Part 3 in a 3-part Series on Artificial Intelligence and Selling Restaurants
Artificial intelligence is no longer just an operational tool—it’s entering the dealmaking arena. For restaurant owners, brokers, and buyers, AI is transforming how deals are priced, financed, negotiated, and closed. This third article in our series builds on Part 1, where we discussed how AI shapes your online reputation, and Part 2, where we showed how to run leaner, smarter, and increase resale value through AI-driven operations.
Now, it’s time to look at how AI impacts the transaction itself—and why sellers should care. Here’s this Certified Restaurant Broker’s guide to using AI in the dealmaking process.
Recap: Why AI Matters in the Restaurant Sale Process
In our first article, we taught restaurant sellers and buyers why AI’s interpretation of your brand shapes how customers and would-be buyers, view your restaurant through the lens of artificial intelligence. We provided tips for understanding how restaurant owners can use AI to improve reviews, branding and increase sales before selling. We taught you that reputation management through AI is no longer operational for any restaurant owner.
In our second article we walked you through using AI to actually improve the operation of your store including how to run leaner and smarter, ultimately resulting in a higher selling price. We uncovered how AI helps owners cut costs, improve margins, and streamline operations—boosting valuation and making your business more attractive to buyers
Today: We dive into how the best restaurant brokers are using AI-powered tools for valuation, financing, buyer matching, and negotiation—the very steps that determine how fast and how profitably your restaurant sells.
AI for Restaurant Valuation
The starting point for any sale is the value of the business. Traditionally, valuations rely on manual review of P&Ls, comps, and broker experience. AI accelerates this process in multiple ways for the team at We Sell Restaurants including:
Comparable Sales: AI is capable of reviewing comparable sales from our own database of the most restaurants sold nationwide. This identifies trending by concept, type of service, and franchise versus independent brands. It can analyze days on market, selling cycles and lending approvals at the same time.
AI can work to identify pricing patterns by concept, geography, and size and compare it to national data published by others in the industry like BizBuySell.
AI can review financials and predict the likelihood of SBA lending for the store based on historical performance and lending criteria.
Why it matters: Faster, data-backed valuations build trust and reduce time to market. As Eric Gagnon frequently says, “There are no bad restaurants. There are simply restaurants that are badly priced.”
Smarter Restaurant Buyer Matching
Advanced firms that rely on technological advances like We Sell Restaurants are also using artificial intelligence for predictive analytics around buyers. This can include things like:
Scoring buyers based on past interactions, including call notes, clicks, and inquiries. Ranking buyers based on proof of funds, their recency, and amounts. In addition, using a customer relationship management system like the firm’s proprietary BOSS (Broker’s Operations and Sales System), AI can view the number of confidentiality agreements acknowledged, type of concepts and then automate follow-ups with high-potential candidates.
This reduces the speed to lead and shorts the inquiry to offer cycle. That, in turn, lowers the overall days on market, the time between listing and selling. That’s one of the most important numbers for sellers and is currently greater than six months according to most recent data published by BizBuySell.
What are other predictive functions that AI could assist with in buyer matching? The future is unlimited. AI may be able to scan database of buyers in seconds and predict interest based on menu concept, investment level, and geography. Overall, AI will be a Certified Restaurant Brokers tool to find the right restaurants for the buyer in the shortest period of time.
AI for Restaurant Financing & Lending
Financing delays often derail or seriously slow down deals. AI can assist with this in a number of ways.
Some examples include automating SBA prequalification scoring for either the buyer or the seller. It can also review financial packages for missing items or generate required sales plan numbers by year or by month.
AI can also review listings, including their use of automation or AI to help in gauging the readiness of the business for transfer and assist in writing documents to support the asking price.
All of this is critical as it results in Faster loan approvals and higher confidence from buyers and banks for the business being offered.
Contract Review & Risk Management
Those using AI on a regular basis, understand that AI can hear and see. Restaurant brokers struggling to draft a specific and measurable special stipulation can call on AI to help them wordsmith it appropriately.
AI can read a lease and summarize key clauses in seconds. You can prompt it to highlight assignment clauses, personal guarantee, and option years.
Prompt Example:
“Review this lease and highlight risks related to assignment and transfer.”
Negotiation Insights with AI
Offers are rarely accepted in the first round. A recent deal I was working with was sitting at a stalemate with $100,000 standing between the buyer and seller on a $1.8M transaction. There was an opportunity for the buyer to take over note payments of the seller and assume the debt at a much lower interest rate. In seconds, AI calculated that the assumption of the note, was more valuable than a $100,000 decrease in the purchase price, pushing the buyer to improve his offer and leaving both partners happy.
In other ways, AI can assist brokers by modeling counteroffer scenarios or drafting negotiation language. Obviously, while AI supports strategy, human judgment remains key in final decisions.
Accelerating Closings
AI reduces bottlenecks by helping to track the proprietary We Sell Restaurants checklist. Fed into the system, it can highlight the past due items for brokers, buyer or sellers, assisting in follow ups and reminder. This helps with tracking deal progress and predicting next action steps. That means sophisticated brokers can rely on AI to keep deals moving and prevent costly delays.
Why Restaurant Sellers Should Care
Brokers using AI-driven systems can accomplish more, leaving more time for buyer interactions. AI will never replace the broker functions, instead it should allow for the buyer to allocate more time directly with buyers and sellers. The human communication will result in more deals and faster deal cycles that preserve buyer motivation and reduce fallouts. Efficiency in valuation and financing can lead to better deal terms and higher multiples.
Action Plan for Restaurant Sellers
What should you do if you are listed for sale and aren’t sure if your Restaurant Broker is using AI? Ask the question. See if your broker is relying on smart tools to assist in their functions.
Use AI to review your listing and offer feedback to the restaurant broker. Ask AI tools to find you the most successful restaurant brokers in the nation.
Closing & What’s Next
AI isn’t replacing brokers, but it’s reshaping the deal process. Sellers who embrace AI-based preparation gain an edge: faster sales, fewer surprises, and better offers.
Ready to leverage AI for your sale? Start today and position your restaurant for a profitable, seamless transaction.