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Local SEO for restaurants: what changes

By Sergey Sulimko, Founder10 min read

A US restaurant's Google Business Profile uses an exact category label plus separate menu, service, popular-dish, booking, ordering, attribute, post, and service-hour surfaces. Those surfaces are not interchangeable.12

The general ranking steps still hold. A restaurant adds profile fields that a general checklist does not name, so start with the category that describes the business and then keep the restaurant's menu, ordering, booking, and service details aligned.

Which restaurant-specific profile fields matter?

Use the matching Google surface for each kind of restaurant information. A menu item is not a category, a service is not a menu item, and an ordering link is not a service.

Restaurant information Google surface What to check
Menu sections, dishes, descriptions, and prices Menu editor Group dishes into sections. Google says menu changes can take 24 to 48 hours to appear. If the menu comes through the Business Profile API, the menu editor may not be available in Business Profile or Google Search. Google's photo-to-menu workflow is experimental, requires agreement to its Generative AI Additional Terms of Service, and calls for review before publishing.3
Services and other offerings Services Choose Google's suggested services or add a custom service, group services, and add descriptions or prices where useful. This is an offering surface, not a business-category picker. Google says custom services that violate policy are automatically rejected; avoid prices, phone numbers, personal information, profanity, or gibberish in custom service names.4
Popular dish names and photos Popular dishes in the Google Maps app Open the Business Profile, choose Menu, then Add. Owner-added dish names take precedence over customer-added names, but Google does not guarantee that an edit will publish.5
Reservations and waitlists Bookings Open Business Profile > Bookings and follow Google's setup flow. Use a provider or add the restaurant's own link. Provider links normally appear within a week, a provider may charge for bookings, and a custom link has no performance data in Google's interface.67
Pickup and delivery ordering Online ordering and local business links Add or manage third-party providers and custom links, choose a preferred provider when available, and check whether the profile accepts orders. Depending on the region, Google may show Order online or Place an order.89
Outdoor seating, Wi-Fi, and similar facts Attributes Availability varies by location, country, and category. Attributes can appear on Search and Maps, and some may be populated from customer input. Google says review usually takes about 10 minutes but can take up to 30 days.10
Announcements, offers, updates, and events Posts Featured posts can come from Facebook, Instagram, or Business Profile posts. They are currently available in English for single-location food-and-drink businesses in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, may appear in place of reviews on mobile, and are archived after six months unless a date range is set.11
Delivery, takeout, drive-through, and pickup times More hours Set separate service hours for the services the restaurant actually offers.1

The Google Business Profile guide for restaurant owners covers the profile itself. For the operational details, see the guides to publishing photos and posts and publishing products and services.

Which Google category should a restaurant choose?

Choose the most specific available category that describes what the restaurant is. Businesses cannot create their own category, and Google says not to select a category for every product or service.12 If the specific category is unavailable, Google says to choose a more general category that describes the business. Use only a few additional categories for relevant departments or services.

The dated US-English snapshot read on 2026-09-30 contains 4,049 Google category resources.13 The table names the exact labels selected for this restaurant page. It is a picker reference, not a recommendation to select every label.

Exact US-English category label Exact US-English category label Exact US-English category label
Restaurant Fast food restaurant Coffee shop
Bakery Cafe Ice cream shop
Pizza restaurant Breakfast restaurant Takeout restaurant
Family restaurant Hamburger restaurant Deli
Chicken restaurant Seafood restaurant Brunch restaurant
Asian restaurant Food court Sandwich shop
Mexican restaurant Japanese restaurant Indian restaurant
Bistro Barbecue restaurant Vegetarian restaurant
Korean restaurant Taco restaurant Cafeteria
Sushi restaurant Thai restaurant Dessert restaurant
French restaurant Mediterranean restaurant Steak house
Vegan restaurant Vietnamese restaurant Fine dining restaurant

Google's categories.list method requires a region code and language code, requires a view, limits pageSize to 100, and uses nextPageToken when more results remain.13 Its search matches the front of a category name, not a category ID.13 Confirm the current picker before saving because category availability and wording can change.

Restaurant-specific links and menu features in Google's category guidance are profile features, not extra category labels. A category change may require verification.12

In the Business Profile:

  1. Open Food ordering.
  2. Choose a provider or link, or select Add a link.
  3. Choose Set as preferred. If Google offers them, enable Preferred for pickup or Preferred for delivery, then select Save.8

Google says ordering may appear under Order online or as separate Place an order links. Turning off Accept orders on your profile hides first-party and third-party ordering options and links added to the profile. A pickup or delivery preference is available only when the provider offers that option.89

If a restaurant requests removal of a third-party ordering link, Google says the provider must remove it within five business days. The documented path is Business Profile > Food ordering > provider or link > Remove link. If the provider does not process the request, Google directs the business to report a violation.89

Compare fees, fulfillment, and menu-price requirements before choosing a provider. This is a margin decision, not a ranking promise.

What do DoorDash and Uber Eats publish for restaurant ordering fees?

