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Google Business Profile Hours – Should You List As Open 24/7 Even When You’re Not?
We often get asked if it’s ok to list your Google Business Profile hours as 24/7 if you aren’t physically open 24 hours a day. While we always recommend following the Google Business Profile (GBP) guidelines and keeping an eye on updates directly from Google, we think it’s important to be aware of what’s going on in the real world and what the pros and cons are of engaging in any tactic you’re considering.
TL;DR
- Listing your Google Business Profile (GBP) hours as 24/7 can be helpful for some businesses, like law firms, even if not physically open 24/7.
- Google has increased automated calls to verify business hours, but there’s no known penalty for listing inaccurate hours.
- Incorrect hours may cause issues with bulk upload verification or business reinstatement after a suspension.
- It’s important to stay updated with Google’s guidelines and consider the pros and cons before listing 24/7 hours.
- A case study shows that optimizing GBP hours to 24/7 can boost lead generation for certain businesses.
When Should I List My GMB Opening Hours As 24/7?
Note: This article is about brick-and-mortar businesses. If you run a home-based business with no publicly listed address, you can learn how to change business hours on Google to reflect 24/7 availability, as long as you can answer the phone and provide service at all times.
Something we see happening in several verticals, but mainly with law firms, is listing Google My Business (GMB) opening hours as 24/7.
You might be asking, “Does Google Maps call businesses to verify hours?”
As of last year, Google has also increased automated phone calls to verify Google Business Profile hours. While I have yet to see a penalty for listing hours inaccurately, there have been cases where incorrect hours caused issues with bulk upload verification or prevented businesses from being reinstated after unrelated suspensions.
I have yet to hear a case where Google penalized a business for incorrectly listing their hours as 24 hours if they aren’t physically available 24/7 at the office.
However, I have heard of a case where incorrect hours can prevent a bulk upload verification, as well as preventing a business from being reinstated after a suspension unrelated to the hours.
We get a lot of questions at the Local Search Forum related to Google business hours. For example, on this thread, Jason asks:
I’ve seen a lot of plumbing companies list their Google My Business hours as 24/7. They technically have customer support answering the phones 24/7. The same holds true for personal injury lawyers. Yet their actual office is open 9 AM – 5 PM.
According to Google, it states the following for hours: “Provide your regular customer-facing hours of operation.”
This seems like a bit of grey area as to whether a business is allowed to put 24/7 for their hours.
On this thread, Ashley asks:
I manage listings for some pest control companies and am unsure about how to represent the business hours. We only do service for a set number of hours per day, but we take calls 24/7. After hours, the calls go to a call center.
Managers of the businesses think we should be able to list our hours as 24/7, but is this misrepresenting fact?
Here’s what Google says about how you should list your business hours:
Provide your regular customer-facing hours of operation. If applicable, you may use your current seasonal hours as your regular hours.
Reasons to List Google Business Hours as 24/7
Here is why law firms are choosing to set their Google business hours to 24 hours. When 5 pm rolls around, it makes a huge difference in how you display in the local pack.
Also, potential customers can filter the search results by businesses that are “open now” or “open 24 hours”, which automatically removes you from the search results if you are currently closed.
Pros and Cons of Listing Google Business Profile Hours as 24/7
As tempting as it may be to take advantage of the extra visibility, it’s important to consider the pros and cons of listing your Google business hours as open 24/7 when you aren’t physically open 24 hours a day. Will doing so in and of itself lead to a suspension? Maybe. But unlikely. However, here are the pros and cons you need to consider.
Pros:
- Increased after-hours visibility
- Increased overall activity on your GBP profile
Cons:
- Bulk verification issues. You can’t get verified if you’re hours aren’t accurate
- GBP support won’t help you. If you have an issue that you need help with, GBP will likely make you correct the hours before they will help you
Case Study: How Optimizing Google Business Profile Hours to 24/7 Helped Our Client Boost Lead Generation
The Problem
One of our clients had been facing a plateau in their lead generation and wasn’t seeing the same growth in leads as they had in the past. Their lead volume had stagnated, and they were eager to find a new approach to overcome this barrier and drive more business.
As we analyzed their strategy, we recognized a potential opportunity: Google’s new ranking factor that considers business hours when determining local pack rankings. Given that Google now prioritizes businesses that are open, we suggested our client update their operating hours to 24/7 to see if it could boost their visibility and lead generation outside of their current operating hours.
