Local SEO for restaurants: how UK venues get found on Google (2026)

Short answer: Local SEO for restaurants means showing up when nearby people search "pizza near me" or "best curry in Leeds". Google ranks local results on three things: relevance, distance and prominence. You can't change your distance. But you can improve relevance and prominence with a complete Google Business Profile, a fast website with your menu as text, steady reviews and a few local links.

This guide walks you through 8 steps you can do yourself, without an agency. It ends with a one-page checklist.

Written for UK restaurants, takeaways, cafés and pubs. Updated October 2026.

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How Google ranks local restaurants

Google says local results are based mainly on three things:

Google also says there's no way to pay for a better local ranking. Be wary of anyone selling a "guaranteed top 3 spot".

There are two places to win:

1. The map pack: the map and three listings at the top of a local search. This comes mostly from your Google Business Profile.
2. The normal results below: your own website, plus sites like Tripadvisor and delivery apps.

Restaurant SEO means working on both.

Step 1: Complete your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile drives the map pack. Get the basics right:

• Business name: your real name, exactly as on your shop sign. Don't add keywords like "Best Pizza Leeds". Google's rules forbid it, and it can get your profile suspended.
• Categories: pick the most specific main category (such as "Indian restaurant" or "Pizza takeaway"). Add only a few secondary ones that describe what you are.
• Hours: keep them accurate, including special hours for bank holidays and Christmas.
• Menu, photos and order link: add your menu, real photos and a link to your own ordering page.

Our Google Business Profile guide for restaurants covers every setting step by step.

Step 2: Make your website easy for Google to read

Your website supports your Google profile. A weak or missing website holds you back.

• Put your menu on the page as text. Google can't read a menu inside a photo very well. A PDF is better than an image but worse than plain text. Dish names with short descriptions also match what people search for ("lamb rogan josh", "gluten-free pizza").
• Write clear page titles. For example: "Wood-fired pizza in Harrogate | Collection and delivery | Luigi's". Include your main food and your town.
• Show your name, address and phone number (NAP) in the footer of every page, written the same way as on Google.
• Make it fast on a phone. Most food searches happen on mobile. Compress photos and avoid heavy pop-ups.
• Use your own domain. A link like yourrestaurant.co.uk builds trust and links over time. A delivery-app page builds the app's brand, not yours.
• Add one page per location if you have more than one site, each with its own address, hours and map.

If you don't have a website, a simple ordering site can do the job. See our takeaway website builder guide.

Step 3: Point Google to your own ordering link

Many takeaways find Google showing Just Eat or Deliveroo as the main way to order. That sends your customers, and commission, to the app.

• Put your own ordering page in the website and order fields of your Google profile.
• Keep app links if you want them, but make sure yours is first and clearly yours.

Read how to make your own ordering link appear first on Google and why Google may show a delivery app instead of your website.

Step 4: Add restaurant schema markup

Schema markup is code that tells search engines the facts about your business: name, address, cuisine, hours and menu link. It doesn't guarantee a better ranking, but it makes your details clear.

Here's a short example for a UK restaurant. Change every value to your own:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Restaurant",
  "name": "Luigi's Pizzeria",
  "servesCuisine": "Italian",
  "telephone": "+44 1632 960000",
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "12 High Street",
    "addressLocality": "Harrogate",
    "postalCode": "HG1 1AA",
    "addressCountry": "GB"
  },
  "openingHours": "Tu-Su 17:00-22:00",
  "hasMenu": "https://www.example.co.uk/menu",
  "acceptsReservations": "False"
}
</script>

The business above is made up for illustration, and the phone number is from a range Ofcom sets aside for fiction. Test your markup with Google's Rich Results Test before you publish it.

Step 5: Get listed on the right directories

Directory listings (also called citations) help Google confirm you're a real, local business. Use the exact same name, address and phone number everywhere.

You don't need hundreds of listings. Ten accurate ones beat fifty messy ones.

Step 6: Build reviews, steadily

Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking. Customers read them too.

• Ask every customer, at the right moment: at the till, on the receipt, or the day after their order.
• Use a Google review QR code on tables, counters and takeaway bags.
• Reply to every review, good or bad, within a few days.
• Never buy reviews or offer a reward for one. Google bans it, and fake or hidden incentivised reviews have been illegal in the UK since 6 April 2025.

Our guide on how to get more Google reviews has scripts and reply templates.

Step 7: Earn local links and mentions

Links from other local websites show Google that people know you. Good sources for restaurants:

• Local news and "what's on" sites: new menus, charity nights or a big anniversary.
• Suppliers: your butcher, brewery or coffee roaster may list the venues they supply.
• Events and sponsorships: school fairs, sports clubs and food festivals often link to supporters.
• Local food bloggers: invite them to try a new menu. If the meal is free, their post must be labelled as an ad.
• Business groups: your local chamber of commerce or BID.

Avoid paid link schemes. They break Google's spam policies and can do more harm than good.

Step 8: Add useful pages, not doorway pages

Extra pages help when they answer real questions:

• Private dining or party bookings
• Catering for offices or events
• Christmas menus, published in October
• Allergen information for your menu

Don't create dozens of near-identical pages like "Pizza delivery in [every nearby village]". Google calls these doorway pages and treats them as spam. One good page about your delivery area works better.

Track whether it's working

• Google Business Profile performance: searches, calls, direction requests and website clicks.
• Google Search Console (free): the searches that bring people to your website.
• A tracking link: add a simple UTM tag to the website link on your Google profile, so you can see how many orders start there.
• Orders per channel: count orders from your own page each week. If local SEO is working, this number goes up.

Local SEO for takeaways, cafés and pubs

Restaurant SEO checklist

How Menuthere helps with restaurant SEO

• An ordering website with your full menu, sizes and add-ons, on a Menuthere link or your own domain (custom domain on Lite and above).
• A menu search engines can read. Google gets a plain text version of your store: your name as the main heading and every visible dish with its description and price, grouped by category. The page title and description are written for you from your store name and town.
• Your own search title, description and share image (Lite and above). In SEO and tracking you can write the title and meta description Google shows, set the image people see when your link is shared on WhatsApp, add a favicon, and paste your own Google Analytics 4 or Meta Pixel ID to see which visits turn into orders.
• Allergens and calories on every dish (every plan, including Free). Customers see them when they open a dish.
• Push your menu to your Google Business Profile from the Menuthere dashboard, with dishes and photos (Lite and above). Each push replaces the menu on Google, so check your listing after you push.
• Multi-language menus on Lite and above (13 languages, translated automatically).
• 0% commission on direct orders, so the customers Google sends you are yours.

We don't promise rankings. Nobody honest can. But a fast menu page on your own domain, linked from Google, gives you a strong base. For more ways to get found, read our restaurant marketing ideas.

Put a commission-free order link on your Google profile today.

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