SEO for restaurants and hotels: what puts your business at the top of Google?

Quick summary

SEO for restaurants and hotels requires a different approach from SEO for an ecommerce store or a business service. Restaurants and hotels are primarily discovered through local search, and Google decides which venue to show based on relevance, distance and prominence. According to Owner.com, the Google Business Profile is its most important source of information. Reviews matter just as much: guests only seriously consider a restaurant once it has a score of 7,5 or higher, and for more than half of diners, the review score is the deciding factor, according to De RestaurantKrant. With the hospitality sector growing strongly in 2025, visibility in Google and AI search engines is becoming a competitive advantage rather than a nice extra.

Key takeaways

• Hospitality revenue in the Netherlands rose by 3,9% in 2025 compared with 2024. Restaurants (+4,8%) grew faster than hotels (+1,7%), according to CBS.
• Google ranks local search results based on relevance, distance and prominence, with the Google Business Profile as the most important information source (Owner.com).
• A restaurant needs at least a 7,5 score (or 3,5 stars) to be considered by guests. For 54% of diners, the review score is decisive (De RestaurantKrant).
• Google recommends using the most specific LocalBusiness subtype, such as 'Restaurant', in structured data for hospitality businesses (Google Search Central).
• In 2025, 52,2 million guests stayed in Dutch accommodation, with all growth coming from international visitors (CBS).

Why does the restaurant down the street rank above you on Google?

Many restaurant and hotel owners assume that a great looking website and a few strong photos are enough. In reality, local searches such as "restaurants in central Amsterdam" work differently. Google does not primarily assess your website. It looks at three factors: relevance, distance and prominence. Your Google Business Profile provides many of the key signals, from opening hours and categories to photos, as Owner.com explains.

That means a venue with a complete, actively managed business profile and recent positive reviews can often outrank a competitor with a more expensive website but a neglected profile. SEO for restaurants and hotels therefore starts not with the website, but with the combination of your business profile, reviews and structured data on your website.

The sector also has momentum. According to CBS, hospitality revenue increased by 3,9% in 2025, with restaurants growing faster (4,8%) than accommodation providers (1,7%). Growing demand also means more competition for the same search results, making online visibility more important than ever.

How can you get Google and ChatGPT to recommend your restaurant or hotel?

SEO for restaurants and hotels now has two sides. Guests still search through Google Maps and traditional search results, but a growing number ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AI Overviews for recommendations, such as "which restaurant with outdoor seating is open on Monday in Utrecht?" These AI systems draw on many of the same underlying signals as Google: structured data, consistent business listings and, above all, current, credible reviews.

Structured data is the foundation

Official Google Search Central documentation recommends using the most specific LocalBusiness subtype for hospitality businesses. For example, use 'Restaurant' instead of the broader 'LocalBusiness'. It may sound technical, but the benefit is practical: search engines and AI models can identify exactly what kind of venue you run, the cuisine you offer and your opening hours, without having to infer it from page copy.

Make review management an ongoing process

Research from the Autoriteit Consument & Markt shows that online reviews play an increasingly important role in consumer decisions, especially for hotels and restaurants. This prompted the industry association KHN to call for greater transparency from review platforms. For individual venues, the takeaway is simple: respond to reviews, proactively invite happy guests to leave feedback, and do not leave negative experiences unanswered.

Create content that matches search intent

Technical and reputation signals are not enough on their own. You also need useful content, including pages about your menu, location, allergen information and local events you are involved in. This reflects how industry specific SEO works more broadly. This guide to industry specific SEO explains why a generic SEO strategy rarely works, and why sector specific signals, such as reviews and structured data for hospitality businesses, make such a difference.

How to put this into practice:

• Add the most specific schema.org type, such as Restaurant, Hotel or CafeOrCoffeeShop, instead of the generic LocalBusiness type
• Complete every part of your Google Business Profile: categories, menu, photos, opening hours and attributes
• Reply to every new review, positive or negative, within 48 hours
• Publish at least one locally focused content page each quarter, covering an event, seasonal menu or neighbourhood information
• Check every quarter that your business name, address and phone number are consistent everywhere

What does a review score of 7,5 or higher actually deliver?

The data is clear. The annual Restaurant Monitor by BookDinners, which surveyed more than 1.200 restaurant guests, found that a restaurant needs a minimum score of 7,5 (or 3,5 stars) to be seriously considered. For 54% of guests, the review score is even the deciding factor in their final choice, reports De RestaurantKrant.

That has immediate implications for your restaurant or hotel SEO strategy. A venue scoring below 7,5 may lose more than half of potential guests who are searching, no matter how strong the rest of its SEO may be. On the other hand, many guests see a score above 8,5 as a powerful trust signal that makes the decision almost automatic.

The same principle applies to hoteliers, although the picture is slightly more complex because international guests often use different platforms from Dutch guests. In 2025, 52,2 million guests stayed in Dutch accommodation. According to CBS, all growth came from international visitors (22,3 million, 5% more than in 2024). That makes international review visibility at least as important as local reviews. Read more about this part of the sector in SEO for hotels, which looks specifically at strategies for accommodation providers.

What does this look like in practice for a hospitality business?

Example: a fictional hospitality business owner

Imagine a restaurant owner with two locations notices that one venue consistently performs better in Google than the other, despite offering a similar standard of food and service. A closer look reveals that the higher ranking location has a more complete Google Business Profile, responds to reviews consistently and uses structured data with the specific 'Restaurant' type on its website. The other location has none of these basics in place.

After updating the business profile, adding structured data and establishing a regular process for responding to reviews, a business in this position could see a noticeable improvement in local visibility and click behaviour. The exact outcome will vary by market and level of competition, but the direction of improvement is well supported by the research cited above.

