When someone in your neighbourhood searches “pho near me” or “patio open now,” Google picks the results using three things: relevance, distance, and prominence. That is Google’s own explanation, and it comes with a useful footnote — there is no way to pay for a better local ranking. So when a cold-caller promises to “buy” you the top Maps spot, that is your cue to hang up. You cannot move the restaurant closer to the searcher either. Everything else is in your hands, and most of it lives in one place: your Google Business Profile.
Here are the moves that matter, in order of impact.
1. Claim the profile that already exists
Most established GTA restaurants already have a listing — Google builds them automatically from web data, reviews pile up whether you are watching or not, and on an unclaimed profile anyone can suggest an edit to your hours or address. So search your restaurant on Google Maps first. If a listing is there, claim it through “Own this business?” — the reviews carry over. Do not create a second profile; duplicates get suppressed, and merging them is a support ticket you do not want. If a previous owner or an old agency controls the verified listing, use the “Request access” form at business.google.com/add. They get 3 days to respond; if they do not, you can usually claim it yourself.
2. Expect to verify by video
You cannot pick the verification method — Google assigns it, and for most new restaurant profiles in Canada that now means video. One continuous, unedited take on your phone, filmed on site: the street and neighbouring storefronts, your permanent signage, then proof you run the place — unlocking the front door, walking into the kitchen, opening the POS. Keep it under three minutes; audio is not reviewed, and you do not need anyone’s face in the shot. Before filming, make the profile’s name, address and hours match the signage and your website exactly — mismatches are the top reason verifications fail. Review takes up to 5 business days; if Google offers a postcard code instead, budget up to 14 days for it to arrive. Do it early: photos do not display and you cannot reply to reviews until the profile is verified. One note for established places — Google occasionally asks an already-verified profile to re-verify after an address change or a trust flag. It is annoying, not a problem; just do it.
3. Own the account; get the name and category right
The restaurant’s own Google account should be Primary owner. Add staff or an agency as Managers — they can do nearly everything except manage users or delete the profile. A profile verified under someone else’s account is a listing you do not control, so never let an agency verify it under theirs. Use your exact real-world name from the signage — “Borscht Kitchen,” never “Borscht Kitchen | Best Ukrainian Food Toronto.” Appended keywords are one of the most common suspension triggers, and an appeal is denied until you put the clean name back. Then pick the most specific primary category you can (“Ukrainian restaurant,” not “Restaurant”). It is the strongest ranking lever you control, and it unlocks the restaurant features: menu editor, reservation links, popular dishes. Add 2–4 honest secondary categories and stop.
4. Hours that are never wrong
Wrong hours quietly kill you on “open now” searches and generate the angriest reviews you will ever get. Keep regular hours current, and set special hours before every holiday — Family Day, Victoria Day, Canada Day — even when nothing changes, because Google then shows “hours confirmed” instead of “hours may differ.” Closing longer than six days for a renovation or a vacation? Use “temporarily closed,” not fake hours.
5. Reviews: steady, answered, never bought
Recency now beats raw count. In BrightLocal’s 2026 consumer survey, 74% of people want reviews from the last three months, so a steady trickle beats a big stale total. Ask every guest — a QR code on the receipt or a table tent is enough — and never filter for happy customers or offer anything in return; both violate Google’s policy and can get reviews bulk-removed. Then reply to essentially all of them: 89% of readers look at owner responses, roughly half dismiss copy-paste replies, and 56% say a thoughtful reply to a negative review improved their impression. Write those replies for the next reader, not the upset one — the audience is the hundred people deciding whether to trust you, not the single reviewer.
6. Keep it fed: fresh photos and a weekly pulse
Google’s own guidance asks for at least 3 photos each of food, interior, exterior and team — well lit, in focus, no heavy filters. Its policy requires images to represent reality, so no stock and no AI shots. But a profile is not set-and-forget: the ones that fade are the ones that go quiet. Add fresh photos every month, and post an update most weeks — a special, an event, a new dish. For a restaurant or bar, those posts also feed What’s Happening, the panel Google now pins to the top of restaurant profiles (live in Canada since late 2025) that surfaces your events and deals before anyone scrolls. While you are in there, curate the auto-generated “Popular dishes” section — fix the names, attach appetizing photos.
7. A menu Google can read
Use the structured menu editor — sections, items, descriptions, prices — not just a photo of the menu. Google’s AI can now extract items and prices from a menu photo, which is a fine way to bootstrap; just correct the prices afterward, because outdated prices are a reliable negative-review trigger. Changes take 24–48 hours to appear. And publish the menu as real HTML text on your own site, not a PDF — Google matches “khao soi near me” against readable menu text. (The website checklist covers this side.)
8. Point the buttons at ordering you own
Google no longer processes food orders itself; the “Order online” button redirects, and delivery apps attach their own links to your profile automatically. Add your direct ordering URL in the Food ordering section and mark it “Preferred by business” — Google highlights it above the marketplaces, and diners pick the highlighted option far more often. Every direct order skips the commission (the delivery-apps guide runs that math; direct ordering is what we built PlatesReady for). Add a reservation link under Bookings, and fill every attribute — patio, delivery, vegetarian options, accessibility. Attributes power filtered “near me” searches, and with the old Q&A section retired, Google’s AI now answers diners’ questions straight from your profile, menu and reviews. Complete data is how you shape the answer.
Old advice you can safely skip
- The Google My Business app. Gone since 2022 — manage the profile right in Google Search or the Maps app.
- Profile chat and call history. Removed in 2024.
- The free Google website. Shut down in 2024; you need a real site.
- Seeding Q&A. The public Q&A section is retired in favour of AI answers.
- Order with Google checkout. Ended in 2024 — only redirect links remain.
If a guide still recommends any of these, it was written for an older Google, and the rest of it probably was too.
The short version
Claim it, verify it, own it. Keep the hours honest, earn steady reviews and answer them, feed the profile real photos and a readable menu, and point every button at ordering you control. No tricks — just a profile more complete and more current than the one down the street.
This work pays best when the profile, the website and the ordering pull together, which is exactly how our restaurant practice builds it. If you want a hand — or just a second pair of eyes on your profile — the first call is free.