Restaurants: the decision happens in eleven minutes
The choice is fast, the checking is not. Consumers consult an average of six review sites and 74 percent look for reviews from the last three months, while the decision itself is often made within minutes of being hungry. A restaurant profile has to answer both speeds at once.
Two speeds in one decision
Somebody deciding where to eat tonight moves fast. They look at a map, see three options, and open the one that answers the question first: is it open, does it look right, can I get a table.
Then the checking slows down. Consumers consult an average of six review sites, and for a meal with other people the checking is done by more than one of them. 74 percent look for reviews from the last three months, which in a trade with weekly turnover is a stricter test than it sounds.
The two speeds want different things from the profile. The fast one wants hours, a photograph of the room and a way to reserve. The slow one wants recent reviews and a menu that can be read before arriving.
A profile that serves only the fast reader loses the group booking, and one that serves only the slow reader loses the person deciding at seven in the evening.
The numbers that decide the evening
Hours first. 7 days with two times each is 14 values, and in a restaurant those change with the season, with holidays and with staffing. Across six sources that is 84 values that have to agree, and the cost of one wrong value is a customer standing outside a closed door writing a review about it.
Then reservations. 19 percent of consumers expect a response the same day in general, and a reservation request for tonight is stricter than that by hours. An unanswered request is not a delayed booking, it is a booking somewhere else.
Then photographs. Google asks for pictures that are in focus, well lit and without significant alteration, at least 250 by 250 pixels and preferably 720 by 720. A room that looks nothing like the picture produces the one review category a restaurant cannot argue with.
| Reader | Question | What answers it |
|---|---|---|
| Deciding tonight | Open, right, table free | Hours, photograph, reservation |
| Planning a group | Is it still good | Recent reviews, menu |
| Both | Is this the same place I saw elsewhere | Consistent identity data |
What to fix in what order
Hours across all sources, then the reservation path, then the review rate. That order matches how the loss happens: closed door, unanswered request, empty three month window.
Then check the map profile the week before every holiday period. It is the one field guaranteed to be wrong at exactly the moment it costs the most.
Questions and answers
How quickly must I answer a reservation request?
How often do restaurant hours go wrong?
Do photographs matter more here?
What review rate is enough?
Sources
- BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 Sources consulted, recency and response expectations
- Google Business Profile Help, Add photos The photo specification that sets expectations of the room
