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Local SEO for restaurants: get more covers

Hungry people decide where to eat on Google — photos, reviews and 'open now'. Here's how to make your restaurant the one they pick, in plain English.

Updated 7 min read

Short answer

To fill more tables from Google, use a specific cuisine category(like “Italian restaurant”), add plenty of appetising, up-to-date photos, link your menu and reservations, keep your hours accurate(people filter by “open now”), and reply to reviews. Diners choose with their eyes and the reviews — a vivid, well-reviewed profile wins the booking.

Deciding where to eat is one of the most common local searches there is, and it's highly visual and highly spontaneous. Your Google Business Profile is your menu, your window and your reviews all in one — and it often decides the choice before anyone reads a word.

Pick the most specific category

Don't settle for “Restaurant” if something more precise fits. Use your cuisine— “Italian restaurant”, “Indian restaurant”, “Vegan restaurant”, “Café”, “Takeaway” — so you match people searching for exactly what you serve.

Photos do the selling

People eat with their eyes. Add fresh, high-quality photos of your dishes, interior and atmosphere, and keep adding them — a stale gallery reads as a stale restaurant. This is the single biggest lever most restaurants are leaving unused.

Remove friction, then keep it current

  • Menu and reservations. Link a current menu and a one-tap way to book or order.
  • Accurate hours.A huge share of diners filter by “open now” — wrong hours lose you covers. Update holiday hours in advance.
  • Google Posts. Use them for specials, events and seasonal menus to stay fresh and visible.

Reviews and your replies

Diners read reviews and how you respond to them. Reply warmly to the good ones and calmly to the bad — see how to respond to Google reviews and how to get more of them.

Check your restaurant profile free

A free MyBizRanked audit shows how your restaurant looks to hungry searchers — category, photos, hours, reviews — and the fixes that bring more diners in.

Frequently asked questions

Use the most specific one that fits — for example 'Italian restaurant' or 'Indian restaurant' rather than just 'Restaurant'. A specific cuisine category helps you match people searching for exactly what you serve.

See how your business really looks — free

Run a free MyBizRanked audit and get your Google Business Profile score, the top problems, and whether AI assistants recommend you. No account, no card.

Run my free audit

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