Last check before visiting differs by venue type: cafés see Google Maps 24%
A survey of 2,000 diners across five restaurant types by SOEL found that first-time visitors to reservation-heavy izakaya last check gourmet sites, while those going to cafés, ramen shops and family restaurants last check Google Maps. The best place to be visible depends on your type of venue.
Key points
- Last thing first-time visitors looked at: cafés/ramen/family restaurants (241 people) Google Maps 24% vs gourmet sites 16%; izakaya (134 people) gourmet sites 28% vs Google Maps 19%
- Share who visit with a reservation: izakaya 61.9%, sushi/Japanese 40.4%, family restaurants 20.1%, cafés 18.6%, ramen 13.9%
- Checked nothing before visiting: 48.0% (sushi/Japanese) to 54.3% (family restaurants), versus 33.0% for izakaya; "people" were the final push for 28.8–39.0%
Background
The survey was a self-funded study by SOEL Inc., a company that supports restaurants with SNS and Google Maps marketing. It was run online from 29 September to 15 October 2026 among people aged 20–59 who eat out at least monthly and had visited each type of venue in the past three months. Results for izakaya (400) and four other types (400 each) were compared, 2,000 people in total.
Answers rely on memory of one recent visit, and first-time visitors per type were only 47–108 people, so the first-visit figures combine three types (241 people). The study did not test whether improving a Google Maps listing increases visits.
What it means for shops
For venues with few reservations, many guests walk in or choose a place because it is nearby, and first-timers tend to do their final check on Google Maps. For reservation-driven venues such as izakaya, gourmet-site listings are the entry point. The results help decide where to invest effort first rather than treating all channels equally.
What shops should do
- Decide whether your venue is reservation-driven or walk-in driven, and polish the channel customers check last first
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Summaries are written by Seiichi Studio based on the original releases. Always check the source for the exact details.