81% of multi-unit restaurant HQs had review or listing trouble in the past year
Japanese firm mov, which runs the inbound-travel media Honichi Labo and the review tool Kutikomi.com, surveyed 203 people at multi-location restaurant operators. 81.3% of head offices had trouble with reviews or store listings in the past year, and 75.4% had problems when the person in charge changed. Handing over logins and reply rules is an issue even a single-shop owner can relate to.
Key points
- 81.3% of HQs had review or listing trouble in the past year; the most common was unexplained edits, at 39.4%
- 75.4% struggled when staff changed; 'procedures and rules were not handed over' was the top issue at 42.4%
- 54.7% of all HQs use review-collection methods that Google's policy prohibits or restricts
Background
The web survey ran October 20-21, 2026 among owners, HQ staff, area managers and store managers at operators with two or more restaurants (franchisees included); 203 of 279 screened respondents answered. On average they manage 3.7 platforms, typically gourmet sites such as Tabelog plus Google Maps.
mov sells the review-management tool Kutikomi.com, so this is a survey published by a service provider.
What it means for shops
Operating models are split: 41.9% run listings centrally from HQ and 27.1% leave it to store managers. Small shops where part-timers or family members run the accounts can hit the same handover gaps. About 78% of HQs receive foreign-language reviews, but only 27.6% track how many and reply; for AI, the most popular setup is that AI drafts and a person approves.
What shops should do
- Put logins, reply rules and the steps for changing opening hours on one page so a new person can take over
🔒 3 more action items for subscribers
Summaries are written by Seiichi Studio based on the original releases. Always check the source for the exact details.