A staggering 43.7% of Gen Z and Millennial consumers now go to social media first for restaurant recommendations, pushing Google and Yelp to second place (38.6%), according to new data from Brilli™ and Nation’s Restaurant News.
This shift isn’t just about food — 46% of Gen Z and 35% of Millennials prefer social media over traditional search engines, indicating a broader behavior change in how consumers find and evaluate brands. Young consumers are accustomed to searching via videos on social media versus long-form written content on Google.
If your restaurant, CPG food brand or B2B foodservice company isn’t appearing in social search results, you’re invisible to nearly half of today’s market — a market actively searching for recommendations, things to do and food or products to buy.
What Is Social SEO?
Social SEO means optimizing your social media content — posts, videos, thumbnails, captions — so that it ranks when users search inside platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. Similar to how you may optimize blog or website content for Google’s algorithms, you’re optimizing for how people search directly on social media.
While similar, there is a key difference between Google and social search: algorithm changes happen far more often on social media and remain more secretive.
Alas, social algorithms are the gatekeeper that determines where your content ranks. Showing up in results requires a combination of engagement (think: high visibility from influencers posting about you) and post optimization to signal that your content is relevant to a specific topic or query.
Playing nice with these algorithms and ranking requires a combination of tactics. Here are five general social SEO ranking factors that you should pay attention to if you want to be visible to in-market consumers and foodservice buyers:
- Keywords + search intent
- Thumbnails
- Hashtags
- Influencer content
- Content formats
Social SEO Best Practices for Restaurant Operators, Food Brands and Foodservice Suppliers
Create Content that Satisfies Search Intent
It’s not enough to post great-looking food—your content must match what people are searching for. Build content calendars and influencer campaigns based on popular searches in which you want to appear (note: tips below on how to identify opportunities).
Include target phrases in your branded and owned content + the assets created by influencer partners. Use appropriate keywords in your scripts and captions, ensuring they sound natural, not stuffed with keywords.
For Restaurants
Guests are actively searching for food recommendations, neighborhood gems and menu inspiration directly on social media. If your content doesn’t align with those searches, you won’t show up when hungry locals are deciding where to eat.
- “Best brunch Chicago” → Post about your brunch menu with video that showcases vibes and flavor.
- “Vegan restaurants” → Highlight multiple plant-based options from your menu to indicate variety and accommodation.
- “Family friendly eats” → Showcase your kids’ menu or family-style seating.
For Foodservice Suppliers
Operators, chefs and industry pros increasingly rely on social platforms not just for entertainment, but for inspiration and product discovery. If you’re a supplier of bulk ingredients, equipment or foodservice business solutions, ranking for niche but highly relevant queries helps you reach qualified B2B buyers in context.
- “Commercial Kitchen Equipment” → Showcase performance and value through operator reviews, testimonials, and real-world demonstrations of your commercial kitchen equipment in action.
- “Pastry Kitchen Hacks” → Share behind-the-scenes tips, expert techniques, and live demonstrations featuring your products or ingredients in a pastry kitchen setting to inspire chefs and bakers.
- “Restaurant Owner Tips” → Feature real-world success stories, expert advice, and pro strategies from restaurant owners using your equipment or ingredients to improve efficiency, profitability and customer satisfaction.
For CPG Food Brands
Consumers often use TikTok or Instagram to look up product reviews, recipes and food hacks. If your brand’s product isn’t part of those conversations, you’re missing the chance to shape consumer perception and influence purchase decisions.
- “Healthy snacks for work” → Show easy, packable options using your product in a “what’s in my bag” or “snack prep” video.
- “Quick gluten-free dinner” → Share a 15-second dinner hack using your product in a recipe walkthrough or voiceover video.
- “Easy party appetizers” → Feature your product as the base of a 3-ingredient dip or quick bite that hosts can recreate.
To identify popular searches and appropriate social SEO keyphrases:
- Use tools like TikTok Creative Center, Glimpse, AnswerThePublic, Ahrefs, Moz Keyword Explorer, SEMRush and Google Search Console to track search volume trends
- Browse autocomplete suggestions directly within TikTok, Instagram or YouTube
- Dig into “Others also asked” on TikTok for phrasing based on real user behavior
- Run a competitive analysis to uncover gaps or content categories your competitors are ranking for — and how to differentiate
Optimize Your Content Previews and Thumbnails
In the same vein as using keywords in voiceovers and captions, what appears on your first frame matters. People choose what to click on in social search results based on the first image they see. Think of your thumbnail as the “headline” for your post.
Images that tease content, include keywords or have a built-in hook can reel in more views. Use text overlays that match search intent and explain what your content is about.
Use Hashtags to Help Algorithms Understand You
While often debated, hashtags are still relevant to social SEO. They provide important context to social algorithms and are often used by consumers when searching.
Include a mix of hashtag types, including high-volume and niche.
