Multistead / Google review management
Reviews
Google review management for every location, with AI replies and owner approval
Multistead is a Google review management tool for brands with many locations. AI drafts a personal reply to every Google review, positive replies can post automatically, and anything sensitive waits for the location owner. Headquarters sees every location; each owner sees their own.
The hard part of review management software isn't writing one good reply. It's replying well to every review, at every location, every week, in the brand's voice, without an angry reply to a one-star review becoming the brand's problem. That takes a queue, a policy and a person in the loop for the reviews that matter.
What a Google review management tool should do across locations
- Pull every location's reviews into one place, so nobody logs into 40 profiles one by one.
- Draft replies that sound like a person, written from what the reviewer actually said, not a template pasted under every review.
- Separate safe replies from sensitive ones. A five-star thank-you can go out on its own. A refund demand, a staff complaint or a health topic needs a human.
- Let the location reply, inside brand guardrails. The franchisee knows the customer and can fix the problem; headquarters sets the voice and the rules.
- Show headquarters the whole picture, so a location that stops replying, or starts collecting one-star reviews, is visible before it becomes a pattern.
How Multistead handles Google reviews
- AI drafts a reply for each Google review, using the review, the location's details and the brand's tone. Owners can edit any draft.
- Positive replies can post automatically. Reviews at or above the rating the location sets, for example four stars, can be answered without anyone logging in.
- Sensitive reviews wait for the owner. Low ratings and sensitive topics are held for approval, and can open a support case so headquarters sees them too. AI never auto-posts a reply to a complaint.
- Every location's reviews sit next to its website, rank grid and support history, with its own reports and dashboards. Headquarters sees every location side by side.
- Unlimited users, no per-user fees, so every manager at every location can reply.
An approval policy, built in
Most brands don't need a 20-page reputation policy. They need clear answers to "who replies, who approves, and how fast". This is the default we suggest; you set your own thresholds.
| Review | What Multistead does | Who signs off |
|---|---|---|
| 4–5 stars | Drafts a personal reply and can post it automatically | No one, unless you choose to review them |
| 3 stars | Drafts a reply and holds it | Location manager |
| 1–2 stars | Drafts a calm reply that takes it offline, and holds it | Location owner |
| Health, refund, staff or safety topics | Holds the draft; can open a support case | Owner, with headquarters able to see it |
For the wording itself, our guide on how to respond to Google reviews has 14 ready-to-use replies, including refund demands, fake reviews and clinic reviews.
For clinics, med spas and other health brands
Replying to a review can disclose that someone is a patient. HHS's Office for Civil Rights settled with a dental practice for $23,000 over Yelp replies that disclosed patient information (DLA Piper). In Multistead, health-related and negative reviews are never auto-posted; they wait for a person, and drafts follow a privacy-safe pattern that doesn't confirm the reviewer is a patient. The platform has MFA, an audit log and encryption, and we sign a BAA. Compliance is shared: your team still decides what goes out. See med spa marketing for the rest of the clinic picture.
What it costs
AI review replies are included on the Local plan at $449 and the Complete plan at $649 per location per month, billed annually ($539 and $779 billed monthly). Annual plans get 10% off location fees at 25 to 99 locations and 20% off at 100 to 399; 400+ locations get custom pricing, so talk to us. For 25 locations on Local, that is $404.10 per location, or $10,102.50 a month for the locations (plus the $990 Headquarters fee, so $11,092.50 a month in all). These are recurring costs; there is also a one-time setup fee, quoted on your first call, based on the number of sites.
That is not the cheapest way to answer reviews, and we won't pretend otherwise. Review-only tools cost far less per location: Reputation publishes $80 to $150, and BrightLocal's Grow plan is $49 a month at one location. Local at $449 matches the top of the third-party estimates for Birdeye, and Complete at $649 is above them. The difference is scope. The price includes each location's website, hosting, per-location SEO, a monthly 7×7 Google Maps rank grid, Google Analytics, Search Console and Business Profile per location, and Founders pages for new openings. If you are paying separately for a web vendor, an SEO retainer, a rank tracker and a reviews tool, compare the total.
| Tool | What it is good at | Published price, as of October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Reputation (reputation.com) | Centralized reviews, requests, AI-assisted responses, surveys | $80, $115 or $150 per location per month; Enterprise custom (source) |
| BrightLocal | Accurate local rank data, citations, reviews on its Grow plan | Grow $49/month at 1 location; $222/month total at 21–30 locations, annual (source) |
| Birdeye | Review consolidation across locations; ease of use | Not published. Third-party estimates: $299–$449 per location per month (TrustRadius) |
| Multistead | Reviews plus each location's website, SEO and rank grid in one hub | Local $449 or Complete $649 per location per month, billed annually; custom at 400+ locations |
When Multistead isn't the right review tool
- You only want review replies, and your location websites and SEO are already handled. A review-only tool is cheaper.
- You need review requests by text or email. Multistead drafts and posts replies; it is not a review-request or review-generation tool.
- Most of your reviews are on Yelp, Facebook or industry sites. Multistead's AI replies cover Google reviews.
Questions
Will AI replies sound robotic?
Each draft is written from the review itself and the location's details, so it mentions what the customer mentioned. Owners can edit any draft, and sensitive ones always wait for a person.
Can headquarters see reviews across all locations?
Yes. Headquarters sees every location, and each location has its own reports and dashboards. Each owner sees their own location.
Is it against Google's rules to reply with AI?
Replying with help from AI is not the problem; what you say is. Replies should be accurate, relevant and polite, and should never share private details. Multistead keeps a person in the loop for anything sensitive.
Does Multistead ask customers for reviews?
No. Multistead drafts and posts replies to Google reviews. It does not send review requests, and it never filters who gets asked, which Google prohibits.
Which plan includes AI review replies?
The Local plan at $449 per location per month and the Complete plan at $649, billed annually. Billed monthly, they are $539 and $779.
What happens if we leave?
Plans are billed annually. If you leave, you can take an export of your sites (an offboarding fee is agreed up front in your contract, so there are no surprises). Your reviews and replies stay on your Google Business Profiles.
Reputation, BrightLocal and Birdeye are trademarks of their owners. Multistead is not affiliated with them. Prices were taken from the linked pages as of October 2026; Birdeye's figures are third-party estimates. Check each vendor's current pricing directly.