By the Third Eye Marketing team · Updated 14 October 2026 · 7 min read
The short answerStart your Google Business Profile verification first because it can take days, then build a fast website with the menu as text, claim every listing with identical details, shoot real photos and video, plan a countdown of content, and prepare a simple way to collect your first reviews on opening night.
Four weeks out
- Confirm the legal name, address, phone number, hours and cuisine, and use them identically everywhere.
- Create your Google Business Profile and start verification (it can take days).
- Secure your social handles: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube.
- Choose your reservation method and connect it to your Google profile if possible.
- Write your menu copy, with allergens and dietary tags.
Three weeks out
- Shoot photos and video: food, drinks, interior, team, exterior. Real, current images beat stock.
- Build the website: home, menu as readable text (not only a PDF), reservations, contact and directions, events or private dining.
- Add structured data for the restaurant, opening hours and FAQs.
- Set up analytics and conversion tracking for reservations, calls and directions.
Two weeks out
- Claim Apple Business Connect, Bing Places, Yelp, TripAdvisor and the reservation platform.
- Post a “coming soon” update on your Google profile with the opening date.
- Publish the countdown: teasers, meet the team, first look at the menu.
- Plan opening-week offers that respect liquor and advertising rules.
The final week
- Test every link, form and the reservation flow on a phone.
- Print QR cards linking to your Google review page for tables and receipts.
- Run a soft-launch dinner for staff, family and friends and ask for honest feedback.
- Prepare launch ads with a small, local radius and tracked conversions.
Opening day and after
- Post live: stories, the first guests (with permission), your location tag.
- Reply to every comment and review within a day.
- Ask for reviews at the table and on the receipt, without incentives.
- Check Google Business Profile and website data after a week, then adjust.
Want this built for you? We are doing exactly this for a new lounge in Downtown Kelowna; see our work, the local SEO service and how to set up your Google profile.
Sources
- BrightLocal, AI directory sources study, 26 August 2026 (US, UK and Australia; 60,970 checks across Google AI Overviews, AI Mode and ChatGPT; Canada was not covered).
- BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, published 11 February 2026 (1,002 US adults).
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