- Location-based
- Restaurants: #AustinEats, #NashvilleBrunch, #SoCalSips
- B2B Foodservice: #BayAreaChefs, #FloridaCatering
- CPG Food: #CbusMade #BrooklynFounded
- Experience-based
- Restaurants: #FoodieFinds, #HiddenGems, #GirlsNightOut, #DateNightEats
- B2B Foodservice: #BackOfHouseLife, #CateringCrew
- CPG Food: #SnackGoals, #MealPrepSunday
- Specialty dishes or interests
- Restaurants: #VeganEats, #HappyHour, #RamenSpot
- B2B Foodservice: #PlantBasedDistribution, #RestaurantTech
- CPG Food: #DairyFree, #Keto, #HighProtein
- Problem-solving intent (aka: hacks, reviews, ideas)
- Restaurants: #PizzaReview, #BestTacos
- B2B Foodservice: #CommercialKitchenHacks, #RestaurantSupply, #cheflife🔪
- CPG Food: #EasyWeeknightDinner, #HealthySnackIdeas
Pro Tip: Always look at hashtag results before adding to your post to ensure relevancy, volume and appropriateness.
Encourage and Amplify Influencer and Consumer Content
Influencer and user-generated content (UGC) go hand in hand with better social SEO. They not only build credibility, but also drive higher engagement, boosting your social search ranking. Consumers trust reviews and recommendations from peers more than branded ads, with 80% saying UGC highly impacts their purchase decisions.
Partner with creators who have high audience interaction to create content that supports discoverability. Run campaigns or host events that encourage consumers to post about their experiences.
Then amplify that content via paid ads and allowlisting to reach larger audiences, increase visibility and maximize ROI.
For Restaurants
- Host soft openings, tasting nights or exclusive invite-only events for local food influencers.
- Run campaigns with paid brand ambassadors to promote LTOs, publish reviews or offer promo codes.
- Give guests a reason to post by offering photo-worthy dishes, vibrant decor, pop-up events or unique experiences.
- Repost guest content (with permission) on your own channels to build credibility and foster community.
- Encourage specific hashtags or challenges with perks like a free appetizer for tagged posts. Ex: Post your best pizza pull at #PizzaNightAt[RestaurantName].
For Foodservice Suppliers
- Partner with chefs, operators or equipment reviewers to create testimonial-style or tutorial content in their kitchens.
- Host co-branded demos with restaurant or hospitality clients to showcase your product in real-time use.
- Encourage trade professionals to share tips using your products or tag your brand when showing off kitchen hacks.
- Incentivize posting by offering loyalty perks or exclusive discounts to clients who generate quality social content.
For CPG Food Brands
- Work with foodie influencers to highlight products in new recipes or with lifestyle creators to showcase brand attributes.
- Encourage user content by sharing simple, unique meal ideas using your product or by running contests/giveaways.
- Repost consumer content (with permission) with your product on your own channels to build credibility and foster community.
Pro Tip: Users can filter social search results for content based on how recently it was uploaded. Regularly feeding the content engine with new partnerships and user-generated content can keep your brand at the top of search results.
Leverage Short-Form Video
Short-form videos are the currency of discoverability. Instagram now prioritizes Reels, favoring those under 90 seconds in its algorithm. Data from Social Insider confirms that in 2025, Reels bring more impressions than Carousels for accounts with less than 50K followers.
Aim to create video content that balances education and entertainment—or as we like to say, “edutainment”— and strive to give searchers something they won’t find on Google.
TikTok shares that content discovery on its platform is driven by the desire to “discover something new” (49%), “learn something new” (35%) and “find inspiration” (29%).
Satisfy this search intent via video content that includes:
- Food sizzling, being plated, poured, cooked or eaten
- Capture behind-the-scenes moments or showcase unique experiences
- Creating how-to and tutorial-style content
- Gathering video reviews that feature your product in action
- Interview founders or popular voices, sharing stories
What about Reddit SEO?
Traffic to Reddit is largely driven by Google search, with Reddit threads now appearing at the top of SERPs. In fact, the platform became the third-largest visibility website in Google’s U.S. search results in 2024, only trailing behind Wikipedia and Amazon, according to SISTRIX’s SEO monitoring tool.
Unlike other social sites where content is more curated and visual, Reddit is all about providing expert advice, insights and helpful resources on niche topics. It is not a site for self-promotion. Participation requires that brands prioritize authenticity.
To show up in searches, begin by identifying subreddits that rank for your target keywords, then actively participate in subreddits by responding thoughtfully to threads where you have expertise, incorporating keywords into responses and linking to helpful resources—all without being overly promotional.
Check out this in-depth guide for more on Reddit SEO.
What about LinkedIn SEO?
Both your company’s and employees’ pages/profiles and posts can rank on LinkedIn and in external SERPs. Similar to other social sites, to show up in results, you must incorporate keywords in the right places and publish quality content that gets high engagement.
Include keywords in your personal and company “About” section, personal headline, company tagline and published content. LinkedIn doesn’t reward keyword stuffing. Instead, it gives prominence to posts, profiles and pages that drive high volumes of quality discussion, interaction and followers.
Check out this in-depth guide for more on LinkedIn SEO.
Grow Awareness, Trial + Trust Through Social Search
Whether you’re a B2B foodservice supplier competing for operator attention, a restaurant trying to fill tables or a CPG food brand aiming to drive trial, one thing is clear: if your brand or product isn’t searchable on social, it’s increasingly invisible to modern buyers.
Social platforms have evolved beyond content channels — they’re now primary discovery engines. Employing social SEO strategies and partnering with influencers to grow your reach gives you the opportunity to intercept intent, shape perception and build relevance in the exact moments people are looking for solutions, advice or inspiration.