CX glossary

Plain-English definitions of the customer experience, review and guest feedback terms restaurant teams use every day.

A

AI Agents for Restaurants

AI agents for restaurants are AI systems that read guest and operational data and take actions, such as replying to reviews or taking orders, within set limits.
AI Review Response

AI review response is the use of AI, usually a large language model, to draft or post replies to online reviews in a business's own voice.

B

Brand Health

Brand health is how well a brand is known, perceived and chosen by guests over time, tracked through awareness, satisfaction, loyalty and reputation.
Brand Mentions

A brand mention is any time your restaurant brand is named online, in reviews, social posts, news, forums or videos, whether you're tagged or not.

C

Closed-Loop Feedback

Closed-loop feedback is following up with each guest who gives feedback and fixing the underlying cause, so the loop ends in a reply and a change.
Comment Cards

Comment cards are short printed feedback forms that guests fill in at the table or counter, usually left with the bill, to rate their visit and add a note.
Customer Data PlatformCDP

A customer data platform (CDP) is software that collects customer data from every source, unifies it into persistent profiles and shares them with other tools.
Customer Effort ScoreCES

Customer Effort Score (CES) measures how easy guests find a specific task, such as ordering, booking or getting help, usually on a 1–7 agreement scale.
Customer Satisfaction ScoreCSAT

Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) is the share of customers who rate a visit or interaction as satisfying, usually 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale.

D

Delivery App Ratings

Delivery app ratings are the scores guests give a restaurant after ordering on apps such as DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Deliveroo, GrabFood and foodpanda.

E

Employee Net Promoter ScoreeNPS

Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) measures how likely employees are to recommend their company as a place to work, on a scale from -100 to +100.

F

First-Party Guest Data

First-party guest data is information a restaurant collects directly from its own guests, with consent, through channels it owns.

G

Google Business Profile

A Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows a business's details, photos and reviews on Google Search and Maps, managed by the business.
Google Local Pack

The Google local pack is the map and short list of nearby businesses that Google shows in Search results for local searches such as "tacos near me".
Guest Complaint Resolution

Guest complaint resolution is the step-by-step process a restaurant follows to handle one complaint, from intake and triage to the fix, follow-up and records.
Guest ExperienceGX

Guest experience (GX) is the sum of every interaction a guest has with a restaurant brand, from discovering it to ordering, dining, delivery and follow-up.
Guest Feedback

Guest feedback is everything guests tell a restaurant about their experience, from surveys and reviews to comment cards, messages and conversations with staff.
Guest Journey Map

A guest journey map is a visual of every step a guest takes with a restaurant brand, from discovery to return visit, showing what they do, feel and run into.
Guest Lifetime ValueGLV

Guest lifetime value (GLV) is the total value, in revenue or margin, that a restaurant can expect from one guest over the whole relationship.
Guest Retention Rate

Guest retention rate is the share of a restaurant's guests from one period who come back and visit again in a later period.
Guest Satisfaction Survey

A guest satisfaction survey is a short questionnaire a restaurant sends after a visit or order to measure how satisfied guests were and why.

H

Hyperlocal Marketing

Hyperlocal marketing is marketing aimed at people within a small radius of each location, often a few blocks or a short drive, to bring nearby guests in.

I

Influencer Marketing for Restaurants

Influencer marketing for restaurants is working with social media creators, paid or hosted, to show your food and locations to their local audiences.

K

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Restaurants

Restaurant KPIs are the few measurable numbers, such as prime cost, ticket times and guest scores, that show whether a restaurant is meeting its goals.

L

Local SEO for Restaurants

Local SEO for restaurants is the work of helping every location appear when nearby guests search Google, Maps and other local search tools for a place to eat.

M

Moments of Truth

Moments of truth are the brief points in a guest's journey that most shape their impression of a restaurant, such as the greeting, the wait or the bill.

