Why AI Assistants Get Your Business Hours Wrong (and How to Fix It)

AI assistants usually get business hours wrong because the sources they draw on disagree or are out of date: an old directory listing, a website footer nobody updated, or a map profile missing holiday hours. The fix is to choose one official set of hours, update every place that publishes them, and re-check before holidays and seasonal changes.

Why hours matter so much

Hours questions are some of the most practical things people ask: “is the pharmacy on Rue de la République open Sunday?” or “what time does the garden centre close today?”. A wrong answer has a direct cost. A customer who arrives at a closed shop may not come back, and may leave a frustrated review.

Where assistants get hours from

Assistants that search the web, and those connected to map and local data, typically draw on a mix of:

• Your Google Business Profile, which feeds Google Search and Maps (and therefore Google’s AI features).
• Bing Places, used across Microsoft products including Bing, which Copilot draws on.
• Apple Business Connect, which feeds Apple Maps and Siri.
• Your own website, especially the contact page and footer.
• Directories and review sites such as Yelp, TripAdvisor, Yellow Pages-style directories and sector-specific listings.
• Social media profiles, such as your Facebook page.

If two or three of these disagree, the assistant may pick the wrong one or hedge with vague wording.

A routine to keep hours accurate

1. Write your official hours once. Include regular hours, lunch closures, and differences between locations or departments (for example, a shop and its workshop).
2. Update the three big profiles first: Google Business Profile, Bing Places and Apple Business Connect.
3. Update your website in plain text on the contact page, and in your LocalBusiness schema using openingHoursSpecification.
4. Update secondary listings and social profiles.
5. Set a calendar reminder four weeks before every holiday period and seasonal change.

Holiday and seasonal hours

This is where most errors happen. Google Business Profile and other major platforms let you add special hours for specific dates. Use them for public holidays, summer closures and events. On your website, add a short “Holiday hours” note with exact dates. A beach café that closes from November to March should state that clearly, with the reopening date, rather than leaving regular hours online all winter.

Temporary closures and changes

If you close for renovation or move premises, mark the closure on your profiles rather than deleting them, and update every listing with the new address when you reopen. Ask any local news or partner sites that mention your old details to update them. Our guide on correcting inaccurate AI hours and locations covers moves in more detail.

How to check what assistants say

Ask several assistants directly: “What are the opening hours of [business name] in [city]?” and “Is [business name] open on Sunday?”. Also ask about a holiday date. If the answer is wrong, compare it with your listings to find the likely source. Re-check a week or two after fixing it; assistants that search the live web tend to update sooner than those relying on older data.

Multi-location businesses

Give each location its own page on your website with its own hours, address and phone number. Make sure each location has its own map profile. A single “hours vary by store” line leaves assistants guessing. For broader fact consistency, read how to update brand information across the AI web.

How Keboost helps

Keboost tracks practical questions like hours, locations and contact details across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Copilot, flags wrong answers, and helps you publish clear, consistent information. Run a free AI visibility check to see whether assistants have your hours right.