Restaurant Schema Markup Guide (2025): Boost Your Visibility on Google, Maps & AI Search

Why Schema Markup Matters More Than Ever for Restaurants

Search engines (Google, Bing) and AI platforms (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot) depend on structured data to understand a restaurant’s:

• Name
• Location
• Cuisine
• Menu
• Hours
• Reviews
• Photos
• Reservations
• Offers
• Dietary options

Without schema markup, your restaurant becomes a “black box” to AI search systems — meaning you’re less likely to be recommended when diners search:

• “Best Italian restaurant near me”
• “Restaurants open late tonight”
• “Gluten-free pizza near me”
• “Family-friendly restaurants in Dallas”

Schema markup is the single most important technical SEO upgrade a restaurant can implement for:

✔ Local SEO
✔ Organic SEO
✔ AI Search SEO
✔ Voice search
✔ SGE (Search Generative Experience)
✔ Maps visibility
✔ Rich results & answer boxes

This guide gives you everything you need.

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What Is Schema Markup? (Plain English Explanation)

Schema markup (structured data) is code added to your website that tells search engines:

“Here is exactly what this restaurant is, what it offers, when it’s open, and why it matters.”

It is written in a format called JSON-LD (JavaScript Object Notation for Linked Data), which is Google’s preferred format.

Think of schema as:

A digital menu of structured facts about your restaurant — designed for search engines and AI models.

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Benefits of Schema Markup for Restaurants

✔ Rank higher on local searches

Google Maps relies heavily on structured data for rankings.

✔ Appear in rich results

Menus, reviews, pricing, FAQs, hours, and reservations can appear directly in search.

✔ Boost visibility on AI platforms

Gemini, ChatGPT, and Perplexity pull facts from well-structured schema.

✔ Improve restaurant keyword matching

Cuisine type, category, dietary offerings, and attributes become machine-readable.

✔ Better click-through rates (CTR)

Enhanced search appearance = more diners clicking into your website.

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The Essential Schema Types Every Restaurant Must Implement

Restaurants shouldn’t rely on just one schema.
You need a cluster of schemas tied together with a single @id.

Here are the must-haves:

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1. Restaurant Schema (Core Schema)

This is the “master record” for your restaurant.

Include:

• Name
• Address
• Phone
• Cuisine type
• Price range
• Hours
• Menu URL
• Images
• Accepts reservations
• Delivery/takeout options
• Social profiles
• ServesCuisine
• Payment methods

Tip:
Use a single @id URL such as:
https://yourdomain.com/#restaurant

This connects ALL other schema types.

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2. Menu Schema (Menu & MenuItem)

This allows search engines to read your menu like structured data, not as text or PDF.

Use for:

• Menu sections
• Appetizers
• Entrees
• Desserts
• Drinks
• Dietary labels
  • vegan
  • gluten-free
  • keto
  • halal

Never rely only on PDF menus.

AI search tools cannot parse them.

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3. Review & Rating Schema

Boosts trust, AI visibility, and rich result eligibility.

Include:

• Aggregate ratings
• Review snippets
• Review count
• Author
• Review body

AI systems weight review sentiment heavily in recommendations.

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4. LocalBusiness Schema / Geo Schema

Supports Maps, “near me” searches, and local relevance.

Include:

• Geo coordinates
• Service area
• City
• Neighborhood
• Map embed URL
• SameAs links to GBP/Yelp/TripAdvisor

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5. FAQ Schema

AI LOVES FAQs.

This is essential for:

• Gemini answers
• ChatGPT recommendations
• Perplexity citations
• Voice search

Use questions like:

• “Does [Restaurant] have vegan options?”
• “Do you take reservations?”
• “Is parking available?”
• “Do you offer gluten-free items?”
• “Do you offer catering?”

These directly power AI search answers.

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6. OpeningHours Spec Schema

Controls how Google displays open/closed times.

Make sure:

• Holiday hours are included
• Brunch/dinner hours are split
• Seasonal variations are accurate

Incorrect hours can tank both AI and Maps visibility.

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7. Offer Schema (Optional but powerful)

Use for:

• Specials
• Discounts
• Limited-time offers
• Prix-fixe menus
• Happy hour

This helps Google surface promo snippets.

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How to Tie All Schema Together (SUPER IMPORTANT)

Every schema block must reference the same @id, for example:

"@id": "https://yourrestaurant.com/#restaurant"

This tells AI and Google:

“These schemas all describe the SAME restaurant.”

Without this, your schemas become fragmented and lose power.

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🎯 AI Search SEO Tips for Restaurant Schema

To strengthen AI visibility:

✔ Add dietary labels

AI models prefer restaurants with structured dietary data.

✔ Use descriptive menu items

AI extracts menu descriptions and uses them in recommendations.

✔ Add “ServesCuisine” accurately

Example:
“Mexican”
“Japanese”
“Mediterranean”
“Thai”
“BBQ”

✔ Use high-quality images (image schema fields)

AI systems use them in visual recomposition.

✔ Add Q&A through FAQ schema

Voice search and AI assistants heavily rely on FAQ content.

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How to Test Your Schema Markup

Use:

• Google Rich Results Test
• Schema.org Validator
• Search Console Enhancements report
• ChatGPT prompt:
  “Scan this URL and extract structured data. What’s missing for restaurant SEO?”

(Yes — ChatGPT is a schema testing tool now.)

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⚠️ Common Schema Mistakes Restaurants Make

🚫 Using PDFs instead of structured menus
🚫 Missing the @id that ties all schemas together
🚫 Incomplete menu schema
🚫 No FAQ schema
🚫 Outdated hours
🚫 Using Home page URL as @id (incorrect)
🚫 Missing review schema
🚫 Wrong cuisine type
🚫 Using generic “LocalBusiness” instead of “Restaurant”

Fix these and your visibility skyrockets.

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Schema and AI Search: How They Work Together

AI search engines evaluate:

• Menu structure
• Reviews + sentiment
• Hours + open status
• Cuisine type
• Location + proximity
• Photos + attributes
• Dietary options
• Consistency across the web

Schema markup is the data backbone that powers this evaluation.

The cleaner your schema → the more AI recommends your restaurant.

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Want Us to Implement Schema for Your Restaurant?

If you’re ready to take your restaurant’s SEO to the next level, partner with The Digital Restaurant as your specialized restaurant SEO agency. You’ll gain access to our powerful NGAZE.AI marketing platform — and our expert restaurant SEO team can manage everything for you, from local optimization to full-scale SEO execution.

Feeling overwhelmed by SEO? Let our restaurant SEO specialists handle it for you!
With NGAZE AI marketing tools and our comprehensive restaurant SEO services, we’ll help your restaurant rank higher, attract more local customers, and grow revenue — all while you focus on running your business.

👉 Ready to grow? Get in touch today.