Template
Restaurant Local SEO Checklist (2026) — 43 Points That Move the Map Pack
A restaurant local SEO checklist covering the 43-point Google Business Profile audit, website schema markup (Restaurant, Menu, OpeningHours, AggregateRating), citations and listings, review reply targets, and the content cadence that holds local rank in 2026. Free scan available — see your score in 60 seconds.
Last reviewed: 2026-05-07
What you get
- •The 43-point GBP audit covering categories, hours, photos, posts, Q&A, attributes, services
- •A website schema markup checklist with the exact properties Google rewards
- •A citations and listings checklist — which directories matter, which don't anymore
- •Review reply rate targets and the local pack signal they create
- •A content cadence (GBP posts + photos + reviews) that holds rank, not just earns it
- •A free scan that runs the full 43-point audit on your live restaurant
PDF version coming soon — bookmark this page for the full template content.
How to use this template
- 1Run your free scan first to see which of the 43 points you currently miss.
- 2Fix the GBP fundamentals (categories, hours, attributes, services) — these move the needle in days, not months.
- 3Add Restaurant schema to your website. Most restaurant sites have none in 2026; this alone often lifts non-branded clicks 8–15%.
- 4Audit citations on the top 12 directories listed below and fix any name/address/phone mismatches.
- 5Set the response-rate and post-cadence floor and stick to it. Local SEO is a flywheel; one big push fades fast.
- 6Re-scan every 30 days. Local SEO drifts (hours change, photos go stale, competitors add content).
The template
Section by section. Read it once, then write your version under each heading.
The 43-point Google Business Profile audit
GBP is the highest-leverage local SEO surface for a restaurant. Every point below is a discrete check; together they decide whether the local pack shows your listing or your competitor's.
- •Primary category set correctly (most-specific-fits, not 'restaurant' generic)
- •1–4 secondary categories covering cuisine + format (e.g. 'Indian restaurant' + 'Caterer')
- •Hours accurate to the day, with special hours for every public holiday
- •Phone number matches the website and citations exactly
- •Website URL points to the homepage, not a redirect chain
- •Address verified and pin-dropped to the actual front door, not the building's centroid
- •Service area set if relevant (delivery radius)
- •Description: 750 characters, includes primary keyword once, no marketing fluff
- •Attributes filled completely (dine-in, takeout, delivery, accessibility, dietary, payments)
- •Services list populated (each menu category as a service when offered)
- •Menu added (use the menu link, not just a PDF)
- •Reservations link configured if applicable
- •30+ photos uploaded, mix of food, interior, exterior, team, menu
- •Logo and cover photo set, both at the recommended dimensions
- •Photo cadence: 4+ new photos per month
- •GBP posts: 2 per week, every week, no gaps
- •Q&A section seeded with 8–12 owner-answered questions
- •Reviews: 100+ all-time, averaging 4.4+
- •Review reply rate: 100% within 24 hours
- •Review velocity: 3+ new reviews per week
- •Products section populated with hero menu items if your category supports it
- •Booking integrations live where applicable (OpenTable, Resy, Tock)
- •Order-online integrations live, with exact same hours as dine-in
- •Health and safety attributes current
- •Highlights and 'from the business' field used
- •Welcome offer set if running an offer
- •Posts include a call-to-action button (Order, Learn more, Book)
- •Photos geotagged to the restaurant pin
- •GBP messaging enabled and answered within 4 hours
- •Insights reviewed monthly (search queries, photo views, direction requests)
- •Profile owner consistent — single Google account, no abandoned co-managers
- •No suspended-listing flags or ownership disputes
- •Hours format includes lunch break / split shift if you close midday
- •Contact email visible on the listing if you accept private events
- •Brand photos (people, plating action) outnumber generic stock-style shots
- •GBP videos uploaded — even one 30-second walkthrough lifts profile engagement
- •Cuisine and dietary tags align with menu and reviews — mismatches confuse the algorithm
- •Listing language matches the language of your trade area
- •Special hours posted at least 14 days before holidays
- •Posts archived monthly so the active list stays fresh, not stale
- •Owner replies visible on the most recent 25 reviews
- •Categorical relevance signals: menu PDF, services list, and description all reinforce primary cuisine
- •Pin location verified after every Google Maps update — Maps re-renders pins occasionally and a wrong pin tanks discovery
Website schema markup checklist
Schema markup gives Google a structured view of your restaurant data. Most restaurant sites have none. Adding the four schema types below is the single highest-ROI website change you can make for local SEO in 2026.
