How should a vegan kitchen publish a crawlable policy so diners and AI cite it?

Vs other Intelligence guides

Guide	Job
Vegan menu claims	Dish-level vegan vs plant-based vs allergen tags on the ticket. Not a kitchen-wide URL.
Vegan restaurant Google listing	Category, chips, menu URL, Q&A freeze. Short Maps answers, not a citable protocol.
Vegan restaurant AI citations	Restaurant and Menu JSON-LD plus a 15-prompt "best vegan near me" log. This page is the protocol those answers must match.
Plant-based review replies	Owner copy after a diner writes. Link the policy URL. Do not invent a protocol in the reply.
FAQ pages for AI citations	Generic FAQ HTML and FAQPage patterns. This guide is the kitchen sections those patterns must hold.
This guide	Crawlable kitchen policy outline GBP Q&A cannot replace

Why GBP Q&A cannot replace a policy page

Google Business Profile Q&A helps diners already on the Maps card. It is a short field. Other users can post competing answers. It is not in your sitemap. It has no FAQPage, no last-reviewed date, and no table a model can quote without guessing.

ChatGPT, Gemini, Bing, and Google AI Overviews look for a 200 URL with the protocol in the initial HTML. Keep Q&A. Freeze it as a pointer. Put the full protocol on a page you control. Year-round Q&A lines still belong in the listing field kit. Listing-site blurbs and Instagram highlights fail the same test. They are not an owned URL.

Steal this page outline

Ship /kitchen-policy/. Chef plus owner sign it. Menu, GBP Q&A, and review replies copy the same facts. Blank is better than theater.

Section	Publish this	Do not invent
H1	A diner question: "Is this kitchen vegan?" or "Kitchen diet and allergen policy"	Best vegan kitchen in [city]
Last reviewed	Visible date plus kitchen type: fully vegan / vegetarian with vegan plates / mixed	A certification you do not hold
Scope	Animal products never used, stored, or served. Name exceptions if mixed	100% vegan kitchen if honey, dairy, egg, or meat is in the building
Definitions	House meaning of vegan vs plant-based vs vegetarian. Dish tags follow the menu matrix	Plant-based as a quieter synonym for vegan
Honey, wine, beer	Named rule for honey, house wine, beer, and dessert wine	Vegan drinks if the house pour is fined with isinglass, casein, or egg
Cross-contact	Shared fryer, grill, pastry case. What you do. What you will not guarantee	Cross-contact free or allergen-free kitchen
Allergens	How diners get the 14-allergen sheet before they order. Chef escalate path	Vegan means safe for milk or egg allergy
FAQ	4 to 6 questions in the HTML. First FAQ equals this page H1	Answers that load only after a click-fetch
How to ask	Phone, form, or pre-order note the kitchen actually reads	We can veganize anything
What we do not claim	No eco-friendly kitchen, carbon-neutral dining, or citation percentages	Environmental slogans without proof

Fully vegan kitchens still need allergen and cross-contact rows. Gluten, soy, nuts, and sesame do not disappear because you dropped dairy. Mixed kitchens need the scope row in the first 120 words so a model cannot quote "vegan kitchen" from the H1 alone.

Four sections Maps cannot hold

GBP Q&A can hold one sentence. These four need a protocol. Write them once. Point Maps at the URL.

Section	Safe pattern (fill the brackets)	Banned line
Cross-contact	We [do / do not] share fryer oil with [fish / dairy / meat]. Vegan dishes cook on [named equipment]. We cannot guarantee zero cross-contact. Severe allergy: call before you book.	Cross-contact free. Dedicated vegan kitchen (unless that is physically true).
Vegan vs plant-based	Vegan means no intentional animal ingredients as served. Plant-based means [your one-line definition, or "we do not use this word"]. Dish tags copy the menu matrix.	Plant-based as a dodge when honey or butter is in the default plate.
Allergens	The 14 allergens are on [menu / pack / QR] before you order. A vegan tag is not a free-from claim. Chef decides. Not medical advice.	Allergen-free kitchen. Safe for milk allergy because it is vegan.
Honey / wine / beer	Honey: [never / named dishes]. House wine: [vegan-fined list / not vegan unless labelled]. Beer: [same rule].	All drinks are vegan. Vegan-friendly wine without checking fining.

You must not mislead, even without a legal vegan statute. EU and UK kitchens still declare the 14 allergens under FIC rules (Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 and retained UK law). A vegan icon does not replace sesame or gluten callouts. Run leftover green adjectives through the green claims calculator.

