Manage Google Reviews in Toast Web

In this Article:

• Before You Begin
• Where Guests See the Google Review Option
• What Must Be Enabled
• Disable Google Review Collection
• Enable Google Review Collection
• Respond to a Review
• Edit a Response You Already Posted
• Delete a Response
• Respond Across Multiple Locations
• Set Up Negative Review Alerts
• Add More Alert Recipients
• Respond from an Alert
• Related Articles

Before You Begin

Applies to: Reviews Agent, Toast IQ Grow, Toast Web

Permissions needed:

• 4.13 Customer Credits & Reports
• 6.6 Restaurant Operations Setup

What you'll accomplish: Google review collection is set the way you want it, you can respond to your reviews, and you are alerted when a negative review comes in.

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Where Guests See the Google Review Option

When a guest leaves feedback, a Google option appears so the guest can go straight to your location's Google review page. Guests see it in three places:

• A star rating selected from an Online Ordering order confirmation email
• A star rating selected from a digital receipt, by text or email, on an on-premise order
• The Feedback QR code on a printed receipt after scanning and selecting a star rating

The option does not appear anywhere else.

Note: Google’s review policies state that businesses may not discourage or prohibit negative reviews or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers (See here - external link). Toast's Reviews Agent is built to show the Google review option to guests at every star rating, consistent with that policy.

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What Must Be Enabled

All five of the following must be true before guests see the Google review option:

Note: Google Review Collection is enabled by default once your Google Business Profile is connected. You do not need to enable it.

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Disable Google Review Collection

1. Navigate to Toast Web > Guests > Public reviews.
2. Select Settings.
3. Disable Google Review Collection.
4. Save and publish your changes.

Expected outcome: Guests no longer see the Google review option on your receipts and order confirmations. Your existing Google reviews still appear on the Public reviews page, and you can still respond to them.

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Enable Google Review Collection

1. Navigate to Toast Web > Guests > Public reviews.
2. Select Settings.
3. Enable Google Review Collection.
4. Save and publish your changes.

Expected outcome: Guests see the Google review option again on the three surfaces listed above, as long as the other four requirements are still met.

If it is enabled and guests still do not see the option, see Get Help With Google Reviews in Toast Web.

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Respond to a Review

Every review without a response gets an AI-drafted reply from Toast. Nothing posts to Google until you send it.

1. Navigate to Toast Web > Guests > Public reviews.
2. Locate the review you want to respond to. To narrow the list, filter by Not yet responded.
3. Read the drafted response below the review.
4. Choose how to handle the draft:
   • To keep it as written, continue to the next step.
   • To get a different version, select the option to regenerate the draft.
   • To change the wording yourself, edit the text directly.
5. Select Approve & send.

Expected outcome: Your response appears on the review on your live Google listing almost immediately, and the review moves to Responded on the Public reviews page.

Note: Toast drafts the response, but you decide what gets published. Read every draft before you send it.

[Image placeholder: a review with its AI-drafted response and the Approve & send button]

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Edit a Response You Already Posted

Responses posted from anywhere, including directly in Google, appear in Toast and can be edited here.

1. Navigate to Toast Web > Guests > Public reviews.
2. Locate the review. To narrow the list, filter by Responded.
3. Select Edit on the response.
4. Change the text.
5. Save your change.

Expected outcome: The updated response replaces the previous one on your Google listing.

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Delete a Response

1. Navigate to Toast Web > Guests > Public reviews.
2. Locate the review with the response you want to remove.
3. Select Delete on the response.

Expected outcome: The response is removed from your Google listing. The review itself stays on Google. Only Google can remove a review, and only when it violates Google's policies.

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Respond Across Multiple Locations

If you manage more than one location in Toast Web, select locations from the dropdown on the Public reviews page to view and respond to reviews across your management group.

Each location must have the Toast IQ Grow package, a connected Google Business Profile, and permissions on your user account for that location. Locations that do not meet all three do not appear in the dropdown.

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Set Up Negative Review Alerts

The Negative Review alert checks for new one- and two-star Google reviews every hour and notifies you when it finds one, with a suggested reply included.

1. Navigate to Toast Web > Guests > Public reviews.
2. Select Turn on updates and alerts.
3. Locate the updates and alerts options.
4. Enable the Negative Review alert. To update the alert, select the hyperlink to navigate to the agent's settings
5. Choose how you want to be notified:
   • Email
   • Toast Now app push notification
6. Save and publish your changes.

Expected outcome: The next time your location receives a one- or two-star Google review, you are notified within the hour.

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Add More Alert Recipients

You can send the alert to other people alongside yourself, such as a general manager or an owner who is not in Toast Web every day.

1. Navigate to Toast Web > Guests > Public reviews > Turn on updates and alerts.
2. In the Negative Review alert settings, add each additional recipient.
3. Save and publish your changes.

Expected outcome: Everyone you added receives the alert at the same time you do.

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Respond from an Alert

Each alert includes a suggested reply, so you can respond without opening Toast Web first. Read the suggestion, adjust it if you want, and send it.

Note: A suggested reply is a draft, the same as the drafts on the Public reviews page. Nothing posts to Google until you send it.

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Related Articles

• Toast Reviews Agent Overview
• Toast Reviews Agent FAQ
• Get Help With Google Reviews in Toast Web

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