🔍 Overview
If your Google Business Profile (GBP) is connected to Search Atlas but the AI Auto-Respond feature is not replying to new reviews, this article walks you through the most common causes and how to fix them step by step.
✅ Step 1: Confirm Your GBP Is Properly Connected
A broken or expired GBP connection is the most common reason auto-replies stop working. To check your connection status:
- In the left sidebar, click Local.
- Select Overview.
- Locate your GBP project and check that the connection status shows as active. If you see a warning, a disconnected badge, or a prompt to reconnect, your Google account needs to be re-authorised.
- Follow the on-screen prompts to reconnect your Google account and grant the required permissions.
After reconnecting, allow up to 15 minutes for the integration to refresh before testing again.
⚙️ Step 2: Verify Auto-Respond Is Enabled
Even if your GBP is connected, the Auto-Respond toggle must be switched on at the project level. To confirm this:
- In the left sidebar, click Local, then select Reviews.
- Find the Auto-Respond setting at the top of the page.
- Make sure the toggle is turned on. If it is off, enable it and save your changes.
- Check that you have selected an AI response style or template if prompted — without this, the feature cannot generate replies.
🔄 Step 3: Check If Reviews Are Syncing
Auto-replies can only be sent to reviews that have been successfully pulled into Search Atlas. If reviews are not syncing, the AI has nothing to respond to. To check review sync status:
- Go to Local → Reviews in the left sidebar.
- Look for your most recent Google reviews. Compare the dates shown in Search Atlas against your actual Google Business Profile to see if new reviews are missing.
- If reviews are not up to date, try manually triggering a sync by refreshing the Reviews page or using any available Sync or Refresh button on the page.
Note that Google can take up to 24 hours to surface new reviews through its API. A short delay is expected and does not always indicate an error.
🛠️ Step 4: Check for Reviews Already Responded To
The Auto-Respond feature will not overwrite replies that already exist on a review — either from a previous manual response or a prior auto-reply attempt. If a review shows as responded inside Google but not inside Search Atlas, this may cause a sync mismatch. To resolve this:
- Check the review inside Local → Reviews and confirm whether a response is already recorded.
- If the response exists in Google but is missing in Search Atlas, reconnecting your GBP (Step 1) usually resolves the discrepancy.
⚠️ Common Reasons Auto-Replies Fail
- Expired Google OAuth token: Your Google authorisation has timed out and needs to be renewed.
- Insufficient Google permissions: The connected Google account may not have owner or manager access to the GBP listing.
- Auto-Respond toggle turned off: The feature was disabled manually or reset after a platform update.
- No AI response template selected: The feature requires a response style to be configured before it can generate replies.
- Review sync delay: New reviews have not yet been pulled in from the Google API.
🚀 Quick Checklist Before Contacting Support
- GBP connection is active with no warnings in Local → Overview.
- Auto-Respond toggle is on in Local → Reviews.
- An AI response style or template is selected.
- New reviews are visible inside Local → Reviews.
- The connected Google account has owner or manager access to the GBP listing.
- You have waited at least 24 hours after a new review was posted.
💬 Still Need Help?
If you have completed all the steps above and auto-replies are still not generating, If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.