Make the URL citable

• One indexable URL in your sitemap. Link it from the menu, footer, and reservation confirmation.
• Keep tables and answers in the initial HTML. Accordions are fine only if the full text is already in the DOM. See FAQ for AI citations.
• Add FAQPage that matches the visible FAQ. First question equals that page H1. Show last reviewed in the HTML.
• Homepage Restaurant schema stays the citations job in vegan restaurant AI citations. Add a visible link to the policy. Do not invent a KitchenPolicy type.
• After publish, score the page in the AEO readiness calculator. Log eight prompts in ChatGPT, Gemini, and Bing covering kitchen type, honey, fryer, wine, vegan vs plant-based, allergens, and milk allergy. Record whether the URL is quoted. Do not invent a citation percentage. Method: AI search visibility audit.

Hotels reuse this outline for breakfast and link it from the stay page. Lodging Place ID work stays in vegan hotel AI citations. Product AEO vs SEO: AEO vs SEO.

One-sentence Maps pointer

Maps question	Answer pattern
Is the kitchen vegan?	Short true sentence, then: Full kitchen policy: [URL].
Do you use honey or dairy?	Name what you use. Full policy: [URL].
Can you handle nut or gluten allergies?	Shared-fryer or shared-board fact plus call for severe allergy. Policy: [URL].

If a user-submitted Q&A contradicts the page, answer with the same sentence and the URL. Review replies: review reply playbook.

Go / no-go

Call	When
No-go	Policy lives only in GBP Q&A, a PDF, or Instagram. Or the page says 100% vegan kitchen / allergen-free / eco-friendly kitchen without a protocol you will show.
Go	Indexable URL, outline rows filled, FAQ in HTML with FAQPage, last-reviewed date, GBP Q&A points at the URL, menu matrix matches.
Partial go	Publish scope, cross-contact, allergens, and honey/wine this week. Add FAQPage next week. Strip vegan from Maps until the URL is live.

This is not legal advice. Local environmental health owns enforcement. The steal is one URL, one outline, no invented citation lifts.

Template fields (paste and fill)

Field	Fill with	Do not invent
[kitchen_type]	fully vegan / vegetarian with vegan plates / mixed	certified vegan kitchen
[cross_contact_protocol]	named equipment, shared oil yes/no, what you will not guarantee	cross-contact free
[honey_wine_rule]	honey never / named dishes; wine and beer fining rule	all drinks are vegan
[allergen_path]	where the 14-allergen sheet lives, chef escalate, phone	safe because vegan
[markets_served]	UK / EU / US / other, so allergen rules stay local	a global free-from promise
[policy_url]	the live, indexable path	a Drive link or a Maps-only answer

Brief: "[kitchen_type] kitchen. Cross-contact: [cross_contact_protocol]. Honey/wine: [honey_wine_rule]. Allergens: [allergen_path]. Cite [policy_url]."

7-day actions

1. Day 1: Export current GBP Q&A, menu tags, and any Instagram "fully vegan" line. Mark each true / false / unknown.
2. Day 2: Fill the outline with the chef. Lock [kitchen_type], [cross_contact_protocol], [honey_wine_rule], [allergen_path].
3. Day 3: Draft the page. First FAQ equals the H1. No eco-friendly kitchen. No citation percentage. Match the dish matrix.
4. Day 4: Publish at [policy_url]. Add to sitemap. Link from menu and footer. FAQPage in the HTML.
5. Day 5: Rewrite GBP Q&A as one-sentence pointers plus the URL.
6. Day 6: Score the URL in the AEO readiness calculator. Fix headings, FAQ, and crawlability you control.
7. Day 7: Run the eight-prompt log. Record quoted URL yes/no. No-go if Q&A is still the only copy, or if the page claims a 100% vegan kitchen you cannot show.

Frequently asked questions

How should a vegan kitchen publish a crawlable policy so diners and AI cite it?

Publish one indexable kitchen-policy URL with kitchen type, vegan vs plant-based, honey and wine rules, the cross-contact protocol you run, and how diners get the 14-allergen sheet. Put FAQ in the HTML with FAQPage. Point Google Business Profile Q&A at that URL. Do not invent a citation percentage or a 100% vegan kitchen you cannot show.

Why is Google Business Profile Q&A not enough?

Q&A is a short Maps field other users can overwrite. It is not in your sitemap and has no FAQPage. Assistants need a URL they can quote for fryers, honey, and allergens. Keep Q&A as a one-sentence pointer.

Does a fully vegan kitchen still need an allergen section?

Yes. Vegan is not a free-from claim. Gluten, soy, nuts, sesame, and the rest of the 14 list still apply when present. Cross-contact among plant allergens can still happen.

Can we write 100% vegan kitchen on the page?

Only if no animal product is used, stored, or served, and you will show the protocol. If honey, dairy, egg, or meat is in the building, write mixed or vegetarian with vegan plates. Do not invent certified vegan.

How is this different from the menu claims or AI citations guides?

Menu claims are dish tags on the ticket. AI citations are Restaurant and Menu schema plus a near-me prompt log. This guide is the owned policy URL those pages and GBP Q&A must match.