Updated 2026-10-20

Facebook Recommendations response templates

Facebook dropped star ratings for Pages in 2018. What a customer leaves now is a Recommendation: a yes or no to “do you recommend this business?”, with optional text, tags and photos. That changes both the maths and the audience. There is no three-star middle, so a lukewarm customer has to pick a side, and the post goes into the feeds of the reviewer's friends, who are the people most likely to act on it. Your reply is a Page comment under that post, read first by the reviewer's own circle and only later by strangers researching you.

So write for the friends. Keep it short, keep it specific, and never let a reply read like a form letter, because on Facebook it sits next to the person's real name and face. The no-text “doesn't recommend” is the hardest case: there is nothing to answer, and a defensive reply to a blank verdict looks worse than the verdict.

Facebook Recommendations platform notes

Checked 2026-10-20. Facebook's Help Center was not readable from our build environment, and the only page we could read an excerpt of is a third-party walkthrough, so this block is deliberately thin: what we could confirm, and what to check in your Page settings yourself.

Format: a Recommendation is a yes or no (“recommends” or “doesn't recommend”) with optional text, tags and photos; Facebook retired star ratings for Pages when it introduced them. Confirm the current format in the Help Center by searching “Recommendations”. Source: Facebook Help Center
On or off is Page-wide: a third-party walkthrough describes toggling the Reviews / Recommendations tab in Page settings. That hides or restores all of them at once; we found no way for a Page to remove a single Recommendation other than reporting it to Facebook. Source: Signpost: enabling Recommendations on a Facebook business Page (third party)
Character limit: not confirmed. Your reply is an ordinary Page comment and the comment box stops you at the limit; stay well under it anyway, because the reviewer's friends read it on a phone. Source: Facebook Help Center
Reporting: a Recommendation can be reported from its menu when it breaks Facebook's Community Standards or doesn't reflect a genuine experience; Facebook, not the Page, decides whether it comes down. Confirm the current report options in the Help Center. Source: Facebook Help Center

The templates

Replace every [BRACKETED_PLACEHOLDER] with your specifics before posting - an unedited template is worse than no response.

Recommends, with a written reason

Thank you, [CUSTOMER_NAME]! [THING_THEY_PRAISED] is exactly what we're going for, and [EMPLOYEE_NAME] will be glad you noticed. Thanks for telling your friends about us; that means more here than anywhere else. See you next time at [BUSINESS_NAME]. - [YOUR_NAME]

Doesn't recommend, with details

Hi [CUSTOMER_NAME], this is [YOUR_NAME], [ROLE] at [BUSINESS_NAME]. I'm sorry about [SPECIFIC_ISSUE]; you've described it fairly and it shouldn't have gone that way. [CONCRETE_CHANGE] has been in place since [DATE].

I'd like to make this right with you directly. I've sent you a message from the Page, or you can reach me at [PHONE]. Thank you for telling us rather than just walking away.

Doesn't recommend, no text (the blank no)

Hi [CUSTOMER_NAME], thank you for the honest verdict, even without the details. This is [YOUR_NAME] at [BUSINESS_NAME]: if something went wrong on your visit, I'd like the chance to hear about it and fix it. You can message the Page or email [EMAIL], whichever is easier.

Mixed: recommends, but with a complaint attached

Thanks, [CUSTOMER_NAME], both for the recommendation and for the honesty about [SPECIFIC_ISSUE]. You're right, and we've [ACTION_TAKEN]. The part you liked, [THING_THEY_PRAISED], stays exactly as it is. Next time you're in, let [EMPLOYEE_NAME] know you're the one who wrote this. - [YOUR_NAME], [BUSINESS_NAME]

Suspected fake or spam recommendation (no record of a visit)

Hi [REVIEWER_NAME], we take every recommendation seriously, but we can't find any record of a visit or order matching this, and the details don't line up with how [BUSINESS_NAME] operates ([ONE_FACTUAL_POINT, e.g. “we've never offered delivery”]). It may have been meant for another business.

We've reported it to Facebook for review. If you did visit us, please message the Page with the date and we'll sort it out properly. - [YOUR_NAME], [ROLE]

Pile-on after a viral post (recommendations from people who were never customers)

Hi [REVIEWER_NAME], we understand why people are upset about [TOPIC], and we've addressed it directly here: [LINK_TO_YOUR_STATEMENT_POST]. This recommendation doesn't appear to be based on a visit to [BUSINESS_NAME], so we've reported it to Facebook and we'll let that process run.

If you have been a customer and something went wrong, we want to hear it: [EMAIL]. - [YOUR_NAME], [ROLE]

Do

Write for the reviewer's friends first: they see the recommendation and your reply in their feed before any stranger does.
Reply as the Page and sign with a name; a Page comment with no human attached is wallpaper.
Message the reviewer privately from the Page as well as replying publicly on a “doesn't recommend”; the public comment shows readers you tried.
Post one calm statement and pin it when a pile-on starts, then reply briefly and point to it, rather than arguing in forty threads.

Don't

Don't ask what star rating they'd have given; there are none, and it reads as fishing.
Don't turn Recommendations off for the Page after a bad week unless you're prepared to lose every positive one too; the switch is all or nothing.
Don't tag or name the reviewer's friends, employer, or anyone else in a reply; keep it between you and the reviewer.
Don't answer a blank “doesn't recommend” with a defence; there is nothing to defend against yet, so ask instead.

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