> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: /docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Local business

> Stay on top of reviews, customer messages, bookings, and local marketing for your shop, studio, or practice.

For cafés, salons, clinics, studios, shops, and other local businesses where the owner does a bit of everything. SureThing takes the busywork off your plate: it watches your reviews, drafts replies to customers, keeps your social accounts active, and tells you what's changing in your area. You approve anything that goes out under your name.

## What you can hand off

* **Reply to reviews**: see new Google reviews as they come in and approve a thoughtful reply to each one.
* **Answer customer messages**: draft replies to emails and WhatsApp Business messages, such as questions about hours, prices, or availability.
* **Keep your social accounts active**: posts about specials, events, and new arrivals for Instagram and Facebook, with your photos.
* **Post updates to your Google profile**: weekly offers and news on your Google Business Profile.
* **Keep an eye on bookings**: a morning summary of today's appointments from your booking tool and calendar.
* **Send newsletters**: a monthly email to your customer list with what's new.
* **Watch the neighborhood**: what nearby competitors are offering and how their ratings are trending.
* **Get a weekly snapshot**: reviews, messages, bookings, and sales in one short summary.

## Try asking

```text Reviews theme={null}
Show me this week's new Google reviews and draft a reply to each one.
Thank people by name, and for any complaint, apologize and invite them
to email us.
```

```text Weekly post theme={null}
Every Monday, draft an Instagram and Facebook post about this week's special
using the photo I upload, and a matching update for our Google profile.
```

```text Customer messages theme={null}
Go through my inbox every morning, draft replies to customer questions
about hours, prices, and bookings, and flag anything urgent.
```

```text Competitors theme={null}
Look up the five closest coffee shops on Yelp and Google Maps, and compare
their ratings, prices, and what customers praise or complain about.
```

## Apps to connect

| App | What it's for | Good to know |
| - | - | - |
| **Google Business Profile** | Reviews, review replies, profile posts, and performance | If you don't see it in **Integrations**, it isn't available for your account yet. |
| **Gmail** or **Outlook** | Customer emails | |
| **WhatsApp** | Customer messages | WhatsApp Business accounts only. |
| **Instagram**, **Facebook** | Social posts | Instagram Business or Creator accounts, and Facebook Pages. |
| **Google Calendar**, **Calendly**, **Cal.com** | Appointments and bookings | |
| **Square** | Sales and payments | |
| **Shopify** | Your online store's products | Covers products; orders and customer data aren't available. |
| **Mailchimp** | Newsletters | |
| **Yelp**, **Google Maps** | Looking up businesses, ratings, and reviews nearby | Yelp is read-only public data; it can't reply to reviews on your Yelp page. |

See [Connect your apps](/docs/integrations/connect-apps.md) for how connecting works.

## Put it on a schedule

Most local-business work is regular, so it fits [routines](/docs/features/routines.md) well. For example:

* Every morning at 8, summarize new reviews and messages and draft the replies.
* Every Monday, draft this week's social posts and Google profile update.
* On the first of the month, draft the customer newsletter.

Unless you tell it otherwise, routines prepare drafts and you approve them before anything is sent or posted.

## Start from a ready-made agent

These ready-made agents are a good fit for local businesses:

* **[Local SEO](/docs/use-cases/marketing-and-content.md#local-seo)**: your Google Maps ranking nearby, reviews against competitors, and a prioritized list of fixes.
* **[Google Maps Reviews](/docs/use-cases/ads-and-conversion.md#google-maps-reviews)**: alerts for new reviews with a reply ready to paste.
* **[Social Media Automation](/docs/use-cases/marketing-and-content.md#social-media-automation)**: a weekly batch of posts for your social accounts.
* **[Website Audit](/docs/use-cases/ads-and-conversion.md#website-audit)**: a scored report on your website, with what to fix first.

## Good to know

* **You approve what goes out.** Posts and customer emails arrive as [approval cards](/docs/features/approvals.md), and the agent checks the exact wording of a review reply with you before posting it. Nothing is published or sent until you approve it.
* **SureThing can't make phone calls or send text messages.** It works through email, WhatsApp Business, and your connected apps.
* **What it costs**: a weekly batch of review replies or social posts typically uses about 5–15 credits. See [What things typically cost](/docs/plans-and-credits.md#what-things-typically-cost).
* **Need a website?** Agents can build a simple website for your business, or a dashboard to track your numbers. See [Pages](/docs/features/pages.md).


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.