Google Business Profile for a Restaurant: The Guide

When someone types "restaurant near me" or the name of your venue into Google, the first thing they see is rarely your website: it is your profile. A complete, accurate Google Business Profile for a restaurant (opening hours, photos, menu, booking link) answers the guest's question before they open a single web page. A sloppy one sends guests to a closed door or an outdated menu.

This guide covers what Google documents in its official Business Profile help, plus what we recommend in practice: categories, hours, photos, posts, menu, booking link, guest questions and consistency of information. Button labels change regularly, so we describe the logic and the stable settings, as of the date of writing (November 2026).

Worth knowing: nobody can buy or request a better local ranking. Google says local results rely mainly on relevance, distance and prominence. A well-kept profile helps on relevance and prominence; it guarantees no position.

Google Business Profile for a restaurant: where to start

Before optimising anything, you need a profile you control.

• Search for your venue (name and city) on Google Search or Google Maps. If it already exists, claim it rather than creating a second one: Google asks for one profile per location.
• Verify ownership. Depending on the case, Google offers a code by phone or text, an email, a video call with an agent, a postcard or a video recording. You do not choose the method. For postcards, Google quotes a usual delay of 14 days and a code that expires after 30 days.
• Change nothing while a postcard code is pending (name, address, category) and do not request a new code: it invalidates the first.
• Keep control of access: attach the profile to an account that management controls, not the personal address of a former employee.

Without verification, your photos and posts may stay pending, according to Google's help.

Each restaurant gets its own profile: a restaurant inside a hotel generally needs a profile separate from the hotel's.

Name, address, phone and categories: NAP consistency

NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone. Google asks that the name reflect the real-world name of the business, as shown on the storefront, website and documents.

Avoid, according to Google's rules:

• adding a tagline, keyword, opening hours, phone number or a phrase such as "near the station" to the name;
• writing the name in all capitals or repeating it in several languages;
• using a P.O. box or a virtual address.

"Brasserie Dupont" does not become "Brasserie Dupont – Best restaurant Lyon 2nd – Terrace". Additions like that go against Google's rules.

What matters most is alignment: the name, address and phone number must be identical on your Google profile, website, social accounts, TripAdvisor, TheFork, your reservation system and directory pages. An old phone number left on a directory page sends guests nowhere.

Method: list every platform where you appear and check them each quarter, and whenever something changes (move, new number, new group name).

Choosing categories for a restaurant

The primary category is one of the elements that most shapes how your profile appears. Google advises choosing the most specific category available and adding only a few extra ones, not one per product or service. You cannot create your own categories.

• Primary category: the one describing your core business, such as "Italian restaurant", "Bistro", "Pizzeria" or "Fine dining restaurant" depending on what the list offers, rather than the generic "Restaurant".
• Additional categories: one to three at most, for what you genuinely do, such as an on-site cocktail bar or a catering service if it is a real offer. Google gives no exact number: it asks you to use few.
• Test: the category completes "this business IS a…" (not "HAS a…"). A terrace is an attribute, not a category.
• Separate business: a bar or café run independently, with its own team, deserves its own profile rather than an added category.

Changing a category can trigger re-verification, so change it rarely.

Opening hours and special hours

Wrong hours produce reviews like "closed although Google said open".

• Regular hours: enter the hours when the public is welcome. For a restaurant, Google asks you to list dine-in hours before takeout or delivery hours. With two services a day, add two ranges for the same day.
• Special hours: in Edit profile > Hours, use special hours for a public holiday, an event or a one-day closure. According to Google's help, they cover up to 6 consecutive days, each entry cannot exceed 24 hours, and your profile must be set to "Open with main hours" for them to show.
• Longer closure: from 7 consecutive days, or for an unknown period, mark the venue as "Temporarily closed".

Think of it before each sensitive period: December 24 and 31, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, May bridge days, summer closures. Update the profile as soon as the team schedule is fixed.

Photos and Google posts for a restaurant

Guests look at photos to decide. For a restaurant, Google suggests varying the types: exterior (from the directions guests approach), interior, products, team, kitchen at work and, for restaurants, food and drink.

