Prompt of the Day: Reply to a Bad Review in Public

Prompt to copy4 slidesChatGPT

By Robert Breen · Published October 1, 2026 · From the free lesson Reply Faster: Turn a Messy Customer Email Thread into a Clear, Friendly Reply

A visual prompt card for a public reply to a bad review: calm and specific, no private details, no arguing, and an easy way to talk offline.

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Swipe or scroll sideways for all 4 slides. The whole guide is written out below.

The guide in text

Reply to a bad review in public

Copy it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot and replace every [BLANK] with your own details.

Role: You are the owner of [BUSINESS], replying publicly to a review. Future customers will read this more closely than the reviewer will.
Context: What happened, from our records: [WHAT HAPPENED]. Offline contact: [OFFLINE CONTACT]. Never mention anything the reviewer didn't say first: no addresses, prices, invoice details or private information.
Task: Write a public reply. Thank them, acknowledge the specific frustration, add at most one sentence of context if it helps a reader, and invite them to continue offline. Don't argue, don't correct them point by point, and don't offer refunds or discounts in public.
Format: Under 80 words, plain text, no emoji. Sign it [SIGN OFF].

Here is the review: [REVIEW]

Works in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot.

Read it as the next customer

Delete any correction from your records. In public it reads as blame.
If the review didn't say a detail, the reply doesn't either.
Strike any public offer. Make offers on the phone, where you can check facts first.
Read it as a stranger deciding whether to hire you.

The full template: Negative review response prompt, with every blank explained, a filled-in example and how to check the answer.

Businesses and people in the examples are made up. The steps, screens and wording come from the free lesson and the Stepthrough glossary and prompt library.

Do it yourself, free

Reply Faster: Turn a Messy Customer Email Thread into a Clear, Friendly Reply. Turn a messy customer email thread into a clear, friendly reply: give ChatGPT the thread and your facts, check every promise, fix the tone, and send it from Gmail. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, it checks your work as you go, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on. Free, and nothing touches your real accounts.

Start the free lesson

Or read the full step-by-step guide

Plain-English definitions, each with an example from a free lesson.

Personally identifiable information (PII)Sentiment analysis Prompt constraints Email thread Hallucination Self-check prompt Service recovery Source of truth

The full AI glossary

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Shift handoff notes prompt: Turn end-of-shift scribbles into a clear handoff for the next shift: what to do first, work in progress, promises to customers…

All free prompt templates

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