Hellooo restaurateur!!
Disclaimer: I swear I am not a sadist talking about coffins in this festive season. Just scroll a bit, and the subject line will make sense.
I was scrolling Instagram on a lazy afternoon when this meme popped up, and I laughed out loud 👇
But after a hearty laugh, my brain chimed in with “zyada hi exaggerate ho gaya.” Surely nobody treats a restaurant menu photo on Google like Tutankhamun’s treasure.
That was until the universe decided to give me a reality check.
What Does Gemini Tell Your Guests?
I was writing the Reelo and Desi Lane case study, so I did what any researcher would do and searched for them on Google the way a hungry customer would.
Google showed me Desi Lane Esplanade, Topsia and BT College with ratings, price range and photos.
The AI Overview then crowned Esplanade the highest-rated of the lot, with 4.8 stars from 6,311 reviews, and casually mentioned that it stays open until 1 AM. It ended by asking whether I would like directions or the menu.
I said, “Yes, please help me with the menu.”
Anddd Gemini turned into a server 👇
It split the menu by outlet and walked me through starters, mains, desi classics, signature drinks like the Jager Train and Chatka Merry, and desserts.
For Topsia, it even told me about the unlimited buffet and its price 👇
I never opened a single website. The restaurant could have been fast asleep and the AI would still have been doing the menu talk on its behalf.
How Does Google Know Your Menu?
Look at the tiny link icons sitting next to each line in the screenshots. Those are the AI showing its receipts, because a Google AI Overview menu answer is built by combining reviews, menus, images and website content from multiple sources.
Your menu has also become something Google can read like data. Google can turn a menu photo or PDF into a structured menu with sections, dish names, descriptions and prices, and it can also transcribe the menu from a restaurant website.
This is why a sharp, readable upload deserves the golden sarcophagus, while a blurry photo can turn into a blurry digital menu.
Your guests write part of your menu too, without being asked. Google’s AI reads reviews to understand what each restaurant is known for, so a guest who writes about a specific dish gives it far more to work with than a plain “food was good.”
Also, let’s talk about your delivery apps, because this is where things get messy. The menu on Zomato or Swiggy usually gets edited first, since that is where the orders come from.
A new dish goes in, a price changes, an item goes out of stock. Meanwhile, the menu on Google sits frozen from the day somebody uploaded it.
Industry analysts describe this as several competing versions of the truth across the website, the ordering platform, third-party providers and customer-uploaded photos.
When the versions disagree, the AI has less confidence in recommending you. Picture your biryani costing one price on Google and another on a delivery app. The AI has to pick a side, and it might not pick yours.
What happens when the AI gets it wrong?
Gemini quoted the buffet price with full confidence, and whether that number is right today depends on whether every source it read is up to date. Even Google’s own menu tool has been seen adding prices to dishes when the original image had none.
You cannot fully control what an AI says, but you can control what it has to work with. Outdated sources lead to confident wrong answers, and guests tend to believe confident answers.
Here is the good news, though:
A clear, consistent menu gives a small restaurant a real shot against a bigger name with a messy profile. The AI does not care who has the fancier signboard.
Ready To Earn The Golden Sarcophagus?
Upload a menu people and AI can read
Click straight, well-lit photos of every page, or upload a clean PDF to your Google Business Profile. Google’s tool lets you upload an image of your menu and converts it into a digital one. The cleaner the upload, the cleaner the result.
Add dish names, descriptions, prices and photos
Google’s own team says item names, detailed descriptions, pricing and menu item photos increase engagement with your profile. Treat every dish as a mini ad that an AI may read out loud to your next guest.
Label veg, non-veg, Jain and vrat-friendly dishes
It is Navratri week, so plenty of your guests are typing “vrat menu near me” into Google right now. Google’s menu format has room for dietary restrictions and allergen information, so use it. A clear label means the AI can answer that guest correctly, and you will not need to explain it twice at the table.
Make every platform say the same thing
Open your website, delivery apps and listing sites side by side with your Google menu. Any time a dish, price or timing changes, update all of them in the same week, with Google first on the list. If you run multiple outlets, check each one separately.
Nudge your guests to mention dishes in reviews
A line like “tell us your favourite dish” on the bill or your WhatsApp thank you message works wonders. Reply to reviews as well, since it shows your profile is alive and reinforces what you are known for.
Run the Ask Google test every month
Search for your restaurant, say yes when the AI offers the menu, and read what it says. If anything surprises you, you have just found your next fix.
Golden Or Wooden?
Remember those two plain wooden coffins in the meme? That is what a restaurant looks like when nobody has uploaded anything. The golden one belongs to the person who did.
So this week, go and ask Google first, and pick your coffin.
And if yours turns out to be a plain wooden box, relax. It is Monday, and you have a whole week to bling it up.
Until next week!