Google Gemini, AI Overviews & AI Mode: How Google's AI Picks Restaurants
Since October 2025 the AI answer sits at the top of Hungarian Google search too. We break down how it picks a restaurant, café or bar — and why fresh, answered Google reviews matter most.
AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini — what's the difference?
If you've searched anything on Google since autumn 2025, you've seen it: above the classic blue links sits an AI-generated summary. That's AI Overviews. Short, to the point, with a few cited sources next to it.
AI Mode is its conversational, far more detailed sibling: a separate tab where Google answers almost like a chatbot, and for hospitality questions it shows card-style restaurant recommendations (photo, stars, price, a booking button). Alongside them sits the Gemini app, Google's standalone AI assistant.
The key thing an owner needs to know: all three run on the same engine — a custom version of Gemini. And they're live in Hungary too: AI Overviews since May 2025, and Hungarian-language AI Mode since October 8, 2025 (40+ countries, 35+ languages). In other words, your guest can already get the AI answer before clicking a single link.
Query fan-out: one question becomes ten
Google officially confirmed (blog.google, May 20, 2025) how it works behind the scenes. The technique is called query fan-out: the AI takes your question, breaks it into subtopics, and runs a dozen searches across the web on your behalf simultaneously — digging deeper than a traditional search. Robby Stein, Google's VP of Product for Search, gave his own example: "things to do in Nashville with a group" fans out into subtopics like great restaurants, great bars, kid-friendly options.
Translated into hospitality terms: when someone types "best Italian restaurant near me", the AI doesn't search that one sentence in the background. It splits it: is there parking, what's the menu like, is there a gluten-free option, how much does it cost, and — crucially — what do the reviews say. It then weaves the parallel results into one answer backed by sources.
That's why it's no accident which place gets in: the winner is the one with fresh, credible information from multiple angles online. Your richest, most current source of that is your Google Business Profile and the text of your reviews.
The big surprise: proximity barely matters anymore
Local Falcon's study of 60,000 queries and 4,423 businesses across 20 countries (May 2025) produced a stunning result.
There's effectively ZERO correlation between distance and ranking position inside an AI Overview (r=0.001). Proximity at most affects whether you get in at all (places within ~1 mile appeared 72% of the time vs 68.5% for those farther out) — but where you rank is decided by your reputation, your reviews and your content. A slightly more distant but well-reviewed place can easily out-rank a closer, weaker one.
Reviews as the number-one signal
If you take one thing from this article, it's this: the AI builds its picture of you from your reviews. The numbers (mostly measured on US samples, but indicative) line up:
- →~49% more reviews at the median — a 2026 study (Local SEO Data, 1,120 queries, 13 US cities) found that places appearing in AI Mode had far more reviews than those only in the local pack.
- →3.6x more reviews for restaurants — MyPlace's 2026 research found AI-recommended restaurants averaged 3,424 reviews versus 955 for non-recommended ones.
- →Not the star rating, but volume and freshness — above roughly 4.4 stars a higher average barely helps; the stakes are review count, freshness and activity.
- →Owner RESPONSES count too — Google's Hungarian Business Profile help says more reviews and positive ratings bring a higher rank, and replying helps you stand out. SOCi's 2026 analysis found places with a sub-5% response rate are effectively invisible in AI recommendations. (Note: Google does not state replies are a direct ranking factor — but the freshness and trust benefit is real.)
- →Freshness = citations — per SOCi, content updated within 30 days gets cited ~3.2x more often by AI. A steady stream of reviews and prompt responses produces exactly this freshness signal.
The local pack is no guarantee
Many owners assume: if I'm in the Google Maps top 3 (the "local pack"), the AI will recommend me too. That's a mistake — the overlap between the two systems is surprisingly weak.
What we assume (local pack = AI)
- If I'm first on the map, the AI names me too.
- It's one system, just a different surface.
- Local pack places automatically carry over into AI Mode.
- Classic local SEO is enough to focus on.
What the 2026 data shows
- 28.5% of local pack places are COMPLETELY missing from AI Mode (Local SEO Data, 2026).
- These are two separate systems — you have to play for both.
- Top-3 overlap is only ~48% between the local pack and AI Mode.
- Track only the local pack and you're blind to nearly a third of your competitors.
The structured-data edge
AI reads structured data (schema markup) straight from the raw HTML: opening hours, price, menu, ratings. But let's be honest here: schema's impact is contested. A large causal Ahrefs study (2025–2026) found no meaningful uplift in citations from adding schema to already-cited pages, and the often-quoted specific multipliers (e.g. "3.2x") trace back to an unverified vendor claim. Several analyses suggest schema mainly helps lower-authority, less-known pages — and on its own it's never a guarantee.
