Answers / Google Business Profile

Do My Business Hours Affect Whether Google Shows Me?

Keep your hours complete and accurate. Google says complete, accurate business information makes you more likely to show up in local results, and wrong hours send customers to a locked door. Set special hours for holidays so your profile doesn't lie.

What Google says

Google's local ranking tips say businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search, and list "when they can visit" as part of what your profile should tell customers. Google doesn't publish a separate rule about hours and ranking, so treat accuracy as the goal.

Which hours to list

• Regular hours: your customer-facing hours. Seasonal hours can be your regular hours during the season.
• Special hours: holidays, events and temporary changes. Set them ahead of time.
• More hours: hours for specific services (like a drive-through), usually a subset of your main hours.

Businesses that shouldn't list hours

Google says businesses with varied schedules (classes, showtimes) and those that operate only by appointment shouldn't provide hours. Hotels, schools, movie theaters and event venues are on Google's list.

Industry rules

• Restaurants: use dine-in hours; if none, takeout, then drive-through, then delivery.
• Storage facilities: office hours, otherwise front gate hours.

Off-season

Google lets you mark your business temporarily closed during the off-season, then reset regular hours when you reopen. That's better than leaving hours that say you're open.

Why it matters for AI answers

When someone asks an assistant "who's open now," wrong hours either hide you or send a customer to a closed door. Both cost you the job.

Rather not keep up with this yourself? That is what our Google Business Profile management covers.

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