In 2022, OpenAI released ChatGPT — an advanced new AI that promised to revolutionize how businesses serve, learn about, and connect with their customers. Now in 2024, businesses are adapting by finding creative, exciting new ways they can use natural language processing and artificial intelligence to their advantage.
For example, many businesses have begun to experiment with using an AI powered tool for managing and responding to customer reviews. Using the right review answer generator helps a busy professional save time on answering customer inquiries and reviews.
We'll compare five of those tools in this article, providing you with a guide to choosing your personal AI response generator for your business. We’ll look at the features each tool offers, what pricing plans are available, and what types of organizations each tool is best for. We’ll also answer some of your most frequently asked questions about using AI to respond to customer reviews with up to date information.
There are numerous questions to think about as you choose a valuable tool to generate thoughtful responses to reviews.
For instance, what size business was the tool designed to serve? Some services are specifically scaled and designed for small businesses, while other platforms have features that make them better for large and established brands.
It's important to choose a tool that aligns with your organization’s requirements. To help you find the best fit for your business, we identified three key factors to weigh: what features the AI offers, whether the pricing plans work with your budget, and, last but not least, how well it integrates with your tech stack.
Let’s go over each of these factors and break down what your business should look for.
We considered a range of features when evaluating the options, such as:
● Industry-specific responses to reviews, like templates for professionals in the home service, health, or automotive industries
● Whether the platform pulls in reviews for you, like ResponseScribe, or requires you to copy and paste them manually
● Whether response generation is a feature, or the platform only offers review generation/management
● Whether a free trial or free demo is available
● The overall cost of each service, which varies by plan and business size/customer volume
● Whether the service charges a set-up fee in addition to regular billing
In the context of software, an integration is simply a connection that enables different types of third-party apps to communicate smoothly with the software you use. This enables various websites, apps, tools, and platforms to link up and share information, providing a better and more efficient experience for both admins and users.
Ideally, the response generator you choose should be capable of integrating seamlessly with all of the technology that your team already uses. For example, you may want to look for a versatile tool that integrates with HubSpot, Jobber, QuickBooks, Grammarly, Zendesk, or other apps.
With the sudden profusion of AI tools exploding onto the market, it can be hard to navigate the flood of seemingly countless options. But don’t worry—we've already picked out five strong contenders to help you get your search started. Here are our top five picks for the best AI response generation software of 2024:
ResponseScribe is a personalized review response service with flexible, affordable pricing plans that are designed for small local businesses.
Our platform uses cutting-edge AI to create polished and professional responses that conform to your brand’s voice, because it is trained on your own knowledge. It also integrates with dozens of review platforms, which means that all of your reviews are accessible in any browser from one secure, convenient hub. And with AI-powered response times under one hour, your customers never have to wait more than minutes before they receive a thoughtful reply from your business.
Features:
● Automatically pulls in reviews from across 50+ platforms
● Option to review and revise responses prior to publication
● Lightning-fast response time (under 60minutes for AI-powered plans, under 24 hours for human-powered plans)
● Low monthly cost perfect for start-ups and emerging brands
● Review generation and review removal services also available
Pricing: ResponseScribe offers three flexible plans, including two options for AI response generation. The fully AI-powered plan gives you access to the fastest response times, while the hybrid plan brings professional writers onboard to craft custom responses for you, including edits and revisions as necessary.
● AI-Powered Plan — $20 per month for 20 platforms
● Hybrid Plan — $30 per month for 20 platforms
Podium describes itself as a “lead conversion platform, powered by AI” that offers various solutions and services for businesses, like text marketing and review management. Podium also offers services like customer data management and payment processing, which — combined with its somewhat hefty price tag — might potentially make it better suited for large, mature organizations than for small businesses.
Features:
● Industry-specific review management
● Offers payment solutions, text message marketing, the ability to make calls using the platform, and more
● Integrations connect with other popular tools
Pricing:
● Essentials Plan — $249 per month for up to 1,000 contacts
● Standard Plan — $409 per month for unlimited contacts
● Professional Plan — $599 per month for unlimited contacts
Similar to Podium, Birdeye offers numerous products and services for businesses, such as customer referral software, social media management, and online appointment scheduling. To get a cost estimate, you’ll need to contact the business as pricing is customized.
