How we rank
The answer pages under /eat rank places to eat in Gold Coast, such as restaurants open for dinner on a given day. The pages under /best rank local services such as hair salons, gyms and bakeries. Every page follows the rules below. Ranked lists are never paid for. Paid placements are labelled "Featured" and kept apart from the lists.
Which places are considered
Publicly listed food venues (/eat) and service venues (/best) in Gold Coast. A /eat list is published only when at least 5 venues qualify, a /best list under the rule below. Below that the page does not exist.
What counts for each list
- Dinner: a restaurant counts for a weekday when its listed hours that day cover 6 pm to 8 pm in one opening period.
- Open late: a venue counts on a day when its listed hours run to 10 pm or later. Each day lists its top 10.
- Cheap eats: a venue counts when its menu has at least 3 dishes priced under $20. Drinks, extras, sides, sauces and add-ons are not counted.
- Vegetarian: a menu dish is labelled vegetarian or vegan, or its name says so, and names no meat or seafood.
- Kids menu: the menu has a kids, children or junior section, or dishes named that way.
- Best by dish: a venue needs at least 20 Google reviews and evidence for the dish. A matching Google category or name ranks first, then venues with several matching menu items, then venues with one or two. A page needs at least 3 qualifying venues and lists the top 8.
Local services (/best)
A service venue is placed by the main category Google gives it, such as hair salon, barber shop or gym. A venue that lists a category only as a secondary one does not count. A venue counts when its rating is at least 4.0 from at least 5 Google reviews. A page is published only when at least 3 venues count, and lists the top 30. The order is the same weighted Google rating as the /eat lists.
Health services (physiotherapists, dentists, chiropractors, podiatrists) are not rated or ranked. Their pages show no rating, review count or review text. They list every such venue and are ordered by distance from the city centre, then by name.
Cuisine and type lists under /best, such as Thai restaurants or cafes, follow the same rules: the main Google category, at least 5 venues and the top 30. Their rating and review minimums are the city's own, and each page states them.
How the order is set
Places are ordered by a weighted Google rating: (v / (v + 30)) × rating + (30 / (v + 30)) × the average rating of the qualifying venues, where v is the venue's number of Google reviews. The average counts venues with at least 10 reviews. A perfect score from a handful of reviews does not outrank a slightly lower score from hundreds.
Ties go to the venue with more reviews, then to the name. Venues without a rating come last. Each page lists the top 30 and states how many places qualified in total.
Where the data comes from
Ratings and review counts are Google's. Opening hours, websites and menus come from each venue's record. A price is the venue's own price. A delivery platform price is shown only with the platform's name.
Lists are rebuilt from the venue data at most every 10 minutes. Each page shows the date of the newest venue record behind it.
Closed venues
Closed venues are removed from the lists, and their pages are marked noindex.
Paid placement
Ranked lists are never paid for. Paid placements are labelled "Featured" and kept apart from the lists. Position on an /eat or /best list comes from the rules above.
Corrections
A wrong rating, opening time or closed venue can be reported by email.