Settings to know, as of the date of writing:

• Format: JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB, recommended resolution 720 × 720 pixels, minimum 250 × 250. In practice, shoot well above the minimum.
• Quality: sharp, well lit, no excessive filters or misleading editing. The image must represent reality: a photographed dish should look like what reaches the table.
• Logo and cover photo: add them from your profile's photos. A cover photo is not guaranteed to appear first.

A simple routine: a few photos a month (seasonal dish, new menu, terrace, dining room during service) rather than a big batch and then nothing. Avoid stock photos: guests notice the gap.

Google posts: news, offers and events

Posts ("updates") appear on your profile in Search and Maps. There are three types: update, offer (with dates and times) and event (with dates). You can add a photo, a video and an action button: book, learn more, call.

To create one, from your profile: Posts > Add post, choose the type, add text, visual and button, then publish or schedule.

Points to watch, per Google's help:

• posts older than 6 months are archived unless you set a date range;
• each post is reviewed: an unverified phone number in the text may be rejected (use a "Call now" button instead);
• content must stay professional, respectful and link to trustworthy sites.

Useful ideas: the Christmas Eve menu (see our guide to the prepaid Christmas menu), the seasonal menu, a music night, an annual closure. A regular post that informs beats a stream of empty promotional text.

Menu and booking link: the links that drive reservations

For restaurants, Google offers several ways to present the menu.

• Menu link: a single URL, under Edit profile > Business information > Contact > Menu link. It must point to a real, current menu page. For a web-page menu rather than a PDF, see our article on the online menu in HTML or PDF.
• Menu editor: to enter sections, dishes, descriptions and prices directly on Google. Changes can take 24 to 48 hours to appear.

For booking:

• You can add up to 10 links per link type (reservations, online ordering) and set a preferred link, which shows first.
• You can also use a booking provider compatible with "Reserve with Google", which lets you track completed bookings. Google's help notes the provider may charge for bookings made through Google: ask first. A manually added link provides no performance statistics, and the blue booking button only appears with a provider integrated directly with Google.
• If third-party links appear that you did not ask for, you can request their removal from the booking section (providers have 5 days to process it).

A common mistake: a booking link that lands on a home page or a broken widget. Test it every month from a phone, following the guest's path through to confirmation. If your widget is poorly embedded in the site, also read the common mistakes on restaurant websites.

Finally, fill in the useful attributes (terrace, step-free access, vegetarian options, reservations accepted): they answer the filters guests apply.

Questions and answers, and reviews: what is changing

Historically, the "Questions & answers" section let internet users ask public questions. According to trade press, Google ended the API for managing those questions in November 2025 and is gradually replacing the section with a question assistant in Maps. Display varies by profile and country: check what is visible on yours.

Practical consequence: do not rely on that section. Put answers to recurring questions where they are safe:

• in the profile's attributes, hours, links and description;
• on your website, with a clear page (access, allergens, dogs, strollers, private hire, payment);
• in your review replies, which are public.

For a month, note the questions asked at the door, on the phone and by message (parking, groups, dietary needs, dogs), then build the answers into the profile and the site.

For reviews, see our dedicated guide: replying to a restaurant's Google reviews.

The description should stay factual: the activity, the cuisine, the history of the house. Google discourages links, promotions, prices and offers in that field.

Google Business Profile for restaurants: frequently asked questions

Need help with your Google Business Profile?

A current profile takes regularity, and nobody has time for it in the middle of service. māhie supports more than 90 venues (restaurants and hotels) on their digital visibility, from the Google profile to the booking website. Concretely, we can:

• audit your profile and the consistency of your information across Google, your website and your platforms;
• build or rebuild your website on Webflow, with a readable menu page and a well-integrated booking widget;
• set up conversion tracking so you know what clicks from the profile and the site bring in;
• frame a regular growth strategy as part of a Growth engagement.

For the website side, see our websites and Growth & outsourced CMO. To talk it through: Contact māhie.