Should I reply in English or the reviewer's own language?

The reviewer's own language when you can do it reliably — it reads as more attentive and is more useful to other readers who share that language. If you can't get a confident translation, a sincere reply in English is safer than an unreliable attempt in a language you don't speak.

Is it okay to use Google Translate for a review reply?

For short, straightforward replies — a thank-you, a brief acknowledgement — it's a reasonable option. For anything longer or more sensitive, like an apology for a serious complaint, get a second check from a fluent speaker if you can; machine translation is more likely to miss tone and nuance exactly where it matters most.

Does Google translate reviews and replies automatically for readers?

Google offers a translate option on reviews written in a language different from the reader's own, and typically extends the same option to business replies. A well-written reply in your own language is still accessible to a reader who speaks another one — it just won't carry the same personal signal as replying in their language directly.

Google Reviews

How to Reply to a Google Review Written in Another Language

Australia's customers speak a lot more than English, and sooner or later a review lands in a language you don't read. Here's how to handle it well — without a rushed mistranslation doing more damage than the delay you're trying to avoid.

Updated 11 July 2026 · 5 min read

This happens more than most business owners expect

Australia's customer base is genuinely multilingual, and it shows up in reviews: one in a language other than English is not a rare event for many local businesses, especially in bigger cities and specific neighbourhoods. Treat it as a normal part of managing your profile, not an edge case to put off.

The instinct to skip a review because you can't read it is the wrong one. An unanswered review looks the same to a future customer regardless of what language it's written in — and reviewers can tell whether a business engages with everyone or only with the people who happen to write in English.

Work out what it actually says before you respond

Google itself offers a 'Translate' option under reviews written in a language other than your account or browser's default — a reasonable starting point for getting the gist. For anything short, positive, and unambiguous, that's usually enough to work from.

For anything longer, more critical, or where the tone is hard to judge from a rough machine translation, get a second opinion before you reply — a staff member who speaks the language, or a proper translation tool. Machine translation is good at literal meaning and often weak at sarcasm, understatement, or cultural context, and a reply that misses the actual complaint looks worse than no reply at all.

Reply in the reviewer's language when you reasonably can

Replying in the same language the review was written in is one of the more meaningful things you can do — it signals that a real person read it properly, not that it was skimmed through a translator and answered generically. It also shows other reviewers who read that language that you speak to your whole customer base, not just an English-speaking subset.

If nobody on your team is fluent, a machine-translated reply is a reasonable option for something simple: a thank-you, or a short acknowledgement. It's riskier for an apology or an attempt to resolve a complaint — a reply that reads stilted, oddly formal, or accidentally curt in translation can make a bad situation worse. When the stakes are higher, it's worth the extra day it takes to get a proper translation.

When English is the safer choice

If you genuinely can't get a reliable translation of your own reply, a warm, sincere response in English is a better outcome than a garbled one in a language you don't speak. Most reviewers can read at least some English, and — as with the review itself — Google typically offers readers a translate option on business replies too, so a clear English reply is still accessible to someone who reads another language.

What matters more than which language you use is that the reply is specific to what was actually said. A generic, safe-sounding reply that could apply to any review at all reads as inattentive in any language.

Keep sentences simple, whichever language you use

Idiom, slang, and humour translate badly in both directions — a phrase that sounds warm in English can land as confusing or even rude once translated literally, and the same is true in reverse.

Say the specific thing you're thanking or addressing directly, rather than a vague pleasantry.
Avoid jokes, wordplay, or region-specific references — they're the first thing to break in translation.
If you're relying on a translation tool for the final reply, read the translated result back through a second tool or a fluent speaker before posting, especially for anything apologetic.

The usual rules still apply

Nothing about a different language changes what you can and can't say. Don't offer a discount or incentive to change or remove a review in any language — that's review gating and incentivisation, and both breach Google's policies regardless of what language the conversation happens in. And don't let a translation gap become an excuse to leave a genuinely serious complaint sitting for days while you look for a translator — escalate internally to someone who can read it properly, sooner rather than later.