Asked for the UAE about restaurants and cloud kitchens, the engines read Google Maps reviews and Talabat and Deliveroo first. The engines check the Dubai Municipality food licence indirectly through the delivery apps, and answer the alcohol question from the site: 'licensed restaurant' in the UAE means it serves alcohol, and the engines know that. The menu with AED prices as text on the site, and the business lunch and brunch prices stated.
What UAE buyers ask the engines about restaurants and cloud kitchens
The emirate is in the sentence, and so is the licence, the insurer or the free zone when the trade has one. Six of the questions the report puts to the four engines for a restaurant in the UAE:
| Kind | The question, as asked |
|---|---|
| Head term | best Italian restaurant in Dubai for a birthday dinner |
| Product | which restaurants in DIFC do a business lunch under AED 100 |
| Niche | halal Japanese restaurant in Jumeirah with outdoor seating in winter |
| Comparison | Kitopi vs opening a second kitchen for a delivery brand in Dubai |
| Comparison | alternatives to the hotel brunches in Dubai for a group of ten |
| Niche | restaurant with a private room for 20 in Abu Dhabi |
The UAE sources the engines read for restaurants and cloud kitchens
Asked for the UAE, the engines read UAE pages: the registers, the local directories, the Gulf press. For restaurants and cloud kitchens:
| Source | What it decides |
|---|---|
| Google Maps reviews | score, count and the recent review text, summarised |
| Talabat and Deliveroo | the menus and the app ratings |
| Time Out Dubai, What's On, Gault&Millau UAE, the Michelin Guide Dubai and Abu Dhabi | 'best X in Dubai' lists and the guide listings are read as rankings |
| Eat App and SevenRooms | the venue description and the seating |
| Zomato UAE | menus and ratings, still read |
What the engines check before they name you
The engines check the Dubai Municipality food licence indirectly through the delivery apps, and answer the alcohol question from the site: 'licensed restaurant' in the UAE means it serves alcohol, and the engines know that. Halal is the other question; a non-hotel restaurant is assumed halal unless the site says otherwise, and the site should say.
Dubai, Abu Dhabi, the Northern Emirates
The engines answer per emirate, from pages that name it. How the questions differ for this trade:
- Dubai: DIFC, Downtown, Jumeirah, JBR; occasion and brunch questions.
- Abu Dhabi: Saadiyat, Yas and the Corniche; family and group questions.
- Sharjah and the Northern Emirates: family and Arabic questions; no alcohol, so the licence question does not arise.
Arabic
A large share of Sharjah and Abu Dhabi questions are in Arabic. An Arabic menu as text, not an image, is quoted for them.
Prices in dirhams
The menu with AED prices as text on the site, and the business lunch and brunch prices stated. 'Business lunch under AED 100 in DIFC' is answered from menus the engines can read.
The names a UAE buyer already knows
The large names in the trade, Kitopi, Zuma, Pierchic, Al Fanar, Ravi, are the ones a buyer arrives with, and the ones the report's comparison questions are written against ('X alternatives', 'you vs X'). Whether the engines put them ahead of you, or in your place, is what the report measures, question by question, for the UAE market.
What a month of work looks like in the UAE
The Grow plan's goal for a restaurant here: get named in the five cuisine-and-occasion questions in the UAE where Time Out or Talabat is named and your restaurant is not. The work starts with Google Maps reviews, then the pages of yours the engines quote, in English and, where the trade needs it, Arabic, with a rescan on the same questions for the UAE market at month's end. The plans are priced on the home page.
Read next
Restaurants and cloud kitchens, everywhere · The UAE market · Hotels in the UAE · Schools and training providers in the UAE · Logistics and freight companies in the UAE
Questions
Which licence do the engines check for a restaurant in the UAE?
The engines check the Dubai Municipality food licence indirectly through the delivery apps, and answer the alcohol question from the site: 'licensed restaurant' in the UAE means it serves alcohol, and the engines know that.
Does Arabic matter for a restaurant in the UAE?
A large share of Sharjah and Abu Dhabi questions are in Arabic. An Arabic menu as text, not an image, is quoted for them.
What price should be on the page?
The menu with AED prices as text on the site, and the business lunch and brunch prices stated. 'Business lunch under AED 100 in DIFC' is answered from menus the engines can read.
See who the engines name in the UAE
Your website, region and work email. The score appears in about three minutes, and the report is a link you keep.