Running a café in Sweden: how guests find you, and what you may post

Guests choose a café on the map, often minutes before they walk in. To be chosen, your profile needs correct opening hours, a menu with prices that can be read on a phone, honest photos and answered reviews. If you are new to Sweden, also learn the local rules on alcohol promotion and allergen information before you post.

Facts about Google come from Google's Business Profile Help. Rules come from the Swedish Consumer Agency, the Swedish Food Agency and the Swedish Parliament's legal texts. Everything was checked on 10 November 2026.

First, the paperwork that comes before any marketing

If you have not opened yet: according to the Swedish Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket), a café with continuous sales counts as a food business and must be registered with your control authority, which is the municipality. You may start the business 14 days after the municipality has received your registration. Register first, market afterwards.

A profile on the map comes after that. Local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity (Google's help page calls the third factor "prominence"), and there is no way to pay for a better local ranking.

Hours: the detail guests act on

• Enter weekdays and weekends separately.
• Add special hours for public holidays such as Christmas, Easter and Midsummer. Regular hours stay untouched. Google advises showing your hours for official holidays even when they match your regular hours.
• Special hours cover changes and closures of up to 6 days in a row. If you close for 7 days in a row or more, for example a summer break, mark the business as temporarily closed instead.
• If the kitchen closes before the café does, say so in the description.

A guest who has stood in front of a locked door with "Open" on her screen tends to write about it.

The menu, in two languages

In the profile you can add a link where guests can check a menu. Open it on a phone. A photo of a chalkboard is hard to read, and a file that has to be downloaded often goes unopened.

Write the menu in Swedish and add English underneath. Keep Swedish names for things that have them, and explain them once: "kanelbulle (cinnamon bun)", "räkmacka (open prawn sandwich)". Print the prices. Say what you have for people who avoid gluten, lactose or animal products. If you take table bookings, add a reservation link to the profile in the same way.

Allergens: a rule you may not know from home

For food that is not prepacked, the guest must be able to find out which allergens it contains. The Swedish Food Agency says the information may be given in writing or orally. If you give it orally, there must always be a specific notice that the information is available, for example a sign where orders are placed. The agency's example sign reads, in Swedish: "Är du allergisk? Du kan alltid fråga oss om innehållet i maten." (Are you allergic? You can always ask us what is in the food.) Put the same line in your online menu.

Photos that match what the guest gets

Show the counter, the most ordered items, the seating and the entrance from the street. If you have outdoor seating, show it. Photos should be in focus and well lit, without significant alterations or excessive use of filters, and should represent reality. A new photo can take 24 to 48 hours to show on the profile. Replace seasonal photos when the season ends.

Category and details

Pick the primary category that best describes the place. If people come for coffee and pastries and you also serve lunch, café comes first and restaurant second. Do not select a category for every product or service. If you add or edit a category, Google might ask you to verify the business again. Then fill in phone, website, and attributes such as wifi and parking.

Reviews

Ask guests for reviews, for example with a QR code at the till. Offer nothing in return. Google strictly prohibits offering incentives, like free or discounted goods or services, in exchange for reviews, so a free coffee for a review is out. Since 1 September 2022, the annex to the Swedish Marketing Act also lists posting fake consumer reviews as unfair.

Reply in a short, polite and timely way. A factual answer to an unhappy review is read by the next guest too. For more on getting and answering reviews, see Google reviews for a business in Sweden: getting them, answering them, and what can be removed.

Do not bring alcohol promotion habits with you

The rules may be stricter than the ones you know from home. If the café holds a serving licence, the Alcohol Act applies to all marketing, including social media and the map profile. The Swedish Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket) sums it up:

• Particular moderation. All marketing of alcoholic drinks must meet a requirement of particular moderation.
• Not to the young. Marketing must not depict or specifically target children and young people under 25.
• The image rule. An image in a commercial advertisement may show only the product or its raw ingredients, individual packages and the trademark. This applies to images in commercial advertisements online as well.
• No price lures. Discounts, special prices, gifts and competitions are in most cases not considered compatible with the requirement.

The agency has central supervision of the marketing rules. The municipality supervises marketing at or next to the place where alcohol is served. The agency's general advice on marketing of alcoholic drinks, KOVFS 2023:1, has applied since 1 January 2024.

In practice, a bottle on the counter is one thing. A cheerful group raising glasses under the words "two for one on Thursdays" is another. If in doubt, ask the licensing unit of your municipality before you post.

Who can help

Visita is the trade and employers' organisation for the Swedish hospitality industry. It signs the industry's collective agreements. For questions about your licence, the municipality is the first contact.

Check how you are listed

In SverigesForetagsGuide, Stockholm cafés are listed under Cafés & Canteens (491 places) and Coffee Shops & Espresso Bars (97 places), counted on 10 November 2026. Our rankings of restaurants and cafés show how a place looks when its details are complete. If your café is missing, you can add it free of charge.

No profile yet? Follow How to add your business to Google Maps in Sweden. A profile that is hard to find? See Local SEO in Sweden: how your business shows up on Google.

See the café as a guest does

Start by comparing what a guest actually sees with your own details, and write down what is missing or wrong. If you want help deciding what to fix first, Madloba Consult describes its work on Google Maps visibility here:

Google Maps SEO for local business

Sources

All sources were read on 10 November 2026.

• Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking on Google
• Google Business Profile Help: How to set Special hours
• Google Business Profile Help: Manage your local business links
• Google Business Profile Help: Manage your Business Profile photos & videos
• Google Business Profile Help: Manage your business category
• Google Business Profile Help: Tips to get more reviews
• Google Business Profile Help: Find your business on Google
• Konsumentverket: Alkohol - regler för företag (in Swedish)
• Konsumentverket: KOVFS 2023:1 Konsumentverkets allmänna råd om marknadsföring av alkoholdrycker (in Swedish)
• Livsmedelsverket: Starta kafé, brochure, 2025 (in Swedish)
• Livsmedelsverket: Information om livsmedel som inte är färdigförpackade, brochure, February 2015 (in Swedish)
• Sveriges riksdag: Tillkännagivande (2022:658) enligt marknadsföringslagen, point 23c, and Marknadsföringslag (2008:486), amendment SFS 2022:656 in force 1 September 2022 (in Swedish)
• Visita: Om Visita (in Swedish)

Last checked: 10 November 2026.

Written by: SverigesForetagsGuide editorial team (business guides). Fact-checked against Google's help pages on 10 November 2026.