Why your restaurant's hours and menu are wrong online (and how to fix it for good)

Short answer: keep one master list of your hours, holiday hours, menu and prices. Update every platform from that list, and once a month have AI compare screenshots of each listing to the master list. It takes about 45 minutes to set up and 10 minutes a month after that.

How out-of-sync listings cost you

Your hours and menu probably live in 5–10 places: Google, Yelp, your website, Facebook, Instagram, DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Apple Maps. Each one gets updated a little differently, so they drift apart. Then:

• Guests show up when you're closed and don't come back.
• Delivery orders come in for items you've 86'd, and you eat the refund.
• Old prices on a delivery app eat into your margin.
• Holiday closures surprise people and lead to angry reviews.

The one-source system

1. Build a master list in a Google Sheet: regular hours, holiday hours, every menu item with its current price, and the date you last changed each one.
2. List every platform where you appear, and note who has the login.
3. Fix everything once so it all matches the master list.
4. Set holiday hours ahead. Google, Yelp and the delivery apps all have a special-hours feature, so use it weeks in advance.
5. Change the master list first, every time, then the platforms.

The 10-minute monthly AI check

Take a screenshot of each listing. Upload the screenshots and your master list to ChatGPT, and ask it to list every mismatch in hours, items and prices. Then fix what it finds. AI is good at this kind of compare-two-things work. Still, check its flags against the real listing before you change anything.

Step-by-step

Full walkthrough, prompts and a monthly checklist: One-Source Menu and Hours Sync.

FAQ

Is there a tool that updates every platform at once?

Some paid listing-management tools push hours to many sites at once. They can help, but you still need a master list, and a monthly check catches what they miss. Start with the free system.

How often should I check my Google listing?

At least monthly, and before every holiday. Google sometimes accepts edits suggested by the public, so look out for changes you didn't make.