners have never had it summed up.
Beside also files a Monthly Reputation Report in your Library, so you can see how it moves over time. 📖 Add your own documents to Beside
Get more reviews
🟡 Nothing is being asked until you turn it on: Automatic review requests are off by default. Beside says so plainly at the top of the section - Automatic review requests are off, so nobody is being asked - because asking your customers for anything in your name is your decision, not a default.
There are five ways to bring reviews in, and you can use any of them:
What it is | What it does |
Automatic review SMS | Texts your customers a review request once their job is done. This is the one that is off until you switch it on. |
Repeat customers | Targets the people who already came back - your most likely reviewers, and usually your warmest. |
Customer review page | A page of your own you can send anyone to, or print on an invoice. |
Link for one customer | Creates a single link for one person, for when you want to ask by hand. |
Customers asked | The queue of people lined up to be asked, and how many are waiting. |
Automatic requests run off your connected customer system, since that is what tells Beside a job is finished. 📖 Connect your tools to Beside Agentic
The Sent requests tab shows everything that has gone out, so you can see what was asked and when.
Work through your reviews
Filter the list by All, Needs reply, or Replied. Each review shows the customer's name, their rating, the date, what they wrote, and a No reply yet badge when nobody has answered.
Where a reply is drafted and waiting for you, you can edit the wording right there before approving it, without going through your approval queue. The reply that goes to Google is the one you left in the box.
No review is left unanswered
Beside checks your Google reviews once a day, at 9am your time, and drafts replies to the ones still unanswered. It also runs about fifteen minutes after you first connect your Google profile, and again when a new review lands.
What it picks up:
Unanswered reviews from the last 90 days, so the ones sitting there before you joined are caught too, not only new ones.
Unhappy reviews first. A 1 to 3 star review is drafted ahead of the rest and always waits for you, whatever your autonomy level. The daily note leads with them, for example 1 unhappy Google review is still waiting for your reply. I drafted one for you to check.
A handful at a time rather than dozens, so you are never handed a wall of drafts.
Beside leaves alone anything already being handled: a review with a reply posted or waiting, one you turned down, and one whose reply failed to post. Drafts that lapsed back when replies still expired are picked up again and redrafted.
💡 Drafts wait for you, they do not expire: A reply you have not approved stays exactly where it is until you approve it, turn it down, or the review gets answered on Google - in which case Beside withdraws the draft. If one has been sitting for a day, Beside reminds you in chat, so a written reply is not forgotten just because you were on a job that week.
How replies get written and published
Beside drafts a reply to every review that has gone unanswered, including the difficult ones. It does not quietly answer the five-star ones and leave the one-star review sitting there.
Whether a reply goes out on its own is set by your autonomy for Reviews & Google profile:
Your level | What happens to a new review |
Ask first | Every reply waits for you to approve it |
Routine | Beside answers the straightforward ones itself, and still brings you the sensitive ones - which is what a bad review is |
Auto | Beside answers on your behalf wherever it is permitted to |
💡 Reviews is where most people loosen up first: An unanswered review costs you more than an imperfect reply. If you are going to let Beside act on its own anywhere, this is usually the place to start.
Automatic replies wait an hour
When Beside is allowed to answer on its own, it holds the reply until the review is at least an hour old. A reply that appears seconds after someone posts reads like a machine, which is not the impression you want on your listing.
That wait applies only to replies Beside sends by itself to a brand new review. Anything you are involved in goes out straight away:
A reply you approve
A reply you ask for in chat, or write yourself on the Reviews page
Replies to older reviews, including everything caught by the 90-day catch-up
Every reply that ships appears as its own task on your Beside Agent page, marked Done only once Google confirms it, with a link to the review and a record of whether you approved it or Beside acted under your autonomy. A published reply costs 50 credits; drafting one costs nothing.
Your reviews on your website
Beside pulls your Google photos and reviews onto your website every day, turning your strongest reviews into a testimonials wall in your customers' own words. They are also published in a form search engines can read.
Supported platforms
Review Manager currently covers Google reviews.
FAQ
Why is nobody being asked for a review?
Why is nobody being asked for a review?
Because automatic review requests start switched off. Open Automatic review SMS in Get more reviews and turn it on. Until you do, Beside will read and reply to the reviews you already have, but it will not text your customers asking for new ones.
What does Beside do with a bad review?
What does Beside do with a bad review?
It answers it. Beside drafts a reply that acknowledges what went wrong and says what you are doing about it - unanswered criticism does more damage than a considered reply.
A 1 to 3 star review always waits for your approval, whatever your autonomy level, and the daily note puts it first so it does not get lost behind the happy ones.
Will Beside reply to reviews from before I joined?
Will Beside reply to reviews from before I joined?
Yes, going back 90 days. The daily check looks at every unanswered Google review from the last three months, not only the ones that arrive from now on, so your backlog gets worked through rather than ignored.
Why has my reply not appeared on Google yet?
Why has my reply not appeared on Google yet?
If Beside is answering on its own, it waits until the review is an hour old so the reply does not look automated. Replies you approve, ask for in chat, or write yourself go out immediately, as do replies to older reviews. If more than an hour has passed and nothing is there, open the task on your Beside Agent page: it is marked Done only once Google confirms the reply.
What happens to a draft I never approved?
What happens to a draft I never approved?
It waits for you. Review reply drafts do not expire: a draft stays until you approve it, turn it down, or the review is answered on Google, in which case Beside withdraws it. Beside reminds you in chat once a draft has been waiting a day.
A reply you actively turned down is not written again - your no is final. Drafts that lapsed back when replies still expired are picked up and redrafted.
Can I change a reply before it goes out?
Can I change a reply before it goes out?
Yes. A draft waiting for you is editable: change the wording on the Reviews page, or in the approval queue, and what you leave in the box is what gets published. This covers Ask first and anything Routine brings you. On Auto, replies go out without that step - which is the point of choosing it.
How do I know a reply actually went out?
How do I know a reply actually went out?
Open the reply task on your Beside Agent page. It is marked Done only once Google confirms it, and the task keeps a full record of what was sent and when, with a link straight to the review.
Which customers get asked for a review?
Which customers get asked for a review?
Once automatic requests are on, customers whose job is recorded as finished in your connected customer system. Repeat customers targets the ones who have already come back.
Can Beside only ask my happy customers?
Can Beside only ask my happy customers?
No. Filtering out unhappy customers before asking - review gating - is against Google's policies, and it puts your listing at risk rather than protecting it. Beside asks the customers whose job is done, and answers whatever comes back.
Beside is not showing my reviews. Why?
Beside is not showing my reviews. Why?
Beside reads your reviews from your Google Business Profile, so it needs that connection and your permission to use it. Check Needs human review on your Beside Agent page for a pending Google Business request.