Find local service requests worth following up.
Every day, someone near you types “anyone know a good dentist around here?” into Reddit or a local Facebook group. Reputably is a local lead monitoring tool: it helps surface public conversations, provides buying-intent and location context, and supports a reply you can review. Check the original request before following up.
7-day free trial · No card required. Evaluate the available conversations for your services and locations.
“Cracked a molar last night and my regular dentist can't see me for three weeks. Anyone know someone good who takes emergencies?”
Your next customer is asking a stranger who to hire.
Before people book a dentist, call an HVAC company, hire a cleaner, see a physio, retain a lawyer or walk into a med spa, they may ask someone for a recommendation. That used to mean a phone call to a friend. Now it's a post: “Who do you trust for AC repair around Round Rock?” on Reddit. “Anyone used a med spa here they'd actually go back to?” in the neighbourhood Facebook group.
These threads can reveal a current need, but the service, location and timing still need checking. Requests appear across different communities, so searching manually can take time. A helpful response is useful only when your business fits the request and the community welcomes it.
Reputably watches them for you — Reddit posts and comments, public Facebook groups, YouTube including Shorts, X and the open web — and helps prioritise results in one feed. Source availability and results vary.
Set up a local lead review workflow.
Tell us what you sell — and where
Start with your services, service area and the way customers phrase a request. Check source coverage for the conversations you need.
We watch and score
Review available results from supported sources such as Reddit, public Facebook groups, YouTube and X, with buying-intent reasoning to help prioritise them.
You post the reply
Review a suggested reply against the original request. Confirm your availability and the community rules, then use the posting route available for that platform.
Ads interrupt strangers. This answers people already asking.
Local ads bid for the attention of people who might need you someday. A recommendation thread is someone who needs you today, in public, waiting for a name. Answering that thread costs you two minutes — and the answer keeps working long after an ad budget would be spent.
- Intent you can't buy. The asker has already decided to hire someone — the only question left is who. Your reply arrives at exactly that moment.
- No auction, no cost per click. You're not outbidding the franchise down the road — you're being the first helpful answer in a thread they never saw.
- Replies that keep selling. Recommendation threads get found again — by neighbours searching the group, by Google, and by the AI models that read them.
Illustrative example · not a customer result
“Landlord says the place needs a proper move-out clean or I lose the deposit. Who's actually reliable here?”
“Shoulder's been wrecked for a month. Someone recommend a physio in Brunswick who won't just hand me a printout of stretches?”
“Who do you recommend?” rises to the top. Noise doesn't.
Keyword alerts drown you in every passing mention of your category. Reputably reads the conversation instead: a request for a recommendation, a complaint about a competitor, or someone comparing quotes scores far higher than chatter — so the feed opens on the leads, not the noise.
- Check the timing. Compare the original post date with the discovery time and confirm that the request is still open.
- Comments included. Reddit requests can appear in posts and comments. Inspect the surrounding thread before deciding to reply.
- Review before responding. Check the content and community rules. Available posting options depend on the platform and enabled account connections.
Illustrative example · not a customer result
“Getting married in October and the med spa I booked just cancelled on me. Please tell me someone here has a place they swear by.”
Built for businesses that win on trust, not ad spend.
Dentists, HVAC companies, cleaners, physios, lawyers and med spas all get chosen the same way: someone asks, someone answers, the job is booked. Evaluate the $99/month Starter plan against the relevant enquiries, review time and booked work you actually record.
Multi-location businesses can configure monitoring by market and review location evidence before assigning a result. Agencies can run local lead monitoring for every client from one white-label login.
And because lead monitoring shares a feed with brand monitoring, you also hear when someone mentions your name without asking a question — praise worth amplifying, or a complaint worth catching early.
Local lead monitoring, answered.
What is local lead monitoring?
Local lead monitoring means watching the places where people near you ask for recommendations — Reddit threads, public Facebook groups, YouTube comments, X — and catching those conversations while they're still open. Reputably helps surface available conversations with intent reasoning, location context and a reply workflow. Coverage varies; no tool should be assumed to find every request.
Where do people ask for local recommendations online?
Examples include Reddit — city and neighbourhood subreddits, plus the comments under local posts — and in public Facebook groups like neighbourhood, homeowner and buy-and-sell groups. YouTube comments and X carry them too. Availability varies by platform, community and privacy settings.
How is this different from buying local ads?
Ads pay to interrupt people who weren't asking. Lead monitoring answers people who already have their hand up — someone posting “who do you recommend for X?” has intent no ad audience can match. There's no auction and no cost per click; you spend a few minutes posting a helpful reply where a real request already exists.
Does Reputably post replies automatically?
Suggested social replies need your review. Posting options depend on the platform and enabled account connections; a copy-and-open workflow is available where appropriate. Always check the original conversation and community rules before responding.
Which local businesses does this work for?
Any business people choose on trust: dentists, HVAC companies, cleaners, physios, lawyers, med spas, painters, plumbers and more. If your customers ask friends and neighbours before booking, those questions are being typed into Reddit and Facebook groups right now — and that's what Reputably watches.
How much does local lead monitoring cost?
Reputably starts at $99 per month, which includes lead monitoring across Reddit, public Facebook groups, YouTube and X — plus AI visibility tracking and Google review automation in the same subscription. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial, no card required.
Go deeper on each platform.
Keep the reason, location and next action together.
Open the original source, read the intent reasoning and check whether the location is in your service area. When the location is unclear, keep that uncertainty visible. Then assign an owner, add notes and record the lead's stage as your team follows up.
Use the local social listening tool buying guide to plan a trial around your actual workload, or compare the five lead-generation tools by fit, price and workflow.
Would you reply to this request?
Fictional example: a Melbourne cleaner sees “Looking for an end-of-lease cleaner in Richmond for Friday.” The request sounds relevant, but the place and timing still need checking.
- Open the original. Read the post date and replies. If someone has already booked a cleaner, the opportunity has changed.
- Check the location evidence. Richmond alone isn't enough to identify the city. Read the community context and available location information. If it remains unclear, leave that uncertainty in the notes.
- Check the service and availability. Confirm that end-of-lease cleaning is a job you take and that Friday is possible. Intent reasoning helps you prioritise; your team still makes the decision.
- Give someone the next action. Assign an owner and write a useful note: “Confirm suburb and date before quoting.” Keep the lead at New until work has actually started.
- Record the outcome as it happens. Use Contacted after outreach, Qualified when your team has checked the fit, and Won only when the work is booked. Use Lost or archive when appropriate. The stage is your team's record, not proof supplied by an AI score.
A possible reply, if the community allows business responses: “We handle end-of-lease cleaning. Is this Richmond in Melbourne, and which Friday do you need? I can check availability once we have those details.” Replace it with wording that accurately describes your business.
Reply options depend on the platform and enabled connections. Review the draft and original conversation before sending. No tool can guarantee complete coverage of public posts, and private groups shouldn't be assumed accessible.
Choosing software for this routine? Read Reputably vs Buska, or use the agency handoff guide to define who follows up.
Someone is asking for a recommendation right now. Make sure it's you.
Start your 7-day free trial, then add and activate your business to set up monitoring. No card required. No social accounts needed for lead monitoring.
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