How restaurants and cafés get more customers from Google

Diners decide in minutes

That means your Google profile has seconds to answer three questions: what's on the menu, is it open now, and is it good? Everything below makes those answers obvious.

Use the restaurant features Google gives you

Google says restaurants can add links for online ordering, reservations and menus, and can add menu items directly to their Business Profile. Use all of them:

• Menu: add your dishes with prices and photos in the menu editor, not just a PDF link. Keep it updated when prices change.
• Dietary tags: since October 2026 you can tag menu items gluten-free, dairy-free, halal or kosher, alongside vegetarian and vegan. Tag only what's true.
• Order and reserve links: link to your own ordering page or booking system so diners can act straight from Google.
• Attributes: outdoor seating, wheelchair access, dog friendly, live music, takeaway, delivery. Tick everything that's true.
• Hours: regular, holiday and special hours, including kitchen closing time if it's earlier.

Photos sell the food

• Your best dishes, shot in daylight from above or at a 45° angle, at least three of them.
• The room as diners will see it, and the outside so they can find you.
• Your team, so it feels like a real place with real people.
• New photos every couple of weeks: seasonal dishes, specials, events.

Diners upload photos too. Check them regularly and report any that break Google's rules.

Reviews: ask every table, the right way

1. Put a QR code for your review page on the table, menu or receipt, so diners can review later without being pressured at the table.
2. If you take bookings or orders online, send a short thank-you with a review link the next day.
3. Never offer a free dessert or discount for a review, and don't tell guests what to write. Google doesn't allow either.
4. Reply to every review. Thank people for the dish they mention; with complaints, apologise and invite them back to put it right.

Common mistakes

• A menu that's only a PDF, or prices that are a year out of date.
• Showing open when the kitchen has closed.
• Stock food photos or heavily filtered images.
• Leaving unhappy reviews unanswered for weeks.