Our Strategy
In April 2024, our client made the decision to change the hours on their Google Business Profile to 24/7. We explained that, with Google factoring in business hours for local search results, this change would increase their chances of appearing in search results for searches happening at all times of the day (or night).
To support this shift, our client implemented a call-answering service to ensure that calls were handled around the clock. This was crucial to make sure that, even outside of regular business hours, they would not miss any potential leads or upset potential clients.
The Solution
By updating their Google Business Profile to 24/7 hours, our client’s business became visible for “after-hours” searches. With the added call-answering service in place, they were able to capture leads even during late-night hours, which they had previously missed. This change allowed them to reach a broader audience and respond to customers when they needed help the most.
The Results
After the change in April, our client saw significant improvements:
- 35% increase in leads month-over-month
- 10% increase in leads year-over-year
- The highest number of leads in a single month in the past year
This surge in lead generation demonstrated that updating their operating hours to 24/7 helped increase their local search visibility and allowed them to capture new leads that they had previously been missing.
Key Takeaways
By following our recommendation to update their business hours to 24/7, our client was able to break through their lead plateau. The change directly impacted their local search rankings, leading to more visibility, higher engagement, and an increase in leads. This case highlights the importance of staying on top of SEO trends and being willing to adapt to new ranking factors. For businesses looking to stay competitive and capture more leads, optimizing Google Business Profile hours is a critical step.
Have you ever considered updating your GMB opening hours to 24/7?
Has a client ever asked about it?
How did you handle it?
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It would be nice to see Google start to do a random robo-call verification process on older GMB listings. Not only would it weed out fake listings and dead companies, but also test “24 hour” companies.
Also, I always wondered what happens if a competitor sees those hours and does the “suggest feedback” option on your GMB listing. Would this initiate Google to cross-check website hours and make sure they match your GMB data (and other listings)?
IMO, there are plenty of “data trust signals” online, but for now it seems like Google is not able to measure, or just doesn’t care.
Hey Kevin, yes I am surprised Google doesn’t consider this a higher priority from a data quality perspective.
It would be nice to see Google start to do a random robo-call verification process on older GMB listings. Not only would it weed out fake listings and dead companies, but also test “24 hour” companies.
Also, I always wondered what happens if a competitor sees those hours and does the “suggest feedback” option on your GMB listing. Would this initiate Google to cross-check website hours and make sure they match your GMB data (and other listings)?
IMO, there are plenty of “data trust signals” online, but for now it seems like Google is not able to measure, or just doesn’t care.
Hey Kevin, yes I am surprised Google doesn’t consider this a higher priority from a data quality perspective.
Many customers of mine are apartment houses with the “apartment” category. As far as I know those are eligible for “Open 24/7”. But all the time I select that choice the algorythm immediately deletes those settings. Would that category be eligible – is that correct?
Hi Petra, I would base it on the hours of the onsite office at the apartment complex.
Many customers of mine are apartment houses with the “apartment” category. As far as I know those are eligible for “Open 24/7”. But all the time I select that choice the algorythm immediately deletes those settings. Would that category be eligible – is that correct?
Hi Petra, I would base it on the hours of the onsite office at the apartment complex.
As an owner-operator business owner, I don’t pick up calls, while working on my own, and let such calls to go to voice mail. I call such voice messages later.
Given such a situation, is it okay to list my business hours as 9am to 5pm OR should I list my business hours, when I call such voice messages back?
Does Google call back to verify business hours listed on business profile? If they do, then what if their verification call goes to voice mail?
Thanks for your time!
I think 9-5 would probably make the most sense. I’m not sure if Google calls to verify hours but I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
As an owner-operator business owner, I don’t pick up calls, while working on my own, and let such calls to go to voice mail. I call such voice messages later.
Given such a situation, is it okay to list my business hours as 9am to 5pm OR should I list my business hours, when I call such voice messages back?
Does Google call back to verify business hours listed on business profile? If they do, then what if their verification call goes to voice mail?
Thanks for your time!
I think 9-5 would probably make the most sense. I’m not sure if Google calls to verify hours but I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
I have an entertainment center that does all of it’s business through online and phone bookings. If customers come to our location on Fridays or weekends, there’s a good chance someone will be there in person, but there’s no guarantee. We originally listed the hours we’re available for booking as our business hours, but Google wants only customer-facing hours, so I removed all our hours, which doesn’t seem accurate either because we ARE open for business and are available almost any time at short notice. Visits coming from our Google profile consequently dropped 50% since we removed our hours.
