Summary: Custom Themes let you define exactly what you want Sentiment Analysis to track in your customer reviews, beyond the default themes Uberall provides out of the box. 

What are Custom Themes in Sentiment Analysis?

Sentiment Analysis automatically scores your reviews against a set of pre-determined themes (e.g., “Food” or “Pricing & Value”) so you can see at a glance what customers are saying and how they feel about it. 

Custom Themes let you supplement the default themes with ones tailored to what matters to your business. Consider creating custom themes around product lines, a service standard, a seasonal promotion, or anything else your customers mention in reviews.

Each theme card in your Sentiment Analysis dashboard is labeled Custom Theme or Default Theme so you always know which is which. Hovering over a default theme shows “Defined by the system.”

User Access & Permissions

• Admins can create, edit, or delete Custom Themes. 
• Business Managers and Location Managers have view-only access to the Custom Themes that apply to the businesses or locations they manage.
  • They can open a theme to see its name, the reviews it covers, its review examples, and its exclusion criteria.
  • They cannot create, edit, or delete a theme.
  • The Create Theme button is visible but disabled for non-admins, with the message “Contact your admin to create a theme.”

How Custom Themes works

Each Custom Theme is built from three inputs:

• Theme Prompt – a short description of what the theme should capture (this is the core definition Uberall's AI uses to detect the theme in reviews).
• Review Examples – 1–3 sample reviews that illustrate the theme, used to calibrate detection accuracy.
• Exclusion Criteria (optional) – text describing what should NOT count toward the theme, to keep detection precise.

Detection is powered by AI and applies regardless of the review's language, so you don't need to write separate prompts per language.

How Custom Themes apply

Custom Themes are scoped at the Business + Category level, using the primary category set on each location's profile. This means a theme you create applies to every location that shares the same business and category — not to a single location in isolation.

What to know

• Theme limit: up to 5 Custom Themes per Business + Category combination (the default limit — your account team can advise if this is configurable for you). 
  • Note: You can't save a new theme once the limit is reached; a non-admin sees “You've reached the 5-theme limit for your business categories.”
• Scope: themes apply at the Business + Category level, not to a single location. All locations sharing that business and category are affected together.
• Creation access: only Admins can create/edit/delete in this release. Managers have view-only access.
• Processing time: new themes and edits take up to 24 hours to fully apply to review scoring.
• Business deletion: deleting a business automatically removes all Custom Themes tied to it and its locations.
• New locations: a new location added under a business that already has Custom Themes automatically inherits those themes.
• Language: theme detection works across review languages using the same prompt. there's no separate per-language configuration.

How to create a Custom Theme (Admins Only)

1. Go to Sentiment Analysis. In the left navigation, select Analytics > Sentiment Analysis, then open the Themes tab.
2. Select Create Theme. This opens the theme creation modal.
3. Choose your Business(es). Select one or more businesses the theme should apply to.
4. Choose your Category(ies). The category list updates based on the business(es) you selected. You can select multiple categories.
5. Fill in the theme details:

• Theme Name – the label shown on the theme card
• Theme Prompt – describe what the theme should capture in reviews
• Review Examples – add 1–3 example reviews that illustrate the theme
• Exclusion Criteria (optional) – describe anything that should be excluded from the theme

6. Save the theme. You'll see a confirmation toast, and the new theme card shows a loading state for up to 24 hours while Uberall processes existing and incoming reviews against it.

Editing or deleting a Custom Theme (Admins Only)

Open the three-dot menu on any Custom Theme card to Edit or Delete it.

• Edit: allows for updating its name, prompt, examples, or exclusion criteria. Changes take up to 24 hours to fully reflect in your review scoring.
• Delete: removes a custom theme from every location under the business(es) it was scoped to this can't be undone, so you'll be asked to confirm before it's removed.

Frequently asked questions

Can I have both default and custom themes active at the same time?

Yes. Default and Custom Themes appear side by side in the Theme Spotlight and on the Themes tab, where you can filter between All Themes, Custom Themes, and Default Themes.

Why isn't my new theme showing scored reviews yet?

New themes take up to 24 hours to process against your reviews. The theme card shows a loading state during this time.

Can I apply a Custom Theme to just one location?

Not at this time. Custom Themes are scoped to a Business + Category combination, which can include multiple locations. 

What happens to reviews already scored against a theme I edit?

Edited criteria (prompt, examples, or exclusions) apply going forward and are re-evaluated against your review set within 24 hours of saving.

I'm a Location Manager — why can't I create a theme?

Creation is limited to Admins at the moment. If you need a new theme, use the “Contact your admin to create a theme” prompt on the Create Theme button, or reach out to your business's admin directly.

Still have questions? Contact Uberall Support.