When hungry consumers are searching for restaurants or quick-service meals nearby, your locations have just seconds to make an impression. Google My Business Attributes give restaurant brands additional tools to help their listings stand out and proactively answer diners’ questions at the very moment they are deciding where to pick up dinner tonight or book a reservation for lunch tomorrow.

Most restaurant queries are happening as consumers are on-the-go; in fact, 89% of dining research prior to visiting a restaurant is done via smartphone. Your restaurant or quick-service locations’ presence in organic and local search (Map Pack) listings is key in converting that searcher to a dine-in, takeout, or delivery customer.

What do GMB Attributes do for our restaurant listings?

Attributes enable you to call out and highlight important information in your GMB listings. Some attributes are so important that Google features them on each location’s listing alongside an “x” or checkmark indicating whether or not that feature applies. 

Restaurants, for example, have some of these options prominently displayed on every listing to instantly answer diners’ most pressing questions during this pandemic. Those attributes might include:

• Dine-in
• Takeout
• Delivery
• Curbside pickup
• No-contact delivery

These Attributes appear on listings in organic search and Maps as well as in local search results on mobile.

Many more appear on the location’s Place Page enabling customers to order ahead, view the location’s menu, make a reservation, and more. Attributes can answer logistical questions: 

• Is this dining room accessible? 
• Is there parking?
• Is there a patio area?
• Can we sit on the rooftop?
• Can we dine indoors?

They can answer experiential questions, as well, such as: 

• Is this restaurant good for watching sports? 
• Does it have live music? Can we dine near a fireplace? 
• Do they offer a happy hour?

GMB Attributes can even assist diners in making decisions based on values important to them. 

• Is this restaurant a veteran or black-owned business? 
• Is it run by a family?
• Does it offer organic dishes?

What GMB Attributes are available to restaurants?

Google assigns specific attributes to each of its over 3,000 business categories. It’s important to make sure your primary category is the best fit for your brand and gives your locations access to the right features.

Krystal Taing recently published her analysis of the GMB attributes available to 30 categories at Local U and from that, we’ve put together this summary of those available to restaurant brands:

If you’d like to see her breakdown of features for coffee shops, bars, or breweries, you’ll find her full analysis here.

Want to learn more about improving your restaurant brand’s local performance?

• Read Local SEO Tips for Restaurant & Grocery Brands During COVID-19
• Check out How to Ace Your Restaurant’s Local Marketing Strategy [Guest Post]
• See 3 Important Local Marketing Tips for Restaurant Brands Reopening Locations

Explore enterprise local marketing solutions for multi-location restaurant brands.