We DO have some regular drop-in hours on Saturdays where we are guaranteed to be open, but if I list just a 4 hour window a week as our hours, isn’t that worse than not listing any hours at all? My other concern is that if I put our “available” hours as our business hours, customers might show up and find a locked door, and I don’t want to o that to anybody either…
What do you recommend?
Hi Chuck, if this is a SAB I would list the hours as 24 hours. If this is a brick-and-mortar, I would list the hours open when someone is present at the office. You can also utilize “holiday hours” and “add more hours” options to get more granular.
I have an entertainment center that does all of it’s business through online and phone bookings. If customers come to our location on Fridays or weekends, there’s a good chance someone will be there in person, but there’s no guarantee. We originally listed the hours we’re available for booking as our business hours, but Google wants only customer-facing hours, so I removed all our hours, which doesn’t seem accurate either because we ARE open for business and are available almost any time at short notice. Visits coming from our Google profile consequently dropped 50% since we removed our hours.
We DO have some regular drop-in hours on Saturdays where we are guaranteed to be open, but if I list just a 4 hour window a week as our hours, isn’t that worse than not listing any hours at all? My other concern is that if I put our “available” hours as our business hours, customers might show up and find a locked door, and I don’t want to o that to anybody either…
What do you recommend?
Hi Chuck, if this is a SAB I would list the hours as 24 hours. If this is a brick-and-mortar, I would list the hours open when someone is present at the office. You can also utilize “holiday hours” and “add more hours” options to get more granular.
Thanks for sharing such an interesting post. Yes, indeed, in many cases, visitors search for such businesses on Google, who are “open now” or “open 24/7” and for then if you really want to get displayed on google, your business should be enlisted as opened 24/7 hours.
Thanks for sharing such an interesting post. Yes, indeed, in many cases, visitors search for such businesses on Google, who are “open now” or “open 24/7” and for then if you really want to get displayed on google, your business should be enlisted as opened 24/7 hours.
We have a different dilemma distinguishing dance studio hours from office hours. We have six studios in four different neighborhoods and two offices that each handle some of the dance studios. Two neighborhood studios do not have an office, and hours differ between dance studios and offices. I wish GMB had a check box to distinguish what hours are being displayed or the ability to add a label.
Hi Steven, agreed! You can utilize the business description field to add details related to business and operational hours.
They do have different types of hours (like restaurants having takeout hours) but the main ones are the only ones that display prominently, unfortunately.
We have a different dilemma distinguishing dance studio hours from office hours. We have six studios in four different neighborhoods and two offices that each handle some of the dance studios. Two neighborhood studios do not have an office, and hours differ between dance studios and offices. I wish GMB had a check box to distinguish what hours are being displayed or the ability to add a label.
Hi Steven, agreed! You can utilize the business description field to add details related to business and operational hours.
They do have different types of hours (like restaurants having takeout hours) but the main ones are the only ones that display prominently, unfortunately.
So what about brick and mortars that also offer 24/7 phone service? We work with residential propane companies where the physical office would be closed, but they can serve customers over the phone and do.
There’s no option for “Emergency Hours” but could these hours instead fall under Online Service Hours or Delivery hours?
How do the additional hours play here? Or is it just based on main hours?
Hi Lane, I would list them under Online Service Hours.
So what about brick and mortars that also offer 24/7 phone service? We work with residential propane companies where the physical office would be closed, but they can serve customers over the phone and do.
There’s no option for “Emergency Hours” but could these hours instead fall under Online Service Hours or Delivery hours?
How do the additional hours play here? Or is it just based on main hours?
Hi Lane, I would list them under Online Service Hours.
Hi,
we are a mover and packer business and we provide service to our customers 24/7 recently we got our business profile re-verified and i was informed that to change your hours and i changed it and the verification was successful, after that it states near hours that it was updated by Google, Google updated it to 24hrs, is it safe?
Hi Moonir, if you provide service 24/hours you should be fine. If you are an SAB, you just need to answer the phone 24 hours.
Hi,
we are a mover and packer business and we provide service to our customers 24/7 recently we got our business profile re-verified and i was informed that to change your hours and i changed it and the verification was successful, after that it states near hours that it was updated by Google, Google updated it to 24hrs, is it safe?
Hi Moonir, if you provide service 24/hours you should be fine. If you are an SAB, you just need to answer the phone 24 hours.