How should a business respond to negative reviews?

Respond within one to three days, briefly and calmly, because future customers are reading your reply more than the reviewer is. Structure: thank them for the feedback, acknowledge the specific issue without arguing, state what you did or will do to fix it, and invite them to continue offline with a direct phone number or email and a named contact. Keep it under 100 words. Don't share private job details, blame the customer or get defensive. If the review is fake, from someone who was never a customer, or violates Google's policies, flag it for removal through your profile, and still post a short neutral reply. After resolving the issue, you can politely ask if they'd consider updating the review. McCrawAI helps clients draft calm replies, and we also build the steady flow of positive reviews that puts one bad review in context.