Question 1

Can I switch plans at any time?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can upgrade or downgrade at any time. Upgrades are immediate; downgrades apply at the end of your billing cycle.

Question 2

What counts as a response?

Accepted Answer

A response is counted each time a customer interacts with your review funnel — either clicking through to Google or submitting private feedback.

Question 3

Do you offer a free trial?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Grow plan comes with a 14-day free trial. No card required. Cancel anytime.

Question 4

How does pay-as-you-go top-up work?

Accepted Answer

If you exhaust your monthly AI responses, email requests, or SMS requests, HearBack automatically tops you up in packs — £3 per 100 AI responses, £2 per 100 email requests, £4 per 100 SMS. You set a monthly overage cap in your account settings so there are never any surprise charges. We will never bill beyond your cap.

Question 5

Which countries can send SMS review requests?

Accepted Answer

SMS review requests are available for businesses in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. If your business is based elsewhere, you can still send review requests by email to customers anywhere in the world — email works in every country with no setup. We are working on adding more countries for SMS.

Question 6

What is bad review deflection?

Accepted Answer

When a customer leaves a low rating (1–3 stars), they are redirected to private feedback instead of Google, helping protect your public rating.

Question 7

What is the AI Employee and what does it actually do?

Accepted Answer

The AI Employee watches your incoming Google reviews and writes a personalised reply for each one — in your brand voice, using your tone settings, and naturally weaving in your location and service keywords (e.g. 'bridal makeup Wakefield', 'lash extensions Leeds'). It emails you the draft so you can approve, edit, or skip it before anything goes public. For 4 and 5-star reviews you can let it post automatically; 1-star reviews always require your sign-off.

Question 8

How does it help with local SEO and Google visibility?

Accepted Answer

Google indexes every word in your review replies, treating them as fresh content for your Business Profile. Replying to reviews consistently — especially with relevant local and service keywords — signals to Google that your listing is active and authoritative. Businesses that reply to all reviews rank higher in local map results and see more profile visits. The AI Employee makes sure every review gets a keyword-optimised reply without you writing a single word.

Question 9

What is the workflow — how does it get from review to reply?

Accepted Answer

1. A customer posts a review on Google. 2. HearBack syncs it automatically every 4 hours on Grow, or every 24 hours on Free (or sync on demand). 3. The AI Employee drafts a reply tailored to the star rating, the reviewer's name, and what they wrote. 4. You get an email with the draft and three options: Post to Google, Edit reply, or Skip. 5. If you post, the reply goes live on your Google Business Profile immediately. 1-star reviews always land in your inbox for manual review.

Question 10

Can I edit AI-generated replies before they post?

Accepted Answer

Yes, always. Every draft lands in your Reviews inbox where you can approve, edit inline, or skip it. You can also regenerate a draft with one click. Nothing posts to Google without your approval unless you have turned on auto-post for positive reviews.

Question 11

How does it know my brand voice and keywords?

Accepted Answer

During setup you configure your AI Employee with your business tone (e.g. warm and friendly, professional, playful), a brand description, your location keywords, your service keywords, and any phrases to avoid. The AI uses these as hard rules — it will never use banned phrases, always signs off the way you specified, and only includes keywords that read naturally in context.

Question 12

Can I add more locations?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Grow plan includes unlimited locations at no extra cost — add as many as you need and your price stays the same. Managing reviews for multiple clients as an agency? Join the Agency waitlist for white-label dashboards and reports launching soon.

Question 13

Is there an Agency or white-label plan?

Accepted Answer

Not yet — but it is coming. The Agency plan will add a white-label client dashboard, client logins, white-label reports, and volume pricing on top of Grow (which already includes unlimited locations). Join the waitlist on the pricing page and you will be first to know when it launches.

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Frequently asked questions