Most of your best customers find you the same way. They type your restaurant’s name into Google, or they open Google Maps. They already know you, and they already want your food. Then they tap Order online — and Google sends them to Uber Eats, DoorDash or SkipTheDishes.
The order still reaches your kitchen, but now a delivery app sits between you and your customer. The app charges its commission, and the customer relationship stays with the app. Next time, that customer may open the app first, where other restaurants are one scroll away.
You can change this yourself, and Google doesn’t charge for it. Your Google Business Profile — the free tool that controls how your restaurant appears on Google Search and Maps — lets you add your own ordering page, put it at the top of the list, and remove delivery-app links you don’t want there. This guide walks through each step in plain language, explains the settings that are easy to mix up, and covers the problems you are most likely to run into. Every step follows Google’s own help pages, which are linked at the end.
What customers see on your Google listing
When someone opens your restaurant on Google Search or Google Maps, they see an ordering button near your photos, hours and reviews. In Canada it usually says Order online. In some regions Google shows Place an order links instead. The button opens a list of places where the customer can order from you.
That list can contain two kinds of links:
- Links added by delivery apps. When a company like Uber Eats, DoorDash or SkipTheDishes tells Google that it works with your restaurant, Google can list it automatically. Many owners never added these links themselves and don’t know they are there.
- Links you add yourself. Google calls these custom links. This is where your own ordering page goes.
You are in control of both. You can add your own link, move it to the top with a Business preferred label, and ask for delivery-app links to be removed.
Before you start: a quick checklist
- Your Business Profile is verified, and you can edit it. Google only accepts links from verified profiles, and you need to be an owner or manager of the profile. If you have never claimed your listing, do that first: find your restaurant on Google Search or Maps and follow Google’s steps to claim and verify the business.
- You have the right link. On Platesready, your ordering page looks like
https://platesready.com/r/your-restaurant-name. The easiest way to get it exactly right is to open your restaurant’s page on your phone and copy the address from the browser bar. It is also in your Platesready dashboard: the Slug field in your restaurant’s settings is the last part of the address. - The link goes straight to ordering. Google requires an order link to let the customer actually complete an order. That rules out your homepage, a PDF menu, a link-in-bio page, and anything Google specifically bans: social media pages, messaging links (such as WhatsApp), app store links and shortened links.
- Each location has its own link. If you run more than one location, each Google listing needs a page for that specific location, not one general page for all of them. On Platesready, every location has its own restaurant page.
- Your page is ready for real customers. Open it on your phone and check the menu, the prices, your opening hours, and whether you offer pickup, delivery or both. Whatever this page shows is what Google customers will get.
Google also checks business links regularly with an automated checker, and it can remove links that don’t load, need a login, or block that checker. Platesready restaurant pages are public and open to Google’s checker, so there is nothing technical for you to set up.
Step 1: Add your ordering link
You can do this from Google Search or from the Google Maps app. Both change the same profile, so use whichever is easier. First, sign in to the Google account that manages your Business Profile.
On Google Search (computer or phone)
- Search for your restaurant’s name on Google. Because you are signed in as the owner, the tools for editing your profile appear with the listing.
- Select Food ordering.
- Make sure Accept orders on your profile is turned on. This switch matters more than it looks — see the warning in Step 3.
- Select Add a link. If links are already listed, the button may say Add another link.
- Paste the address of your ordering page and select Save.
In the Google Maps app
- Open your restaurant’s listing while signed in to the same Google account, and select Edit profile.
- Choose the type of link you want to add: Food ordering, or Pickup and delivery, depending on what Google shows for your profile.
- Paste the same address and select Save.
Google reviews link edits before they go live, so your link may not appear right away. Give it time before adding it again; a second copy of the same link will only produce a “link already exists” error.
Step 2: Make your link the preferred option
Adding your link does not move it to the top. If delivery apps are already listed, customers may still see them first. To change that, mark your own link as preferred:
- Go to your Business Profile and select Food ordering.
- Select your own link from the list.
- Select Set as preferred.
- Turn on Preferred for pickup, Preferred for delivery, or both. Only turn on what your ordering page really offers — if you only do pickup, leave delivery off. Google may not let you turn on an option that a link doesn’t support.
- Select Save.
Your link now appears at the top of the list with a Business preferred label. Remember: this does not remove the other apps. They stay listed below yours until you remove them.
Step 3: Remove delivery-app links you don’t want
Decide first what you actually want. If you still sell through a delivery app — for example, to reach delivery areas you don’t cover yourself — you can keep that app on your listing and simply keep your own link preferred. If you have left an app, or never signed up with it, remove it:
- Go to your Business Profile and select Food ordering.
- Select the delivery app’s link.
- Select Remove link.
This sends a removal request to that company. According to Google, providers must remove the link within 5 business days. If the link is still there after that, report it using the “report a violation” option on Google’s Manage online ordering options help page.
Warning: don’t use the Accept orders on your profile switch to get rid of delivery apps. Turning it off hides every ordering link on your profile, including your own, so customers would lose the order button completely.
Order link, menu link, website: which link goes where
Your profile has several places for links, and they are easy to mix up. If your ordering page goes in the wrong one, customers won’t find it behind the order button. Here is what goes where:
- Food ordering (customers see Order online or Place an order): your Platesready ordering page. This is the one that matters most.