N

Negative Review Response

A negative review response is a business's public reply to a critical review, written to acknowledge the problem, make it right and reassure future guests.
Net Promoter ScoreNPS

Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures how likely customers are to recommend a business, from -100 to 100, based on one 0–10 question.

O

Online Reputation ManagementORM

Online reputation management is how a business monitors, responds to and improves what people say about it on review sites, maps listings and social media.

P

Post-Visit Survey

A post-visit survey is a short survey sent automatically after a dine-in, takeout or delivery visit, linked to that visit, to capture the guest's feedback.

Q

QR Code Feedback

QR code feedback is guest feedback collected through a QR code on a receipt, table tent, bag or packaging that opens a short survey on the guest's phone.

R

Repeat Guest Rate

Repeat guest rate is the share of a restaurant's guests in a period who have visited more than once, or the share of orders that come from those guests.
Reputation Score

A reputation score is a composite index that combines star ratings, review volume, recency, responses and sentiment into one number for online reputation.
Restaurant CRM

A restaurant CRM is software that keeps a record of each guest, with visits, orders, preferences and feedback, so you can recognize, segment and market to them.
Restaurant Loyalty Program

A restaurant loyalty program rewards guests for repeat visits or spending, usually with points, free items or perks, and identifies them at each order.
Review Aggregation

Review aggregation is collecting reviews and ratings from many sites into one feed, page or summary score, such as an aggregate star rating.
Review Gating

Review gating is screening guests' sentiment first and inviting only the happy ones to post public reviews, a practice Google, Yelp and regulators prohibit.
Review Management

Review management is the ongoing practice of monitoring, answering, requesting and analyzing customer reviews across every platform and location.
Review Recency

Review recency measures how fresh a business's reviews are, such as the days since its latest review or the share of reviews from the last 90 days.
Review Response Rate

Review response rate is the percentage of reviews a business replies to in a given period, usually tracked by platform, location and star rating.
Review Sentiment

Review sentiment is the share of your reviews that are positive, neutral or negative, tracked overall and by topic, location and period.
Review Solicitation

Review solicitation is asking guests to share their experience in a public review, in a way that treats every guest equally and follows each platform's rules.
Review Velocity

Review velocity is the rate at which a business gains new online reviews, usually measured per week or per month for each location.
Review Widget

A review widget is an embedded element that shows your ratings or guest reviews from Google, Yelp or other sources on your own website or location pages.

S

Sentiment Analysis

Sentiment analysis uses AI to read reviews, surveys and comments and label the feeling in them as positive, negative or neutral, often per topic.
Service Recovery

Service recovery is everything a restaurant does after a service failure to put things right with the guest and keep them coming back.
Share of VoiceSOV

Share of voice (SOV) is your brand's share of the mentions, reviews, ad impressions or search visibility in your market, compared with competitors.
Social Listening

Social listening is tracking and analyzing online conversations about your brand, competitors and category to find themes, risks and opportunities.
Star Rating

A star rating is the average score, usually from 1 to 5 stars, that guests give a business on review sites, maps and delivery apps.

T

Third-Party Review Sites

Third-party review sites are independent platforms, such as Google, Yelp, Tripadvisor and OpenTable, where guests publicly rate and review restaurants.

U

Unified Guest Profile

A unified guest profile is a single record per guest that combines their orders, visits, reservations, loyalty activity, feedback and reviews from every system.

V

Voice of the CustomerVoC

Voice of the Customer (VoC) is the program of capturing what guests say across every channel and turning it into decisions that improve the experience.

W

Win-Back Campaign

A win-back campaign is a series of targeted messages, often with an offer, that invites lapsed guests to return to a restaurant they've stopped visiting.

X

XMExperience Management

Experience management (XM) is the discipline of measuring and improving how customers and employees experience a business, and acting on what you learn.

Y

Yelp for Restaurants

Yelp for restaurants covers how restaurants use Yelp's free business page, reviews, replies, ads and booking tools to reach guests who search on Yelp.