What photos belong on your Google listing

Someone searches the restaurant from the pavement. The first picture is a guest’s flash photo of a half-eaten plate, or a cover from the winter you still had the old bar. Your own daylight shot of the door is in the stack, three swipes down, or still marked pending because the profile was never verified.

This guide is which photos to put on the listing, the file rules, and what you cannot force Google to show first. Which pictures belong on the website — and why a gallery must not bury the Reserve button — is in what photos belong on a restaurant website.

How a listing photo differs from a website photo

On your site you choose the order. On Google you upload into a profile that also accepts guest photos, and Google reviews what you send. The file rules are in Manage your Business Profile photos and videos: JPG or PNG, 10 KB to 5 MB, at least 250 by 250 pixels, with 720 by 720 recommended. In focus, well lit, no significant alterations and no heavy filters. Nothing goes live for customers until the profile is verified. After you upload, the status is pending, not approved, or live. Google says it can take 24–48 hours.

Google’s photo tips add the set to aim for, and they add AI to the “do not overdo it” line: no significant alterations and no excessive filters or AI. The image should represent reality. For the outside they ask at least three photos, including the ways people approach. For the inside, at least three that show what it is like to stand in the room. For food and drink, at least three of what you actually serve. That page is Tips for business-specific photos.

When the listing needs your photos

How to put the set on the profile

1. 1

   Verify before you spend an afternoon uploading

   Google says photos and videos show to customers only after the profile is verified. A pending mark can also mean the file is still processing. If you are not verified yet, do that first. The path is in how to verify your restaurant on Google.

2. 2

   Photograph the approach, the room, and the food

   Three exteriors from the ways a guest actually walks up, including a time of day you are open. Three interiors that look like standing at a table, not a light the guest will never see. Three food or drink photos of popular plates you still send, evenly lit. The same standard as the website: if they will not see it, do not upload it. What to leave off the page is in the website photo guide.

3. 3

   Keep the file inside Google’s limits

   JPG or PNG. Between 10 KB and 5 MB. At least 250 pixels tall and wide; 720 by 720 is the size Google says looks best. In focus. Skip the filter that turns the room amber, and skip an AI image of a dining room you do not have. A short video, if you use one, is up to 30 seconds, up to 75 MB, and 720p or higher. That is a profile video, not the longer recording used to verify the business.

4. 4

   Set a logo and a cover, then check what Google actually shows

   The logo helps people recognise you, and Google says it highlights the logo once the profile has a name, a street address, categories, a phone number, and opening hours. The cover sits at the top and should represent the place. Google also says choosing a cover does not guarantee it stays the first image. If the cover is low quality, or other signals suggest it is not the best photo, a user-submitted photo may be shown instead. Look at the public listing after a day or two, not only at the upload screen.

5. 5

   Deal with a menu photo that is no longer true

   Guests can add a photo of the printed carte. You can upload your own. If a customer photo is obsolete, Google’s menu help says to flag it and upload an accurate one. An AI reading of a menu photo is experimental: review every dish and price before you publish it. The words still belong on the page, which is how to put your menu on your restaurant website. The photo rules for that AI path are in About the menu editor.

6. 6

   Replace the set when the room changes

   A new bar, a terrace that only exists in summer, a dish that left in March. Take the old file down in the same week you change the website. The listing and the page should show one restaurant. If the terrace is closed, do not leave July’s photo as the only outside shot without the sentence on the site. Those facts are in what guests ask before they book.

Which photo does which job

The website can use the same pictures beside the name and the way to book. The card below is a live restaurant page: the listing should be able to show that door and that room, not a different night from three years ago.

When listing photos fail

• They stay pending. The profile is not verified, or the file is still processing. Customers are not seeing them.
• The cover loses to a guest photo. Google says a low-quality cover can be replaced. Upload a clearer one. You still may not own the first slot.
• A filter or an AI room. The guidelines want the image to represent reality. A golden filter that hides the fluorescent light is a different restaurant.
• Last year’s dish, still live. People will ask for it. The photo is a promise.
• The logo never appears. Google lists what else the profile needs: name, street address, categories, phone, and opening hours.
• The website and the listing disagree. One shows the old bar. Guests walk in ready to complain.

What listing photos do not do

They do not appear before verification, and they do not always appear the hour you upload them. They do not let you delete every photo a guest added. They do not guarantee your cover is the first image. They do not replace hours, a menu in text, or a phone that is answered. And a larger file is not a ranking trick. The job is that someone on the pavement recognises the door and trusts the plate. What Google says about local rank is in what restaurant SEO actually changes.

Frequently asked questions