Replying to a Review

Written By Chad McGuire (Sparrow Intel)

Overview

This lesson covers the act of sending a public response: opening the composer, writing or accepting an AI draft, and getting it out the door.

The next lesson goes deep on AI suggestions specifically. This one is about the basics of getting a response out the door.

The reply composer

Open any review and click Reply. The composer opens as a dialog with:

  • A text area for your response

  • A toggle for the AI-generated suggestion (covered in the next lesson)

  • A language selector — if the review is in a non-English language, you can write your response in either

  • A character counter (each OTA has different limits)

  • A Save Draft button — so you can step away without losing work

  • A Send button

For most reviews you'll let Chirp AI draft first, edit if needed, and send. We cover that flow next. This lesson sticks to the mechanics so you know what the composer can and can't do.

Sending a response, step by step

  1. Open the review (click the row in the inbox, then click Analyze for the detail page)

  2. Read the body and the sections below it — sentiment, opinions, cleaning/maintenance issues — so the reply addresses what's actually there

  3. Click Reply to open the composer (it opens as a dialog over the page)

  4. Type your response — or accept the AI suggestion

  5. (Optional) save a draft to come back to later

  6. Click Send

That's it. The response posts to the OTA through whatever channel the review is on. You don't have to switch tools or pick a delivery method — it just goes.

Multi-language reviews

If a guest reviews you in a language other than English, Sparrow Intel:

  1. Detects the language on the incoming review

  2. Stores both the original and an English translation (so your team can read it)

  3. When you ask Chirp AI to draft a reply, the draft comes back in the guest's language

  4. When you send, the response goes out in whatever language you wrote it in

You can switch the response language manually in the composer if you want to reply in English even though the review was in French (or vice versa). For most teams, replying in the reviewer's language is the right move — see Brand Voice & Multi-Language Replies for more.

Drafts

If you start composing and need to step away, click Save Draft. The next time you open that review, the composer reopens with your draft text waiting.

A draft is per-review, but shared across users so your teammate can see your review response drafts. There's no global "Drafts" folder; drafts live on the reviews they belong to.

What happens after you send

  • The response posts to the OTA immediately (or within the OTA's normal sync window)

  • The review's status changes to Replied

  • The review drops out of any "Awaiting reply" filtered view

You don't have to mark the review as "responded" — that state is implicit in the response being sent.

What if you make a mistake

Sparrow Intel can't edit or delete a response once it's been sent — most OTAs don't allow post-send edits to host responses at all. If you need to correct a published response, reach out to the OTA's host support directly. They're the only ones who can make a change on their side.

If you catch an error after the window closes, the right move is usually to acknowledge it in a follow-up touchpoint (a message to the guest, or future review responses on the same property), not to chase the edit.

Up next

AI Review Reply Suggestions — let Chirp AI do the heavy lifting on the first draft.