- Menu: a menu page on your own website, or your menu entered with Google’s menu editor. Google doesn’t allow menu links that go straight to an ordering or delivery service, so don’t put a delivery app — or your ordering page — here.
- Website: your own website. No website? Your Platesready restaurant page is a page for your specific location, so it can serve as your website too.
- Reservations (if Google offers it for your profile): if you take table bookings on Platesready, your booking page — the same address with
/book-tableat the end.
If you don’t have a menu page on your own website, use Google’s menu editor instead: in your Business Profile, select Edit menu to add sections, dishes and prices, or upload a photo or PDF of your menu. Google says menu changes can take 24–48 hours to show on Maps and Search.
Check it like a customer
When you are signed in as the owner, Google shows you a different view of your listing. To see what customers see:
- Open a private (incognito) window on your phone’s browser.
- Search for your restaurant’s name and open your listing. Check Google Maps too.
- Tap Order online (it may also say Order or Place an order).
- Your link should be at the top, marked Business preferred, and it should open your own ordering page — not a delivery app and not a PDF.
- Add an item to the cart and go to checkout to make sure everything works. You don’t need to pay for a test order.
If something goes wrong
I don’t see “Food ordering” on my profile
Not every type of business can add ordering links. Google’s own example: a hair salon can add booking links but not ordering links. Some countries and regions are also not eligible, although Canada is one of the countries where restaurants can have online ordering on their profile. Check that your profile is verified and that its main category describes a food business, such as Restaurant, Pizza restaurant or Bakery. If the option still doesn’t appear, contact Google Business Profile support.
Google says my link is invalid
Copy the address again straight from your browser bar. Google rejects links that contain spaces, backslashes or other stray symbols, or a doubled https://.
Google says the domain is already in use
Google accepts only one link per website domain in the ordering list. If a platesready.com link is already on your profile — perhaps added earlier by you or someone on your team — edit or remove that one instead of adding a second.
My link was there, and now it’s gone
Google checks business links regularly and removes links that don’t work. Open your link and make sure it loads. If your page address has changed — for example, because you renamed your restaurant in your dashboard, which also changes the address — add the new address to Google straight away, because the old one stops working. If your link works and was removed anyway, you can ask Google to review the decision.
A delivery app is still at the top
Check that your own link is set as preferred for pickup, delivery, or both. Being preferred doesn’t remove other links; use Remove link for that, and allow 5 business days.
My screen doesn’t match these steps
Google changes its button names and menus from time to time, and they can differ by region. If your screen looks a little different, the Google help pages listed at the end always have the current wording.
Get more orders from the same link
- Post updates with an order button. Business Profile posts can include an action button, such as Order online, that links to your ordering page. Use posts for new dishes, seasonal specials and holiday hours.
- Use the same link everywhere. Put it in your Instagram and Facebook profiles, on a QR code at the counter and on takeout bags, and in your replies when customers message you asking how to order.
- Tell your regulars. Someone who has ordered through an app for years may not know they can order from you directly. A short note in the bag or a sign at the counter is often enough.
- Keep your hours in sync. If Google says you are open and your ordering page says closed — or the other way around — customers get frustrated. Update both when your hours change, especially around holidays.
- Measure it (optional). If your Platesready page is connected to your own Google Analytics account (our team can connect it for you), add
?utm_source=googleto the very end of the link you give Google. Google Analytics will then show visits and orders that came from your Google listing separately. Customers see the same page either way.
Quick answers
Does it cost anything to add my link to Google?
No. Google Business Profile is free, and adding links to it is free.
Does Platesready need to be a Google partner for this to work?
No. Adding your own ordering link is a standard Google Business Profile feature for restaurants. Google’s partner program for ordering companies is a separate arrangement.
Can I keep Uber Eats or DoorDash on my listing and still have my own link?
Yes. You can list both and set your own link as preferred, so it appears first.
How long until my link shows up?
Google reviews link edits before publishing them and doesn’t promise a timeline. Check back after a day or two. Changes made in the menu editor can take 24–48 hours.
I have several locations. Can they share one link?
No. Google requires each location’s link to lead to a page for that specific location, so give each Google listing its own restaurant page.
What a direct order costs on Platesready
Orders placed through your own link go straight to your restaurant. On Platesready you pay a 5% platform fee on completed orders, plus standard Stripe payment processing (2.9% + 30¢), billed by Stripe. There is no monthly software subscription and no setup fee. Eligible businesses switching from another ordering platform pay a 3% platform fee for the first year, then the standard 5%; eligibility criteria apply. See pricing for the full details.
Don’t have an ordering page yet? See how online ordering for restaurants in Canada works on Platesready, or apply to join.
Sources
This guide follows Google’s own help pages, checked in September 2026. Google updates its screens often, so these pages have the latest wording:
- Manage online ordering options — adding your own links, setting a preferred provider, removing providers, the 5-business-day rule.
- Manage your local business links — adding links from Search or Maps, the Business preferred label, and what the Accept orders switch hides.
- Business links policies and guidelines — verified profiles only, one link per domain, links must complete an order, banned link types, and link checks.
- Guidelines for representing your business on Google — menu links can’t go straight to ordering or delivery services.
- About the menu editor — adding your menu to Google and the 24–48 hour update time.
- Create and manage posts on your Business Profile — posts with an order button.
- Google Business Profile for restaurants (Canada) — Canada among the countries where restaurants can offer online ordering on their profile.