The hospitality takeaway: schema is worth something only when it marks up real data — actual prices, a genuine rating summary (AggregateRating), real reviews. And here the loop closes: the basis of review schema is your real Google reviews. If those are rich, fresh and answered, the schema sends a stronger signal too.
If you want to dig deeper into your Business Profile and local discoverability, read our Google Business Profile & Local SEO article — AI visibility builds on top of it.
Concrete steps for Gemini visibility
Good news: you don't have to "win" Google's ranking. You need a rich, credible, fresh picture of yourself online. These steps serve exactly that:
- ✓A complete, accurate Business Profile — precise category (restaurant / café / cocktail bar / pub), opening hours, photos, and every relevant attribute ticked (terrace, live music, dog-friendly, good for groups). An unchecked attribute = automatic exclusion from AI questions that filter on it.
- ✓A continuous, fresh stream of reviews — review count and freshness are the two biggest stakes. Collect new reviews regularly (e.g. with QR-code review collection) so there's always current feedback about you.
- ✓Respond to EVERY review — quickly, to positives and negatives alike. It's simultaneously a freshness, prominence and trust signal. ThanksBot automates this in 50+ languages.
- ✓Encourage descriptive reviews — AI mines the review TEXT for vibe and occasion words ("cozy", "terrace", "perfect for a date"). One rich text review is worth more than a silent five stars.
- ✓Get onto local "best-of" lists — curated lists (e.g. Dining Guide TOP100, Michelin Hungary, We Love Budapest, DiningCity) are the earned-media half: AI is especially fond of citing these.
What it looks like in practice
A real Hungarian guest question in AI Mode (available in Hungarian since autumn 2025):
"Where's the best brunch in District 7 with a terrace and a gluten-free option?" → Gemini breaks the question down (location, brunch, terrace, diet), runs through Business Profiles, review texts and the web, then recommends 2-3 places on cards. The winner is the one whose reviews actually contain the words "terrace", "gluten-free" and "brunch" — backed by fresh, answered ratings.
It's exactly these signals that continuous review collection and a prompt response to every review work for in the background. ThanksBot doesn't put you into ChatGPT or Gemini — but it strengthens precisely the Google-side signals (review volume, freshness, responses) those engines weigh. If you want the bigger picture, also check out our AI in hospitality and The impact of Google reviews on restaurant revenue articles.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, and since when are they in Hungary?
AI Overviews is the AI-generated summary answer at the top of Google search (in Hungary since May 2025). AI Mode is its richer, conversational version that gives card-style restaurant recommendations for hospitality queries — Hungarian-language AI Mode has been live since October 8, 2025. Both run on a custom version of Gemini.
How does Gemini decide which restaurant to recommend?
Gemini works from the Google Business Profile, Maps, the Knowledge Graph and the open web (reviews, best-of lists). It breaks a question into subtopics (query fan-out), searches in parallel, then weaves together the richest, freshest, best-reviewed sources. Review volume, freshness, sentiment and owner responses all count.
What is query fan-out and why does it matter for my restaurant?
Query fan-out is Google's officially confirmed technique: it breaks one question into a dozen parallel sub-queries (menu, price, parking, diet, reviews). It matters for your restaurant because optimizing for one keyword isn't enough — you need fresh, credible info about yourself online across multiple angles (menu, atmosphere, ratings, hours).
If I'm first in the Google Maps local pack, will the AI recommend me too?
Not necessarily. A 2026 study found 28.5% of local pack places are completely missing from AI Mode for the same query, and top-3 overlap is only ~48%. These are two separate systems, so you have to play for AI visibility separately — especially with review volume, freshness and active responses.
Do my replies to Google reviews count for Gemini's recommendation?
Yes, indirectly. Google's Hungarian help says replying helps you stand out, and SOCi's 2026 analysis found places with a sub-5% response rate are effectively invisible in AI recommendations. A reply is a freshness, activity and trust signal at once — exactly the kind of signal Gemini reads from your Business Profile. (Note: Google doesn't officially state replies are a direct ranking factor — but the freshness and guest-trust benefits are measurable.)
How can my café get into the Google AI Overview?
Fill out everything in your Business Profile (category: café, attributes: terrace, dog-friendly, wifi), collect fresh reviews continuously, respond to every one, and encourage descriptive feedback. AI Overviews appear far more often for descriptive questions ("cozy café with a terrace") than for a plain "café Budapest" — so review text and Business Profile attributes are what decide it.
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