Get found in delivery app search: naming items, brands, combos and tags

Here is a mistake we find on almost every menu we audit. A customer types "chicken momo" into the app. The restaurant sells excellent chicken momos, and does not appear, because the item is called "Steamed Momo" and the chicken is hiding inside an option.

The four things app search reads

When someone searches for a dish, the app looks for those words across restaurants and menus. In practice that means four places you control, and one place that does not count: options inside an item, like "choose your filling: chicken, veg, paneer".

Item names: six rules

1. Protein or variant near the front. "Chicken Steamed Momo", "Beef Smash Burger", "Paneer Tikka Wrap".
2. Split variants into separate items when people search for them separately. Chicken and veg momos should be two items, not one with an option.
3. Use the customer's words, not the chef's. If people type "shawarma", do not call it "Levantine Wrap".
4. Keep signature names, but add what it is. "The Volcano Spicy Chicken Burger" keeps the personality and gets found.
5. Skip the poetry. Delivery menus are not dine-in menus. A clean name, a clear photo and a price do the work.
6. Be consistent across apps, so the same dish is found everywhere and your reporting lines up.

Before and after

Brand names

Your brand name is searched as well as browsed. A name that says what you sell gets found by people who have never heard of you: a momo brand with "momo" in its name appears for every momo search, while an abstract name relies entirely on people already knowing it. If you are launching a delivery brand, choose a name that carries the category. If you already have a strong abstract name, carry the category in your item and combo names instead. We cover this in launching a second delivery brand.

Combo names

"Combo 3" is invisible. "Chicken Burger Meal with Fries and Drink" is found by anyone searching for a chicken burger, and tells them what they get before they tap. Name every combo after its hero item, then what comes with it, and add the serving size for sharing sets: "Chicken Momo Combo for 2". The pricing side is in combo boxes that lift order value.

Search tags and categories

Most apps let you choose cuisine and dish tags for your restaurant in the partner portal. They decide which filters and category tiles you appear under, such as "Burgers", "Momos" or "Healthy". The number of tags and the options differ by app, so check with your account manager, and pick the tags that match what you sell most, not everything you sell.

Inside the menu, name categories the way people browse: "Burgers", "Wings and Tenders", "Sides", "Drinks". Put best-sellers and combos near the top. A category called "Chef's Creations" tells a hungry customer nothing.

Names do real work

When a Korean café in Al Quoz started getting traffic from creators, the first fix was not an ad. We matched brand and dish names on the apps to the words people saw on Instagram, so a search found the menu. Together with new photos and set menus, menu conversion rose from 16% to 28% without any extra discount.

After the names, fix the photos and prices

Names get you found. Photos and prices get you chosen. Read food photography for delivery apps next, and how to rank higher on Talabat for the bigger picture.