Google Business Profile checklist for restaurants

For most restaurants, the Google profile is the shop window people see before anything else: the photos, the hours, the reviews and the button to book or order. Open your profile next to this page and answer eleven questions about it. The checklist gives you a score and the fixes in order, each one with the Google help page it comes from.

Check your Google profile

Open your Business Profile on Google next to this page, then answer each question about it.

1. Is your profile verified?

2. Are your address, phone number and website on the profile complete and correct?

3. Is your main category the most specific one that fits, such as “Turkish restaurant” rather than “Restaurant”?

4. Do your opening hours on Google match the hours you really open?

5. Do you set special hours for bank holidays and other days you open differently?

6. Do you reply to your reviews, the bad ones as well as the good?

7. Do you ask customers for a review with your Google review link or QR code?

8. Have you added recent photos of your food, inside and outside in the last few months?

9. Is your menu on your profile, as items, a photo or a link?

10. Do customers see your own booking or ordering link on the profile?

11. Have you set attributes such as outdoor seating, Wi-Fi, wheelchair access and takeaway?

Your profile

11 questions left

Google does not publish a score for profiles: the weights here are ours, based on how much each item matters to a restaurant. The advice in each fix comes from Google’s own help pages, checked 20 October 2026. Your answers are not sent or saved anywhere.

How Google ranks local results

Google says local results are based mainly on three things:

Relevance: how well your profile matches what someone is searching for. A specific category and complete information help Google make that match.
Distance: how far you are from the person searching. You cannot change this one.
Prominence: how well known your business is. Google counts reviews and ratings here, along with links to you from other websites.

It also says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.

The three things restaurants most often get wrong

Bank holiday hours. A customer who arrives on a bank holiday to find you closed, when Google said open, is not coming back. Google recommends setting special hours for each holiday and confirming them even when they are your usual hours.

Someone else’s button. If you do not add your own booking and ordering links, a customer who is ready to book may be sent to a third party first. You can add your own links on the profile, up to ten of each kind, and mark yours as the business’s preferred one.

Asking for reviews the wrong way. Ask every customer the same way, with your review link or a QR code on the receipt, and never offer anything in return: Google prohibits discounts or freebies for reviews.

After the checklist

Keep the profile current: new photos every season, the menu changed when your real menu changes, hours updated before each bank holiday, and a reply to every review, the bad ones included. If you sell through delivery apps as well, our delivery app commission guide shows what an order through them really leaves you.

Common questions

Can I pay Google for a better place in local results?

No. Google says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. What you can do is keep the profile complete and accurate, keep it up to date and reply to reviews.

Can I offer a discount in return for a Google review?

No. Google treats incentives such as free or discounted goods in return for reviews as fake engagement and strictly prohibits them. Ask every customer the same way, with your review link or QR code, and offer nothing in return.

What should I do on Google if we close for a week?

Special hours cover changes and closures of up to six days in a row. For seven days or more, or a closure with no end date yet, Google asks you to mark the business as temporarily closed.

How long does a menu change take to show on Google?

Google says changes made in the menu editor can take 24 to 48 hours to appear on Maps and Search.

Where does the score in the checklist come from?

Google does not publish a score for profiles. The weights are ours, based on how much we think each item matters to a restaurant; the advice in each fix comes from Google’s own help pages.

Sources

Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google: relevance, distance and prominence; complete information, verification, reviews and photos.
Google Business Profile Help, How to set special hours: official holidays, the six-day limit and temporary closure.
Google Business Profile Help, Choose a business category.
Google Business Profile Help, Add or edit your menu.
Google Business Profile Help, Manage your local business links: booking and food ordering links, the preferred link.
Google Business Profile Help, Tips to get more Google reviews: review links, QR codes and the ban on incentives.
Google Business Profile Help, Tips for business-specific photos.

All checked on 20 October 2026. Google changes its profile tools often, so the names of buttons may differ from what you see.