Setting up "Reserve with Google": how your reservation link gets to Google

The journey of many reservations no longer starts on your website but in your Google Business Profile: checking opening hours, browsing photos, reading reviews — and ideally reserving right away. Whether that last step works is decided by a single detail: the reservation link in your profile. If it is missing or leads nowhere, the guest will likely reserve at the neighbour's place that is one click closer.

The good news: you can add this link yourself, free of charge and in a few minutes. What "Reserve with Google" actually is, which requirements apply and how to proceed — read on. By the end you will also know how the simple link differs from the deep integration — and which route makes sense for your business.

What is "Reserve with Google"?

"Reserve with Google" is Google's booking feature: users reserve directly from Google Search or Google Maps — via a Reserve button in the business profile. Behind it sits either a deep integration by a reservation system partner or simply a reservation link the business has added itself.

For your guests both routes feel almost the same: see button, click, book table. The difference lies in the background — more on that below. Both routes require a maintained, verified business profile: it is the stage on which the button appears in the first place.

Requirements: what you need

You need two things: a verified, well-maintained Google Business Profile — and either a reservation system with an official Google integration or an online reservation link you add to the profile yourself.

The link route is open to every business, immediately and without approval by a partner: as soon as your reservation system has a public booking page, you simply enter its address on Google. With VidiReserve you have this link from day one — and you need neither an agency nor technical knowledge: enter, save, test, done.

Step by step: adding the reservation link to your Google Business Profile

1. Open your Google Business Profile: sign in to Google and search for your business name — as the owner you can edit the profile right in Search.
2. Maintain the profile fully: opening hours, address, phone number, category and current photos. A well-kept profile looks more trustworthy and is found more easily — and replying to reviews regularly is part of it too.
3. Enter the reservation link in the links/bookings section — with VidiReserve that is the link to your public reservation page; you find it in your backoffice.
4. Save and wait briefly: Google usually applies changes within minutes to a few hours.
5. Test it yourself: search for your business in a private browser window and check that the reserve link appears and lands on your booking flow. A quick test on your phone is worth it too — that is where most guests reserve. With several locations, repeat per profile.

Reservation link or deep integration — what is the difference?

With the deep Reserve with Google integration, the entire booking happens inside Google: the guest picks date, time and party size right in the Google window without leaving Search. With the reservation link, the button leads to your own booking flow — where the reservation runs just like via your website.

Honestly: as of today VidiReserve relies on the direct booking link; there is no native Reserve with Google integration. In return the link route works immediately and with any system — and your guests land on your flow, with your cancellation policy, your opening hours and your look.

The deep integration saves the guest one click — but ties you to the respective partner systems. For most businesses the reservation link is the pragmatic route: it puts the Reserve button into Google Search, with no waiting time and no system lock-in. And nothing stops you from adding a deep integration later, should one become available for your system.

Tip: when switching systems, update the Google link first

If you switch your reservation system, the link in your Google profile belongs at the top of the moving list: if the old link stays there, your Reserve button leads nowhere — and no dashboard notices that, only the guest who just failed to book.

After every switch, check yourself via Google Search where the button leads. What the complete move looks like is shown in our switching checklist, using Quandoo as the example.

To the switching checklist including the Google update

Your reservation link is already waiting

With VidiReserve you get a public reservation page and a widget for your website from day one — enter the link on Google once and take reservations straight from Search from then on. And because the link stays permanently stable, you never have to touch it on Google again. Commission-free, from €12.90 per month.

More on the VidiReserve table reservation system