How to get your restaurant recommended by ChatGPT and other AI assistants

People ask assistants things like “a quiet Italian place for a birthday dinner in Denver” or “where can I get good vegan ramen near Shibuya”. Those questions are specific, and the answers favour restaurants whose details are written down clearly in public.

Updated October 30, 2026 · General information, not a guarantee of any result.

The questions diners ask

If your public information does not say you have a private room or a gluten-free menu, an assistant has nothing to cite when someone asks.

  • Cuisine plus neighbourhood: “best Thai food in the Mission”.
  • Occasion: “romantic dinner”, “big group”, “kid-friendly brunch”.
  • Diet: “gluten-free”, “halal”, “vegan options”.
  • Practical: “open late”, “takes reservations”, “outdoor seating”, “cheap eats”.

What to fix first

  1. 01Put your current menu on your website as text, not only as a PDF or photo. Mark dietary options plainly.
  2. 02Write a short description of the experience: cuisine, price range, who it suits, and what you are known for, in plain words.
  3. 03Keep hours, holiday closures and reservation links identical on your site, Google Business Profile, Apple Maps and the booking platforms you use.
  4. 04Add Restaurant structured data with address, hours, cuisine, price range and menu URL.
  5. 05Make it easy for local food writers and neighbourhood guides to get facts and photos. Those articles are frequently cited.
  6. 06Reply to reviews in a way that mentions specific dishes or occasions, without arguing.

What not to do

  • Do not buy reviews or offer discounts in exchange for positive ones. Most platforms ban it and some regulators treat it as deceptive.
  • Do not claim awards or press you did not receive. Assistants repeat what they find, including false claims, and that backfires when a customer checks.

Check where you stand

Run a free scan with your restaurant’s name, website, “restaurant” or your cuisine as the category, and your city. You will see five replies, who was named instead of you, and which pages those answers cited.

Questions

Should my category be “restaurant” or my cuisine?

Try both. “Italian restaurant” and “restaurant” produce different shortlists. Use the one your customers would actually type.

Do delivery app listings matter?

They are another public source with your name, menu and hours, so keep them accurate. Whether a given assistant uses them varies.

Check what AI says about your business

The free scan asks five customer-style questions with live web search and shows every reply word for word, who was named, and which pages were cited. About a minute, no card.

Run my free scan

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