"Where should we eat tonight?" used to be a Google question. Now it's increasingly a ChatGPT question — and the answer doesn't show ten restaurants. It shows one or two. It's directly responsible for who gets the reservation.
That means your restaurant now competes for a name in an AI answer, not just a pin on a map. Here's what matters.
1. Your details must be bulletproof
AI checks your address, hours, cuisines, and specialties against what it knows. One closed-on-Mondays conflict or an old address can cost you a recommendation. Keep every source — your site, Google Business Profile, delivery apps, directories — perfectly consistent.
2. Reviews are your receipts
AI weighs third-party proof heavily. Strong, recent, verifiable reviews tell the AI you're a safe recommendation. A restaurant with two overlapping mentions of a bad experience is a restaurant the AI will quietly skip.
3. Say clearly what you are
Vegetarian? Flamenco nights? Great espresso bar? If your site doesn't say it in plain, quotable words, the AI can't confidently describe you — so it describes a restaurant that did make it clear.
4. Get cited by sources the AI trusts
Food blogs, local press, curated roundups, respected directories. Every credible third-party mention of your restaurant is a citation the AI can lean on when answering "best pizza in Laval."
5. Watch the answers, don't guess
AI answers change with every model update and citation. The only way to know what diners are being told about you is to actually watch the answers — on a schedule, alongside your nearest competitors.
See what AI tells diners about you
Your free AI scan answers it directly: enter your email, click the magic link that arrives, and your report in the dashboard shows you exactly what ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity currently say about your restaurant — and which neighboring spot is getting the recommendation that should be yours. Run it daily on a free 7-day trial.