First found, then fed.
Restaurant, café or kebab shop: guests decide on their phone, often while already out. They see your Google profile, your reviews and, if things go well, your menu. And more and more often they ask an AI assistant where to go. This page shows where restaurants lose guests online and what we do about it.
Where it goes wrong
Where guests drop off
These are the places where we see restaurants, cafés and takeaways get stuck again and again.
The menu is a photo or a PDF
A photo of the menu is quick to upload, but hard to read on a phone, and a PDF has to load and be zoomed first. Search engines and AI assistants make less of the text in it than of normal text. Someone searching for a vegan bowl or lahmacun in your city then finds the dish next door, where the menu is text.
Dependent on delivery platforms
Lieferando and similar platforms bring orders, but take a commission on each one, and the customer data stays with the platform. Sometimes the first result for your own name is even your platform page.
Opening hours that are wrong
Public holiday, rest day, summer break: if the hours in your Google profile are wrong, the guest stands at a closed door and, at worst, writes a bad review. AI assistants pass such details on, even when they are out of date.
Too few or old reviews
Guests compare stars and read the latest reviews. Happy guests rarely write anything on their own; you have to ask them. And replying kindly to criticism shows the next guests how you handle problems.
The website link goes somewhere else
The website in a Google profile is often Instagram or an ordering platform. Menu, hours and directions are then missing from a place you control.
What we do
What we do for restaurants
Not everything at once: we start where you are losing the most guests right now. Much of it you can tackle yourself with our free tools.
The menu as a real web page
Your menu as readable text with prices, allergen notes and photos that you can change yourself when a price goes up. It loads fast on a phone and can be read by Google and AI assistants.
The same details everywhere
Opening hours, address, phone and link match on your website, your Google profile and the platforms. Plus schema code, so search engines and AI assistants read these details without doubt.
More reviews without pushing
With our free Google review QR card you create the direct link that opens “Write a review” on Google, and a QR card for the table, the counter or the bill.
See whether AI assistants name you
The full check reads the lists AI assistants use for your city, your Google profile and your website, and asks live whom an assistant recommends.
Your own ordering, where it pays off
If pickup or delivery matters to you, we connect your own ordering page with your website and Google profile, so regulars can order without a platform commission. Whether that pays off next to the platform, we work out with you first.
Our own test, October 2026
What AI assistants say about cafés and kebab shops
We asked an AI assistant (Claude with web search) where to find the best kebab and the best café in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn and Essen, in German and in English, in two rounds of 16 questions each. We compared the answers with 20 businesses from Google’s results. This is what stood out:
- Many Google reviews alone are not enough. Two businesses with more than 4,000 reviews each, both first in Google’s search for their city, were not named once in the first round.
- The businesses that were named were mostly on best-of lists: in city magazines, restaurant guides and on review portals that rank high when you search for the best place in town.
- Businesses with few reviews and no website of their own were not named in any answer.
- Having a website of their own made no visible difference to whether a business was named. It still matters for correct opening hours and details.
- The assistant made mistakes: it described two businesses that were open as possibly closed.
- The website link in the Google profile often did not lead to a website of their own: of 14 links, 3 went to Instagram or to an ordering or menu platform.
- Some websites show almost no text without JavaScript. Most AI crawlers do not run JavaScript and then see an almost empty page.
- The answers vary: for the same question, about half of the names came back in the second round. A single question is therefore not a measurement.
One assistant, two rounds, 20 businesses: this is a pointer, not proof. ChatGPT and Gemini use other sources; those tests are still to come.
Check your restaurantRestaurants in your city
How guests in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn and Essen search, and what our test showed there in detail.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need my own website if I have a Google profile?
For many guests the Google profile is the first contact, and it has to be right. Your own website is the place where menu, opening hours and booking or ordering appear the way you want, independent of platforms. In our own test, the website made no visible difference to whether an AI assistant recommends a place. It still helps with the details the assistant passes on about you.
Is it enough to upload the menu as a PDF?
It is better than nothing. On a phone, though, a PDF has to load and be zoomed first, and search engines make less of it than of normal text. A menu as a web page is easier to read and quicker to update when a price changes.
How do I get more Google reviews without breaking the rules?
Ask happy guests directly, for example with a QR code on the table or the bill that opens the review window right away. Do not offer anything in return, such as discounts for reviews: Google’s policies forbid it. With our Google review QR card you create the link and the card for free.
Can I do without Lieferando?
Dropping it completely does not make sense for many restaurants, because the platform brings new guests. What does make sense is sending regulars to your own ordering or pickup page, with no platform commission. Whether that pays off for you depends on your orders; we work it out with you in the first call.
Why does an AI assistant not recommend my restaurant?
Assistants with web search rely heavily on lists and articles that rank high when someone searches for the best place in your city. In our own test in October 2026, the businesses named were mostly those on such lists. Our full check shows which lists you are missing from.
What does a website for a restaurant cost?
It depends on the scope: menu, languages, booking or ordering. Our website cost calculator shows the starting price straight away. You get an exact proposal with a fixed price in writing after the first call.
Let us look at your restaurant.
In a free first call we look at your Google profile, menu and website with you and tell you what comes first.
Rather look for yourself first? Run the free full check