Growth for restaurants: be the place people pick in the next ten minutes

How people choose where to eat

A search like "pizza near me" or "brunch open now" is answered by a map, not by a list of websites. Google says its local results depend on three things: relevance (does the profile match the search), distance and prominence (how well known the place is, including reviews and links). It also says plainly that there is no way to pay for a better local ranking.

Then comes the second check: people open the photos, the menu and the latest reviews, and often look at the restaurant's Instagram to see what the food looks like this month. A place that looks closed, has a menu from last year or no recent photos loses the table to the one next door.

More and more people also ask an AI assistant for a recommendation. Those answers lean on the same public information: your profile, your site and what others write about you. Consistent facts everywhere matter more than any trick.

What we do for a restaurant, in order

• Google Business Profile first: the right primary category, real opening hours (including holidays), attributes, photos that match today's dishes, and the menu itself. Google's menu editor lets food and drink businesses list items, descriptions and prices; changes can take 24 to 48 hours to show on Maps and Search.
• A site that answers in one line: where you are, when you are open, how to book, what it costs roughly, whether you take groups, vegetarian options. One clear page per real question, not twenty city pages. See local SEO.
• Local ads, small and capped: Instagram and Facebook ads around your address for a precise moment (lunch formula, new menu, private room), and Google Search ads on a few exact searches when a profile alone is not enough. Every campaign starts paused, with a daily cap and a stop rule written before launch. See Meta Ads.
• Short videos and clean photos: vertical 9:16 clips for Reels and Stories, square versions for the feed, made from your own footage and a script you validate. See video ads.
• Measurement: bookings, calls and direction requests counted where they can be, GA4 events on the booking button, and a plain monthly report of what was done.

Rules and pitfalls specific to restaurants

Reviews: Google's contribution policy forbids offering anything (payment, discount, free dish) in exchange for a review, and forbids pressuring guests to leave a rating while they are on the premises. Reviews from staff or anyone with a conflict of interest are also against the rules. We never write, buy or filter reviews; we help you ask for them fairly and answer them well.

Alcohol: Google Ads allows alcohol advertising only in approved countries and only within local law; ads must not encourage excessive drinking or appeal mainly to people under the legal age. Meta also requires age targeting of at least 18 (higher in some countries) and allows ads for venues whose business depends on alcohol sales within those limits. In France, the Public Health Code (article L3323-4) limits what an ad for an alcoholic drink may say to objective facts such as strength, origin, composition and how it is made or sold, and requires the health warning that alcohol abuse is dangerous. So for a bar or a wine-led restaurant, we keep the ads about the place and the food, and check every line about drinks against the local rules.

Opening hours and holidays: a wrong "open now" is the most expensive mistake on Maps. We put holiday hours in the calendar before the holidays, not after.

What we need from you

• Manager access to your Google Business Profile, Instagram and Facebook page, and an ad account in your name (ad spend is paid by you, directly to Google or Meta).
• Your current menu and prices, and a person who tells us when they change.
• Twenty minutes of phone footage of the kitchen, the room and a few dishes every month or two; we do the editing.
• One clear goal per season: more weekday lunches, bigger groups, a new location, private events.