Guests ask assistants things like "table for four near me on Friday, vegetarian options". The assistant can only be as right about your restaurant as the public information it can read. Here is a checklist you can finish in about ten minutes, with the fix for each item.
The checklist
- Your menu is text, not only a PDF scan or photo. Open your menu page and try to select a dish name with your cursor. If you cannot, a program cannot read it either. Fix: publish the menu as a web page, and keep the PDF as an extra. Mark allergens and vegetarian items in words.
- Your opening hours are in text on your site. Include holidays and kitchen closing time if it differs. Fix: one clear "Hours" block, repeated on your Business Profile.
- There is one booking link. Search for your restaurant on your phone. Can you reach a booking page in two taps without logging in? Fix: a single, permanent link on the home page and in your profile. Our Google profile guide shows how.
- Your Google Business Profile matches your website. Compare hours, phone, address, price level and the booking link. Differences confuse people and programs alike.
- Your site does not block crawlers by accident. Open
yourdomain.com/robots.txt. A rule that disallows everything for every crawler tells assistants to ignore you. If you did not choose that, ask your web person to change it. - Someone or something answers the phone when it matters. Calls arrive at 19:00 on Fridays. See our guide to missed calls for fixes that do not need extra staff.
- Your rules are written where a program can read them. Party-size limits, deposit for groups, cancellation notice, how long you hold a table, allergies. Fix: a short "Booking terms" section on the booking page, in plain sentences.
- You asked an assistant about your restaurant. Use the words a guest would use. Does it give the right hours, address and menu? Does it say how to book? Write down the first wrong answer and fix its source.
Scoring yourself
- Seven or eight: you are in good shape. Recheck every few months.
- Four to six: you are readable but not easily bookable. Start with the booking link and the rules.
- Three or fewer: start with menu and hours as text, because everything else builds on being readable.
What this will not do
None of these checks make an assistant book you. Some assistants only book through partner platforms. What you can do is make sure that any assistant, or any guest, that finds you gets right information and a clear route to book. And if a reservation platform is how you already take bookings, make sure the link to it is on your site and profile; assistants often follow links.
A note on rules and fairness to guests
Write down what guests need to know before they commit: deposits, cancellation notice and any limits on group size. If an assistant books on a guest's behalf, the guest may never see your page. Having the terms in text and confirming with the guest by email afterwards protects both of you. See the guide on no-shows, deposits and reminders for the cautions.