Features:
● Numerous services and products are available, including business listings management, AI-powered social posting, and payment processing software
● Integrates with 3,000+ apps
● Offers industry-specific solutions
Pricing:
● Starter Plan — Customized pricing varies by client
● Growth Plan — Customized pricing varies by client
● Dominate Plan — Customized pricing varies by client
NiceJob’s website describes it as “reputation management software that turns your customers into local fans.” While some parts of the service are available for free, you’ll need to pay for a premium plan if you want to monitor customer reviews.
It's important to understand that NiceJob does not enable you to respond to reviews. Instead, it is designed to help you generate reviews and get more customer referrals.
Features:
● Share reviews on your site in real-time
● Monitor reviews (paid plans only)
● Automate review and referral request campaigns (paid plans only)
Pricing:
NiceJob’s pricing model is based on two factors: the number of customers your business serves annually, and what sort of plan you choose.
For example, if you have 2,500 to 5,000 customers annually and choose the “Grow ”plan, you’ll pay $95 per month vs. $194 per month for the “Grow + Sites” plan. For a business with more than 10,000 customers, the same plans respectively cost $290 and $389 per month.
NiceJob also offers a free plan, which is economical but offers fewer features.
● Grow Plan — Starts at $75 per month
● Grow + Sites Plan — Starts at $175 per month, plus a $399 set up fee
According to its website, MARA Solutions is “a simple copy and paste writing tool to respond directly [to customer comments] in review platforms or in your review management software.”
While some businesses might appreciate the straightforwardness of this approach ,others might prefer a platform that offers more comprehensive support, like the ability to request and monitor reviews. Since MARA requires you to input reviews manually, it might not be as efficient or time-saving as tools that use more automation.
Features:
● Free preview available
● Revisions of responses available
● Reviews must be manually copied and pasted in order for the AI to generate a response
Pricing:
Since MARA Solutions is a German company, pricing is listed in euros rather than dollars. We’ve provided approximate conversions to USD, which are subject to fluctuation.
● Small Business Plan — 36€/mo (about $38.34/mo) for up to 100 responses
● Medium Business Plan — 60€/mo (about $63.91/mo) for up to 200 responses
● Large Business Plan — 120€/mo (about $127.81/mo) for up to 500 responses
Exceeding the 100-, 200-, or 500-response thresholds listed above will result in an additional charge per response. This charge ranges from 0.45€ ($0.48) per additional answer for small businesses to 0.30€ ($0.32) per additional answer for large businesses.
| Tool |
Features |
Pricing |
Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ResponseScribe |
Human, hybrid, and AI-powered responses; low-cost monthly plans; review generation and removal available |
Starts at $20/mo with free demo available by request |
Small local businesses, multi-location brands, and industry-specific review responses |
| Podium |
Review generation software; text marketing; website chat; industry-specific solutions |
Starts at $249/mo |
Expanding or mature businesses |
| Birdeye |
Online reputation management platform; appointment booking; payments processing; automated review generation |
Customized pricing varies |
Enterprises and small businesses |
| NiceJob |
Industry-specific services; review generation software; no review response |
Free plans available, with paid plans starting at $75/mo |
Small businesses and industry-specific review responses |
| MARA Solutions |
Generates responses to customer reviews; option to pay per response; manual copy-paste only | Starts at €36/mo, or about $38.34/mo |
Businesses that want a simple copy-and-paste tool for review management |
Replying to reviews can boost your website’s ranking, increase brand loyalty, and promote trust in your business. Yet despite these and other benefits, many businesses neglect to write a response that addresses the customer.
A common obstacle that prevents many businesses from responding to reviews is simply lacking the time. ResponseScribe removes that obstacle by providing responses for you, enabling you to build valuable customer relationships with a fraction of the time and effort. In addition to saving time, these responses help you maintain a certain attitude and style when responding.
ResponseScribe offers flexible plans to fit your organization’s strategic goals. Choose our lightning-fast, fully AI-powered plan for top-speed replies in just minutes, or get advanced customization options with our hybrid plan.
Both packages come with business insight reports, include review monitoring for up to 20 platforms, and feature the option to approve responses before they go live—and, if your needs change in the future, it’s always hassle-free to switch plans.
Start connecting with customers, converting more prospects, and boosting your brand visibility. Start your free trial with ResponseScribe.
Done-for-you review response service for local businesses.
Part of the Shout About Us family.
