A low or inaccurate response rate is often due to:
Replies not being published or visible on the original review platform (yet) - MARA only counts reviews as answered once a publicly visible reply has been found on the platform. All reviews you find under the "not published" filter in your Inbox are still counted as unanswered. It might take a couple of days until sent replies are published on the OTA. Once MARA finds the published answer, the response rate will go up. You should therefore evaluate your response rate with a little delay of 4-5 days (e.g., check your response rate for a given week on Thursday/Friday of the following week).
Replies sent to older reviews that MARA does not automatically update (if you responded to reviews older than 2 months, ask support to update your inbox retroactively).
Replies submitted in the wrong language, which some platforms do not publish (e.g., Booking.com).
Reviews are deleted on the platform but still shown in MARA as unanswered, because we do not get information about deletions from the platforms. If you cannot send a reply you can request the deletion directly in MARA via the pop-up or contact [email protected] with review screenshots.
To improve the accuracy of your response rate, focus on replying to recent reviews, use the correct language, and notify support if you replied to old reviews or notice any discrepancies.