In a well-known Harvard Business School study, researcher Michael Luca analysed Seattle restaurants and their Yelp ratings and found that a one-star increase in rating was associated with a 5–9% increase in revenue — an effect concentrated in independent restaurants rather than well-known chains.
In Saudi Arabia, many guests look a restaurant or café up on Google Maps before visiting, so your rating is often their first impression of you.
How to raise your rating the right way
- Ask at the right moment: after a good experience, with a QR code on the table or receipt that leads straight to your review page.
- Reply to every review: thank positive reviewers, and apologise to negative ones with a solution, without arguing.
- Turn complaints into improvements: a repeated note about slow service or portion size is a real operational problem.
- Keep your listing current: opening hours, location, photos and menu — one wrong detail can cost you a bad review.
What to avoid
- Buying reviews or writing them under fake names; platforms detect them and trust suffers.
- Defensive or harsh replies to criticism.
Guests read your reply to a bad review more closely than the review itself.