- •Restaurant schema with name, address, telephone, servesCuisine, priceRange, image, url, geo coordinates, hasMenu
- •Menu schema with menuSection (per menu category) and MenuItem (with name, description, offers/price, suitableForDiet)
- •OpeningHoursSpecification covering every day plus specialOpeningHoursSpecification for holidays
- •AggregateRating schema sourced from real reviews with the exact rating and review count
- •BreadcrumbList on every interior page
- •Validate every schema in Google's Rich Results Test before shipping — broken schema is worse than no schema
Citations and listings
Citations matter less in 2026 than they did in 2018, but name/address/phone (NAP) consistency across the top tier still feeds local rank. Get these 12 right and ignore the long tail.
- •Google Business Profile (the source of truth — every other listing should match this exactly)
- •Apple Business Connect
- •Bing Places
- •Yelp
- •TripAdvisor
- •Facebook Page
- •Instagram bio
- •Foursquare
- •OpenTable / Resy / Tock if you take reservations
- •Yellow Pages (still indexed by Bing)
- •BBB if your concept courts older demographics
- •City-specific food directory or Chamber of Commerce listing — one is enough
Review reply rate and velocity
Reviews are the strongest local-rank signal a restaurant has. The targets below are the floor — sustained performance, not bursts.
- •100% reply rate within 24 hours (positive and negative)
- •3+ new reviews per week, 12+ per month
- •4.4+ average rating across all-time reviews
- •100+ all-time reviews within 18 months of opening
- •Recency: at least one review in the last 14 days at all times
- •Diversity: photos in 25%+ of reviews — Google rewards multi-modal review profiles
Content cadence that holds local rank
Local rank is a flywheel. Burst-and-vanish loses ground quickly. The cadence below is the floor that holds rank without absorbing the operator's week.
- •GBP post: 2 per week, every week, with at least one CTA button
- •GBP photo upload: 4+ new photos monthly, mostly food + people
- •Website blog post: 1 per month, written for local intent ('best biryani in {neighborhood}')
- •Menu update: anytime menu changes (price, item, hours) — same day, no exceptions
- •Q&A maintenance: monthly review, replace stale answers, add 1–2 new owner questions
- •Reviews: respond same-day, never let any review sit longer than 24 hours
- •Schema audit: quarterly, validate against Google's Rich Results Test
Pro tips
- 1Fix your GBP categories first. Wrong primary category alone can suppress your listing in 60% of relevant searches — and it's a 30-second fix.
- 2Pin location is the single most overlooked signal. If your pin sits on the building's centroid instead of the front door, drop it manually — directions accuracy lifts foot traffic 5–10%.
- 3Add Restaurant schema even if you can only ship one schema type. It outperforms every other on-page change you could make this quarter.
- 4Stop chasing low-tier citation directories. The 12 listed above cover 95% of citation value; the next 200 directories combined cover the remaining 5%.
- 5Photo cadence beats photo volume. A profile with 30 photos uploaded across 12 months out-ranks one with 100 photos uploaded once.
- 6Reply to positive reviews, not just negatives. The replied-positive ratio is a stronger signal than total review count once you're past 50 reviews.
- 7Run the audit on your top 3 competitors as well. Their gaps are your opportunity, and their consistent points show you the local-pack floor for your category.