Claims
List restaurants before their owners join, let each owner prove the listing is theirs, and hand it over — with a verified badge.
Admin → Claims · Admin → Restaurants → a restaurant → Claim & verification · Settings → Business model → Restaurant claims
The three claim states
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Unclaimed | Listed with no owner. Its page shows the menu and prices without Add buttons, no Reserve, and an Is this your restaurant? card where the basket would be. It takes no orders or bookings and appears after trading restaurants in search. |
| Claim pending | Someone has proved it is theirs and the claim waits for you. |
| Claimed | It has an owner and trades. Every restaurant that signed up itself is claimed. |
Switching claims on and choosing the proof
Settings → Business model → Restaurant claims:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Let restaurants claim their listing | Opens or closes claiming. Unclaimed listings stay listed either way. |
| Google Business Profile | The owner signs in with Google and picks the listing's location; the name and postcode (or city) must match. Needs Google Business Profile switched on under Settings → APIs. |
| SMS code (Twilio) | A 6-digit code is texted to the listing's own phone. Needs SMS connected under Settings → SMS, and a phone with a country code on the listing. |
| Approve Google-verified claims automatically | Off: every claim waits for you. On: a matched Google listing is handed over straight away. |
Keep at least one method on. A method you tick but have not set up is not offered to owners.
Adding an unclaimed listing
- Admin → Restaurants → New restaurant.
- Switch on Unclaimed listing at the top. The owner fields disappear.
- Fill in the restaurant — name, address, city, phone (with its country code, so a code can be texted), cuisine — and save. It goes live straight away as Unclaimed.
- Add its menu with Import menu or the menu screens.
The restaurant list has a Claim filter (Claimed / Unclaimed / Claim pending) and a grey or amber pill on each card that is not claimed.
The claims queue
Admin → Claims lists what waits for you (the All tab keeps the history). Each row shows the listing, the claimant with their other claims, and the proof — Google listing matched or Code verified at •••• 0142.
- Approve hands the listing over in one step: the claimant becomes its owner (a customer account becomes a restaurant owner), it is marked claimed and verified, it gets your default plan if it has none, and any other claim on it is rejected. The owner is told by bell and email and lands on Get started.
- Reject takes an optional reason, which the claimant sees on the claim page and in the email. The listing goes back to unclaimed unless another claim waits.
On a restaurant's own page: Claim & verification
| When the restaurant is… | You can |
|---|---|
| Unclaimed or pending | Mark as claimed: enter the owner's email. An existing customer or owner account takes it; a new address needs a first name, last name and password, and an owner account is created. Not marked verified. |
| Claimed | Mark verified / Remove verified, and Set as unclaimed (asks first — the owner loses the restaurant). |
| Always | See every claim made on it, and approve or reject a waiting one right there. |
The verified badge
A green seal with a tick. It sits on the corner of the logo on the restaurant page, beside the name on restaurant cards, in map pop-ups, on the admin restaurant list and page, and beside the restaurant name in its owner's dashboard. An approved claim sets it; you can set or remove it on any claimed restaurant.
When it doesn't work
The owner sees "Claiming is not open right now"
Claiming is off, or neither method is set up (Google Business Profile not switched on, SMS not connected).
The text-message option is missing for one listing
The listing's phone has no country code. Edit it to the international form, for example +1 555 0141.