US rates, read 2026-10-01:

DoorDash plan Delivery Pickup Intro
Basic 15% of subtotal 6% 0% for 7 days, then listed rates14
Plus 25% of subtotal 6% 0% for 30 days, then listed rates14
Premier 30% of subtotal 6% 0% for 30 days, then listed rates14

DoorDash lists no monthly, signup, or cancellation fees. Partnership plans cover US restaurants with 75 or fewer locations. Online Ordering by DoorDash has no commission but a payment processing fee. The 6% pickup rate requires compliance with DoorDash's terms, including matching DoorDash pickup menu prices to in-store prices.14

Uber Eats US presentation Published fee Conditions
Lite Marketplace 20% Marketplace; pickup 7% with validated in-store pricing, 10% otherwise15 Lower starting fees in select cities
Plus Marketplace 25% Marketplace; pickup 7% with validated in-store pricing, 10% otherwise15 0% introductory period for 30 days; the page displays an additional 5% for Uber One orders; other fulfillment fees may apply
Premium Marketplace 30% Marketplace; pickup 7% with validated in-store pricing, 10% otherwise15 0% introductory period for 30 days; other fulfillment fees may apply
Self-delivery within Marketplace 15% Self-delivery Fee; pickup 7% with validated in-store pricing15 The page lists 25% when Uber-network delivery handles farther-away deliveries or unavailable staff
Uber Direct Starts at $7.99 per delivery15 The restaurant's own website, app, or phone
Webshop 2.5% processing plus $0.29 per order15 Commission-free site it controls; processing fees apply

Uber displays these Marketplace plans for the US, including Alaska and Hawaii but excluding Puerto Rico. The page says regulations may alter Marketplace fees, unvalidated in-store pricing makes the pickup fee 10%, and the first 30 days waive delivery and pickup fees while other fulfillment fees may apply.15

When do federal menu-labeling rules apply to a restaurant?

Publishing a Business Profile menu is not itself one of the regulation's covered-establishment conditions. Under 21 CFR 101.11, the rule covers a restaurant or similar retail food establishment that is part of a chain with 20 or more locations under the same name and substantially the same menu items, or an otherwise noncovered restaurant that voluntarily registers.1617

In that covered-establishment context, a profile menu can fall within the regulation's definition of a menu or menu board when it is the primary writing from which a customer makes an order selection.16 The definition includes electronic and internet menus. The conclusion about a Business Profile menu follows from those conditions; the regulation does not name Google Business Profile.

A covered establishment must list calories for standard menu items on its menu or menu board.16 It must also provide the applicable 2,000-calorie context statement and “Additional nutrition information available upon request” statement.16 The written nutrition information available on request must include total calories, calories from fat, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrate, dietary fiber, sugars, and protein. The rule treats general-use condiments, daily specials, temporary menu items, custom orders, customary market-test food, and some self-service or food-on-display items differently.16

The franchise clause is the part that surprises single-site operators. Ownership does not decide it, and a location trading under a shared name alongside 19 other locations is inside the rule whoever owns it.1617

Sources

  1. Google Business Profile Help, “Get started with a Business Profile for your restaurant,” read 2026-10-01. Read Google's restaurant guide

  2. Google Business Profile Help, “Manage your business category,” read 2026-10-01. Read Google's category guidance

  3. Google Business Profile Help, “About the menu editor,” read 2026-10-01. Read Google's menu-editor guidance

  4. Google Business Profile Help, “Manage your services on your Business Profile,” read 2026-10-01. Read Google's services guidance

  5. Google Business Profile Help, “Manage your restaurant's popular dish names,” read 2026-10-01. Read Google's popular-dish guidance

  6. Google Business Profile Help, “Set up bookings through a provider,” read 2026-10-01. Read Google's booking guidance

  7. Google Business Profile Help, “Manage your local business links,” read 2026-10-01. Read Google's local-link guidance

  8. Google Business Profile Help, “Manage online ordering options,” read 2026-10-01. Read Google's ordering guidance

  9. Google Business Profile Help, “Manage your local business links,” read 2026-10-01. Read Google's local-link guidance

  10. Google Business Profile Help, “Manage your business attributes,” read 2026-10-01. Read Google's attribute guidance

  11. Google Business Profile Help, “Create & manage posts on your Business Profile,” read 2026-10-01. Read Google's post guidance

  12. Google Business Profile Help, “Manage your business category,” read 2026-10-01. Read Google's category guidance

  13. Google Business Profile API, categories.list, United States / English, read 2026-09-30. Read the categories.list method

  14. DoorDash, “Commission Rates & Pricing,” read 2026-10-01. Read DoorDash's restaurant pricing

  15. Uber Eats, “Pricing That Works for Your Business,” read 2026-10-01. Read Uber Eats' US pricing

  16. eCFR, “21 CFR 101.11: Nutrition labeling of standard menu items in covered establishments,” current 2026-09-25. Read the regulation

  17. Cornell Legal Information Institute, “21 CFR 101.11,” read 2026-10-01. Read the regulation at Cornell

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