Get alerted within minutes when a 1–3 star Google review comes in
Low-star reviews go straight to the owner's inbox or phone so you can call the customer and reply the same day. The reply is written by a human.
Busy-work it kills: checking Google Business Profile every day "just in case," and finding a bad review a week late.
What you need
- A verified Google Business Profile location you manage.
- Gmail or Slack.
- Zapier Professional (Filter is a paid feature) or Make / n8n.
Build it in Zapier
- Trigger: Google Business Profile → New Review.
- Filter by Zapier (0 tasks): only continue if the star rating is ONE, TWO or THREE. Google's API returns the rating as a word (
ONE…FIVE), not a number, so use "(Text) Exactly matches" or "is in." - Action: Gmail → Send Email (or Slack → Send Direct Message) to the owner with reviewer name, rating, comment and a link to the profile.
Zapier also offers Google Business Profile → Create Reply. We don't recommend auto-replying to unhappy customers. Have a human call first, then reply.
Make version
Google Business Profile Watch Reviews → filter (rating in ONE/TWO/THREE) → Gmail Send an email. Make's reply module (Create/Update a Review Reply) requires a verified location.
n8n version
Google Business Profile Trigger (event: Review Added) → IF node on star rating → Gmail Send. n8n's Google Business Profile node can also Reply to a review if you want a human-approved second step.
Monthly cost
| Platform | Plan | Est. monthly cost | Assumptions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zapier | Pro | $19.99 annual / $29.99 monthly (shared) | Only filtered-in reviews use a task (1 each). |
| Zapier | Free (no filter) | $0 | Two-step "every review → email." You do the filtering by eye. Fine under 100 reviews/mo. |
| Make | Free | $0 | ≈2–3 credits per review plus polling checks. ESTIMATE. |
| n8n | Cloud Starter / self-host | €20/mo annual or hosting | 1 execution per review. |
Limits & gotchas
- Review triggers check on a schedule (Zapier/Make polling), so "within minutes" depends on your plan's polling interval.
- If you also use Jobber's or Housecall Pro's review tools, keep this as the alert layer only.
Want someone to set this up?
See automation consultants who work with trades.
Sources (official docs)
- https://zapier.com/apps/google-business-profile/integrations
- https://zapier.com/apps/gmail/integrations
- https://zapier.com/pricing
- https://apps.make.com/google-my-business
- https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/trigger-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.googlebusinessprofiletrigger/
- https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/app-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.googlebusinessprofile/
- https://developers.google.com/my-business/reference/rest/v4/accounts.locations.reviews