A practical guide to improving your restaurant's Google Maps presence
The listing details that help visitors choose you — and a simple maintenance routine your team can follow.
For many restaurants, the Google Business Profile — what most people simply call “the Google Maps listing” — is the most-viewed page they own. It often appears before your website, before your Instagram and long before a guest reaches your door.
Google does not publish exactly how it ranks local results, and nobody can guarantee a position. What Google does say is that relevance, distance and prominence matter, and that complete, accurate information helps. Below is a practical checklist.
The foundations
- Claim and verify the profile. Make sure the owner — not a former employee or agency — controls it.
- Name: use your real business name. Adding keywords to the name breaks Google’s guidelines and can lead to suspension.
- Primary category: choose the most specific category that fits (“Seafood restaurant” rather than “Restaurant”). Add relevant secondary categories.
- Hours: keep regular and holiday hours accurate. Wrong hours create bad experiences and bad reviews.
- Location pin: check that the pin sits exactly on your entrance. Pins are easy to get wrong, so check yours.
- Contact and links: phone, website, reservation link and menu link should all work on mobile.
Make choosing easy
- Menu: add your menu with prices and short descriptions. If you serve international guests, consider adding translated dish names.
- Attributes: fill in the relevant attributes — outdoor seating, vegetarian options, halal-friendly information where accurate, payment methods, accessibility.
- Description: write a plain, specific description of what you serve and who you are for. Avoid superlatives you cannot back up.
Photos that do the work
Guests compare photos quickly. Aim to cover:
- Your three to five signature dishes, shot clearly in natural light.
- The dining room or terrace at the time most people visit.
- The exterior and entrance, so people recognise you on arrival.
- People — staff and, with permission, guests — to show atmosphere.
Replace outdated images, and add a few new photos regularly so the listing feels current.
Reviews and replies
Reviews influence both visibility and choice. Invite every guest to leave a review, not only the happy ones — a QR code on the bill folder or table card is simple and effective. Never offer incentives in exchange for reviews, never filter out unhappy guests, and never post fake ones. All three break Google’s rules.
Reply to every review. Thank people for positive feedback personally; respond to criticism calmly, acknowledge the issue and explain what you will do. Future guests read your replies as much as the reviews.
A 20-minute weekly routine
| Day | Task |
|---|---|
| Monday | Check hours for the week ahead and any holidays |
| Wednesday | Reply to all new reviews and questions |
| Friday | Add two or three new photos or a short update post |
| Monthly | Review calls, direction requests and website clicks in the performance panel |
What to measure
Inside your profile, Google shows how people interacted with you: calls, direction requests, website clicks and more. Track these monthly against the same period last year where possible — seasonality in Phú Quốc makes month-to-month comparisons misleading.
If you would like us to look at your listing alongside your competitors, request a Hospitality Growth Review.