These are the features buyers in this category ask for, taken from competitor feature lists (Repuso, LocalImpact, GoHighLevel, Trustindex, EmbedSocial, Birdeye) and the review rules in 10. Being asked for doesn't mean you should build it. Several of the most-requested features are illegal or against Google's terms.
Legend: TS = Table stakes, D = Differentiator, X = Distraction, L = Liability. Priority: P0 = v1 of the recommended wedge, P1 = next, P2 = later, — = don't build.
A. Getting new reviews (the paid core)
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Unique Google review link and QR card per location (printable, and for email signatures) | TS | P0 | Cheap, and the first thing an agency hands a client. |
| Email request sequence (1 ask + 1 reminder) | TS / D | P0 | Same wording for every customer. No sentiment question first. |
| SMS requests (UK first), sold as prepaid credits | D | P0 | Higher response than email (widely reported, unverified here). Pass the cost through. |
| Trigger by CSV upload or a "job done" form | TS | P0 | The simplest start for a small business with no software. |
| Zapier / webhook trigger | D | P1 | Connects to booking and invoicing tools without building integrations. |
| Native integrations (Square, Xero, ServiceM8, Tradify) | D / X | P2 | Each one is upkeep. Only build the one that 30%+ of paying clients use. Some already request reviews themselves (Jobber does). |
| WhatsApp requests | D | P2 | Useful outside the UK and US. Meta template rules and per-message costs apply (unverified for this use). |
| "Were you happy?" pre-screen that routes unhappy customers to a private form (review gating) | L | — | Banned by Google's policy ("selectively solicit positive reviews"). Misleading under the FTC and CMA. The most-requested feature, and the one to refuse. |
| Incentives: discounts, prize draws or credit for leaving a review | L | — | Google bans incentives for any review. FTC §465.4 bans sentiment-conditioned ones. |
| AI "help me write my review" for customers | L | — | It edges toward reviews not based on the customer's own words. Fake-review exposure. |
| Private feedback form offered to everyone, alongside the public link (not instead of it) | D | P1 | Allowed if everyone gets both options. It gives the business early warning without gating. |
B. Showing reviews (the free part, done honestly)
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Widget layouts (carousel, grid, list, badge) | TS | P0 (3 layouts only) | Don't compete on layouts. |
| Newest-first default, all ratings, Google's own average and count shown | D | P0 | The honest default. It matches Google's rating, so it never looks inflated. |
| Auto-generated "How these reviews are chosen" note | D | P0 | Google's Places policy requires a notice on ordering and filtering. The DMCC and FTC rules make it sensible everywhere. |
| Hide a review with a logged reason (abusive, private data, clearly fake, unrelated) | D | P0 | Mirrors the FTC §465.7 permitted exceptions. The log is the business's evidence. |
| Star-rating filter (e.g. 4–5 only) | L (without disclosure) | P1, with a visible disclosure only | FTC §465.7(b), and "cherry-picking" under the DMCC Act. Trustindex's free plugin lists it as a feature. |
| Pin favourite reviews to the top | L / TS | P1, with a limit and disclosure | Pinning old reviews hits "out-dated reviews" in the DMCC guidance. Cap pins at 2, and age them out after 12 months. |
| Combined score across Google, Facebook and others | L | — | The Business Profile API bans aggregating its content. Show each source separately. |
| Server-rendered or static HTML reviews "for SEO" | L | — | Google content can be stored ≤30 days, and Places content can't be cached. Only first-party testimonials can be stored freely. |
| Review schema markup "to get stars in Google" | X / L | — | Widely reported that self-published reviews don't earn stars (unverified here). Don't promise it. |
| AI summary of reviews | X | P2 | Google now shows its own AI summaries. The Places policy has rules on displaying them. |
| Review translation | X | P2 | Useful in multilingual markets. Not needed for UK and Ireland. |
| Dark mode, animations, custom CSS | TS | P1 (custom CSS only) | Agencies want CSS control. Everything else is noise. |
C. Monitoring and replies
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| New-review alerts (email, with the rating) | TS | P0 | Expected. |
| AI-drafted replies, human-approved, posted via the Business Profile API | D | P0 | Google requires the client's authorisation to reply on their behalf. Never auto-post. |
| Reply templates by rating | TS | P1 | Cheap. |
| Negative-review alert to the agency within 1 hour | D | P1 | Agencies look good when they catch it first. |
| Competitor review tracking (their count and rating vs yours) | D / L | P2 | Needs Places data for other businesses. Cost and storage rules apply. Show counts only. |
| Monitoring of 100+ sites (Yelp, Tripadvisor, Trustpilot…) | X | — | Repuso and Trustindex do it. Each source is upkeep, and some need scraping. |
D. Agency features (the buyer's reason to pay)
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Agency dashboard: all client locations, connection health, reviews this month | D | P0 | The agency's daily view. |
| Add a client in <10 minutes (the client clicks one Google consent link) | D | P0 | Onboarding time is the agency's cost. |
| Monthly white-label client report (PDF + email) | D | P0 | Requests sent, reviews won, rating trend, reply rate. It's what justifies the care-plan fee. |
| "Website by [Agency]" link in the widget footer | D | P0 | Agencies want backlinks from client sites. |
| White-label dashboard on the agency's domain | TS | P1 | Repuso has it. Needed by month 6. |
| Client logins (read-only) | TS | P1 | Some clients want to see it themselves. |
| Rebilling: you bill the client on the agency's behalf | X / L | P2 | It adds payments and VAT complexity. Agencies already invoice. |
| Reseller pricing guide and sales one-pager | D | P0 | It helps agencies sell the add-on. It isn't code. |
E. Compliance and trust (your stance, made concrete)
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| Compliance defaults that can't be switched off silently (notice, no gating, no incentives) | D | P0 | The product's reason to exist. |
| "Review rules" page per market (UK DMCC, US FTC, EU Omnibus) | D | P1 | Content marketing and trust. The EU rule is unverified here, so check it before publishing. |
| An audit log of hidden reviews and settings changes | D | P1 | Evidence if a client is ever questioned. |
| GDPR: a data-processing agreement, UK/EU hosting, minimal customer data kept for requests | TS | P0 | Requests use customers' emails and phone numbers. Delete them after the sequence ends. |
| Any "guaranteed more reviews" or "compliant" badge | L | — | You can't promise it. It's a refund and trust risk. |
| Feature | Category | Priority | Notes |
|---|
| WordPress plugin + a universal script tag | TS | P0 | Covers most agency builds. |
| Wix / Webflow / Squarespace embed guides | TS | P1 | Docs, not apps. |
| A Wix App Market app | X | P2 | 48 competitors. Only worth it as a free-plan funnel later. |
| Free direct plan with "Powered by ReviewPin" | D | P1 | The proof case's loop. It runs alongside the agency product, not instead of it. |
Net effect
Of about 45 features asked for in this category, 5 are real differentiators for the agency wedge (honest defaults, requests, the client report, the agency backlink, approved AI replies). About 7 are liabilities that competitors sell and you shouldn't: gating, incentives, AI-written reviews, silent star filters, blended scores, stored Google content "for SEO" and "guaranteed" badges. About 18 belong in v1. Most of the rest is table stakes to add slowly, or other companies' products.