This scenario highlights a common pattern in hospitality: the difference rarely comes down to food quality or service alone. It is usually about how consistently the digital basics are managed.

Which SEO tool is right for a hospitality business?

There is no universal answer to the question, "what is the best SEO tool?" for hospitality businesses, because the right choice depends on your scale. An independent restaurant may only need a well maintained Google Business Profile, a consistent review monitoring routine and a simple website with accurate schema.org markup. A hotel group with multiple properties in different countries has very different needs: consistent multilingual content, scalable structured data and visibility into how each location performs in Google Search Console.

For businesses that do not have the time to maintain content consistently, an approach that combines publishing, review data and Search Console signals offers more value than a collection of separate tools for separate tasks. Launchmind for Hospitality is built for this. It continuously writes and publishes content based on what guests are actually searching for, then adjusts its approach using real Search Console data rather than guesswork. For hotel groups operating across multiple countries, it can also publish content in multiple languages from one setup, without requiring every property to hire its own translator or copywriter.

More important than choosing one specific tool is whether your process is repeatable. Is your business profile checked monthly? Are reviews answered within a defined timeframe? Is your content refreshed regularly, rather than written once and forgotten?

Can you handle SEO for your restaurant or hotel yourself?

Yes, up to a point. Any owner can take care of the basics, including a complete Google Business Profile, consistent business name, address and phone details, and active review management, without technical knowledge. Expect to spend a few hours each month, especially during the initial setup.

The challenge comes with structured data, technical website optimisation and continuously producing relevant content that appeals to both Google and AI search engines. This requires a combination of technical expertise and writing skills that most hospitality businesses do not have in house on an ongoing basis. Hiring a freelancer can also be slow and expensive. The choice is then to learn it yourself, hire an agency or use an automated process that publishes continuously and adapts based on results.

How to put this into practice:

• Set aside 30 minutes each week for review management and Google Business Profile updates
• Ask a specialist or use a tool for structured data and technical site checks if these are outside your expertise
• Review your rankings for local search terms in Google Search Console at least once a month
• Establish a quarterly schedule for new content pages, such as seasonal menus, events and local partnerships

What hospitality search visibility trends should you watch?

Three developments are shaping the market right now. First, the international guest segment is growing faster than the domestic market. There were 22,3 million international guests in 2025, 5% more than the year before, while total growth in accommodation was nearly 2%, according to CBS. This means international visibility, including English language content and reviews, is becoming increasingly important.

Second, some search behaviour is shifting towards AI assistants that provide a direct recommendation rather than a list of links. A guest who asks ChatGPT for a restaurant with a quiet atmosphere for a business dinner receives a direct answer based on available data, not a page of results to scroll through. Venues with strong structured data and review profiles have an advantage in these responses.

Third, the restaurant sector continues to grow faster than the accommodation sector: 4,8% revenue growth compared with 1,7% in 2025 (CBS). Growth also brings more new restaurants competing for the same search positions. Businesses that invest in a strong digital foundation now will build an advantage that becomes harder to catch as the market gets more crowded.

Frequently asked questions

What are the three pillars of SEO for a restaurant or hotel?

The three pillars are technical visibility, including structured data, a working website and accurate business name, address and phone details; authority and trust, including reviews, business listings and a complete Google Business Profile; and relevant content, including menus, location pages and local information that matches what guests are searching for. Reviews and the business profile carry more weight in hospitality than they do in many other sectors.

Which hospitality trends have the biggest impact on search visibility?

The key trends are the growth in international visitors (22,3 million in 2025, 5% more than in 2024), the shift towards AI assistants that provide direct recommendations, and faster revenue growth for restaurants (4,8%) than hotels (1,7%), according to CBS figures for 2025.

What is the best SEO tool for a hospitality business?

There is no single best tool for every hospitality business. The right choice depends on your scale and needs. An independent venue benefits most from a well managed Google Business Profile and review monitoring, while a hotel group with multiple locations needs a scalable solution for content production, multilingual publishing and location by location Search Console monitoring.

Can you do SEO for your restaurant or hotel yourself?

You can easily manage the basics yourself, such as your business profile and review management, with a few hours each month. Technical work, including structured data and continuously creating relevant content, requires more specialist knowledge and time, which is why many business owners choose to work with a tool or specialist.

How does Launchmind help hospitality businesses with SEO?

Launchmind continuously writes, checks and publishes SEO content on a hospitality business's own platform, using connectors for platforms including WordPress and Shopify. It optimises content for both Google and AI search engines such as ChatGPT and Perplexity. The system adjusts itself using real Google Search Console data, builds connected content clusters around topics such as menus, locations and local events, and can do this in multiple languages, which is particularly relevant for hotels with a high number of international guests.

Conclusion

SEO for restaurants and hotels is not about building an attractive website and waiting for results. It is an ongoing process involving a complete business profile, active review management, accurate structured data and content that matches what guests and AI search engines are genuinely looking for. The numbers are clear: a review score below 7,5 could cost you more than half of your potential guests, and the sector is growing quickly enough that standing still means competitors will move ahead.

If you cannot maintain this process consistently alongside daily operations, you do not need to learn every part of it yourself or hire a slow moving agency. Want to find out what a continuous, self managed approach could mean for your restaurant or hotel? Book a free consultation to discuss your specific situation.

About the company

Launchmind is the AI colleague that writes, checks and publishes SEO content on your own blog every day, in 8 languages, and adapts itself using real Search Console data. The company supports marketing managers, business owners and CMOs at small and medium sized businesses and scaleups, including restaurants, hotels and other hospitality businesses, who know content works but never have enough time to manage it consistently.