Google Business Profile for Restaurants

In short: your Google Business Profile is the card people see when they search for your restaurant on Google and Maps. Claim it, keep the name, address, hours, menu and photos accurate, ask for honest reviews, reply politely and link to your own ordering page. A little attention every week beats a big effort once a year.

Google changes its tools and policies, so check Google's Business Profile Help Center for current wording.

For a local restaurant, people searching "restaurant near me" or "pizza open now" meet your profile before they meet your website. A correct profile earns calls, directions and orders. An incorrect one sends guests to a closed door.

Step 1: Claim and verify

Search for your restaurant on Google Maps. If a profile exists, choose to claim it. If not, add your business. Google asks you to verify that you run it, by a method such as a code sent by phone or postcard, or a short video of the premises. Use an email address that belongs to the business and share access with a second trusted person, so a lost password does not lock you out.

Each location should have only one profile.

Step 2: Follow Google's guidelines on the basics

Google's guidelines for representing your business include these rules, which are the ones restaurants most often break:

• Name: use the name customers know from your real world branding. Do not add taglines, keywords, opening hours, phone numbers or locations to it.
• Address: a precise, real physical location. A restaurant with a dining room has an address that customers can visit.
• Hours: your regular customer facing hours. For restaurants, Google says to use dine in hours. Add special hours for holidays and events.
• Categories: choose the fewest that describe your core business, and be specific, such as "Italian restaurant" or "Pizza takeaway".
• Description: no links, promotions, prices or sales offers.

Profiles that break these rules can have information changed or removed, and name violations can lead to suspension.

Step 3: Make the profile useful

Fill in everything that applies:

• Contact: phone number that is answered, website, and booking or ordering links.
• Attributes: dine in, takeaway, delivery, outdoor seating, wheelchair access, dietary options. Only tick what is true.
• Menu: add your menu or a link and keep it current. Google says that adding photos of your menu and best dishes helps customers find what you serve. See turn a paper menu into an online menu.
• Ordering link: point it to your own online ordering page, where you keep the customer and pay no commission. See online ordering without commission.
• Reservations: link to your booking page if you take bookings. See restaurant reservations and floor plans.
• Description: two or three plain sentences: what you serve, where, and what makes you different, without claims you cannot prove.

Step 4: Photos that sell the food

Photos are among the most viewed parts of a profile. Add:

• The exterior, so people can find you.
• The dining room, empty and full.
• Your best dishes, in natural light, from above or at a slight angle.
• The menu.
• Staff at work, with their consent.

Use your own photos. Do not copy from other sites. Replace old photos when the menu or the room changes. Check that photos match what a guest receives, because a mismatch leads to bad reviews.

Step 5: Reviews: ask fairly, reply politely

Reviews strongly shape choices. Google's guidance on reviews says you can ask customers to leave a review, and you can create a link or QR code for them. It also says not to offer free or discounted food, drinks or other perks in exchange for reviews, for changing a review or for removing a negative one, because Google treats this as fake engagement. Google's content policy further prohibits discouraging negative reviews, selectively asking only satisfied customers, and requiring or pressuring customers to review while on the premises.

So:

• Ask every guest in the same way, for example with a card or QR code on the receipt.
• Never pay, reward or pressure for reviews.
• Never write reviews for yourself or ask staff and family to do so.
• Do not filter out unhappy guests before they can reach the review page.

Reply to reviews. Google advises keeping replies polite, professional, short and relevant, signing with your name, and responding promptly. For negative reviews, check your records of the visit, apologise where appropriate, do not share private information and invite the guest to contact you directly. See reviews and complaints for examples.

Step 6: Use posts and updates sparingly

Google lets you post updates such as events, offers and news. Use them when you have something real: a new seasonal dish, a closure, a live music night. Keep them short with a clear photo. Check each offer has terms and that you honour it. Do not post every day if you have nothing to say.

Step 7: Keep information current

The most common failure is out of date information.

• Special hours for bank holidays, events and closures.
• Temporary closure if you are shut for a period.
• Menu and prices after a change.
• Phone number and booking links.

Other people can suggest edits to your profile, and some may be wrong. Check your profile regularly for changes you did not make.

A fifteen minute weekly routine

1. Open the profile and check hours for the coming week.
2. Reply to new reviews.
3. Answer any questions in the profile.
4. Add one new photo.
5. Check the ordering and booking links work.
6. Look at the numbers Google shows for views, calls and directions.

Mistakes that cause trouble

• Keyword stuffing in the name, such as "Best Pizza London Cheap".
• Wrong hours, which cause one star reviews from guests who found you closed.
• Fake or incentivised reviews.
• Duplicate profiles for the same location.
• Linking to a delivery marketplace when you have your own ordering page.
• Ignoring reviews, good and bad.
• Claiming awards or ratings you cannot prove.

Link it to the rest of your marketing

Use the same name, address and phone number everywhere: your website, social media and listings. Your website should have a page with your address, hours, menu and a map. See restaurant website with online ordering. Share new posts to social media and your email list where you have consent.

Three kinds of guest search, and what to do for each

People use Google in different ways, and the profile has to answer each.

"Restaurant near me, open now." The guest wants to eat soon. Correct opening hours, a recent photo of the entrance and a phone number answered during service win these. A wrong closing time loses them.

"Best pizza in town" or "Italian restaurant with vegan options." The guest compares. Categories, attributes, menu, photos and reviews decide. Make sure your dietary options are accurate and your best dishes are in the photos.

Your own name. The guest already knows you and wants the address, the menu or to order. Make sure the ordering and booking links work, the hours are right and the website loads quickly on a phone.

Check each by searching on a phone, in a private browser window, from outside your building. See what a stranger sees, and fix what confuses you.

Multiple locations and delivery only kitchens

If you have several sites, each needs its own profile with its own address, phone number and hours. Do not create one profile for the brand with several addresses. See multi branch management. A business that has no customer facing premises, such as a delivery only kitchen, should follow Google's rules for service area businesses and hide the address instead of listing a location customers cannot visit. See dark kitchens.

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