Podium automation · runs daily
Reply to Podium Google reviews with AI
New Google reviews pile up on the Podium Reviews page over a busy week, and every one needs a reply that sounds like you, written for what that person wrote.
Cotlet does it in your own Podium account with list_reviews and reply_to_review, called by your AI agent, an n8n workflow or a script.
Hosted · nothing to install or maintain
Can Podium do this on its own?
Podium offers two native options (checked 23 Oct 2026). AI-suggested replies come with the Core, Pro and Signature plans and need a click per review. Automated replies come with Pro and Signature, and as an add-on for Core; they answer by star rating and only on Google and Facebook. Podium's OAuth scopes include read_reviews and write_reviews, but its Zapier app has a New Review trigger and no action to reply.
How you do it in Podium today
- Open Reviews from the left sidebar in Podium. The page lists the reviews from the review sites you connected.
- Under a review, click the Recommend a reply icon (the lightning bolt). Within seconds Podium writes a reply from the review text.
- Click the generated text to edit it. Cancel drops it and Redo asks for another draft.
- Click Reply to post. Podium posts directly only on Google and Facebook; on other sites you can invite reviews but not answer them in Podium.
- Repeat for every review. The page has no filter that does the whole backlog in one pass, so the work comes back each week.
How to reply to Podium Google reviews with AI
Read the new Google reviews of Riverside Dental that nobody replied to. Thank the 4 and 5 star ones by name and mention something they wrote. For 1 to 3 stars, write a calm reply that gives our phone number. Show me each reply before it posts.- 01
Read the reviews nobody answered
Your agent calls list_reviews for source google, a page at a time, and keeps the rows where replied is false. It follows next_cursor until the reviews are older than the window in your prompt, so a long weekend backlog is one batch.
- 02
Leave out what Podium cannot post
Each row carries can_reply. A review with can_reply false, from a site Podium cannot answer on, goes on your list instead of getting a draft.
- 03
Write by star rating and by text
For 4 and 5 stars the agent thanks the reviewer by first name and picks up one detail they wrote. For 1 to 3 stars it writes a calm reply, names the problem in one clause and gives the phone number from your prompt, without promising a refund or a fix.
- 04
Hold what needs you
Reviews that mention a legal claim, a health outcome, a refund or a named employee are listed for you with the reason, and no reply is drafted for them.
- 05
Post after your OK
reply_to_review posts one public reply per review. Each call waits for your OK by default, so you read every reply first. Before posting, the agent reads the list again and skips a review a teammate or an automated reply answered in the meantime.
What you get back
New Google reviews without a reply: 9
Replied 6 (5 stars: 4, 4 stars: 2)
Held for you 2:
- Tom R., 2 stars: waited past his appointment
- Hana S., 1 star: mentions a billing dispute
Cannot reply in Podium 1 (Yelp)Other ways to ask
- Every Friday, reply to the week's 5 star reviews and list the rest for me.
- Draft replies to all 1 to 3 star reviews from this month in this chat and post nothing.
- Reply only to reviews that mention a staff member by name, and tell me who was named.
What Podium allows, and what to know first
- Podium replies directly to Google and Facebook reviews only when those profiles are integrated into your account; Yelp and Trustpilot do not allow third-party integrations.
- AI-suggested responses are included in the Core, Pro and Signature packages, and automated replies in Pro and Signature, or as an add-on for Core.
- Podium's automated replies answer by star rating and only on Google and Facebook reviews, so they cannot pick up what a reviewer wrote.
- Podium asks you to connect your account to your review sites before you can send review invites or reply, so an unconnected profile returns no reviews.
reply_to_review asks for your OK by default. To run it daily without you, switch confirmation off for that tool in your dashboard.
Sources: Podium Knowledgebase: Responding to Reviews with AI · Podium Knowledgebase: Reviews Overview · Podium developer docs: OAuth scopes · Podium on Zapier: triggers and actions
Call reply_to_review from a script
curl -X POST https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/podium/reviews/rev_8f21c4/replies \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"body":"Thank you, Lena! Dana loved walking you through each step. We hope to see you at your next visit."}'{
"review_id": "rev_8f21c4",
"source": "google",
"status": "posted"
}MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the call is podium_write → reply_to_review. Example data.
Schedule it in n8n, Make, Zapier or cronPodium tools this automation uses
| Tool | Parameters |
|---|---|
| list_reviews | location, source, rating, limit, cursor |
| reply_to_review | review_id, body |
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to connect Podium to Cotlet?
Yes. You sign in to Podium yourself, in your own Cloud Browser in the EU, and we never save your password. Your agents only get Podium once you enable it, every background request is listed, and the browser profile is stored encrypted with AES-256-GCM, the cipher 1Password uses for its vaults. The AI model never sees a login, posts and messages wait for your OK, and Disable for agents cuts access in one click. Independent scanners grade cotlet.dev A+ on Qualys SSL Labs, securityheaders.com and Mozilla Observatory; live results are on https://cotlet.dev/security.
Give your agent access to Podium.
Free 7-day trial with 2,000 credits, no card needed. Cotlet is independent and not affiliated with Podium.