Google Business Profile for Restaurants: The Setup That Gets Orders

Verify the profile first

You need a verified profile to edit details like your name and hours, reply to reviews and show your photos. Google picks the verification methods for you based on your business type, region and other public information. They can include a phone call or text, email, a live video call or a postcard.

Postcard codes usually arrive within 14 days and expire after 30. While you wait, don't edit your name, address or category, or the code stops working.

Where each setting lives

Get the basics right

Use your business name exactly as it appears on your sign. Google doesn't allow extra words in the name, such as "Open 24 hours" or a phone number, and says that can lead to a suspended profile. Pick the primary category that best describes your restaurant. You can add up to 9 more, but Google asks you to use as few as it takes to describe the core business.

Enter your full website address. The business description can be up to 750 characters, with no links. Cover what you offer and what makes you special, not promotions.

Point the order button at your own site

This is the setting that turns searches into orders. In the US, delivery apps that state they have an authorized relationship with your business are listed on your profile automatically. If you don't add your own link, the ordering options guests see may only be apps that charge you a commission. To add your own page:

• Go to your Business Profile and select Food ordering.
• Make sure Accept orders on your profile is on.
• At the bottom of the list, select Add a link and enter your ordering page.
• Select your link, choose Set as preferred, and turn on Preferred for pickup and Preferred for delivery.
• Select Save.

In some regions ordering options appear under an Order online button, and in others Place an order links show separately. To remove an app's link, select it and choose Remove link. Providers must remove their links within 5 business days of your request.

Check it: search your restaurant's name on your phone, tap the order option, and confirm your own page is offered for both pickup and delivery.

Our guide to getting more direct orders covers the other places to put the link.

Link and list your menu

Set the menu link under Edit profile, then Business information, then Contact, then Menu link, and enter the address of the menu page on your site. Food and drink businesses can also list items in Google's menu editor, grouped into sections with descriptions and prices. Changes can take 24 to 48 hours to show on Maps and Search.

Google may also transcribe menu data from your website, and when it finds several menu sources you can choose the preferred one under Edit menu, on the Full menu tab. If a guest uploads an old menu photo, flag it and upload a current one. Keeping the menu on your site accurate helps with all of this.

Set every kind of hours

Google has three kinds of hours:

• Main hours for a normal week. Choose Open with main hours. If you close between lunch and dinner, add two sets of hours for the same day.
• Special hours for holidays and events, for closures of up to 6 days in a row. For 7 days or more, mark the business temporarily closed. Confirm holiday hours even when they match your regular ones.
• More hours for delivery, takeout and pickup when they differ from your main hours. They have to fit inside your main hours, and they don't show until main hours are set.

Add photos that match the place

Google asks for at least three photos in each of these groups: exterior, from each direction guests might approach; interior, so guests know what it is like inside; food and drink, starting with your most popular items; and your team. A cover photo and logo are set separately, though Google doesn't guarantee the cover photo shows first.

Ask for reviews and reply to them

To reply, select Read reviews on your profile, then Reply next to the review. Google checks replies against its policies, which usually takes up to 10 minutes and sometimes up to 30 days. Your reply shows as the business, not under your own name, and the reviewer is notified and can still change their review.

To get more reviews, share Google's review link or QR code, for example on receipts or a card in the bag. Offering anything in return for a review, such as a discount or a free item, is not allowed. Google also advises against asking only happy guests. Keep replies short and polite, not promotional.

Fill in the attributes

Attributes are the yes or no details, such as outdoor seating, Wi-Fi, payment types and accessibility features. Go to Edit profile, then More, and select Edit next to a category. Google says adding certain attributes means your business might show up in searches for places with those features. Some, like whether a place is popular with locals, come from guests and can't be set by you.

Use posts to promote ordering

Posts come in three types:

• Updates can carry a button that links to a page where guests can act, such as ordering online. Point it at your ordering page.
• Offers need a title and dates, and get a View Offer button automatically.
• Events need a title and start and end dates.

Posts older than 6 months are archived unless they have a date range, and you can schedule a post or set it to repeat weekly or monthly. For single-location food and drink businesses in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, in English, Google may show featured posts about events, deals or specials in place of reviews on mobile, drawn from your profile posts or your Facebook and Instagram. Leave phone numbers out of post text, as they can get a post rejected.

How this helps you show up

Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence, and that there is no way to pay for a better local ranking. Complete information helps relevance. Reviews, ratings and links from other sites feed prominence. Our guide to showing up on Google Maps covers the ranking side in more depth, and restaurant AI search covers how the same details reach tools like ChatGPT.

The profile only sends guests somewhere, so make sure it is your own ordering page and that it works on a phone. See the restaurant website checklist and what a restaurant website costs.