Why AI gets your hours wrong, and how to fix it

Where do AI assistants get your hours?

When someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Google "is [your business] open Saturday?", the assistant usually searches the web and reads what comes back. That can include:

• Your Google Business Profile
• Your website, including the footer, contact page and any schema markup
• Directories like Yelp, Bing Places, Apple Maps, Angi, the BBB and trade-specific listings
• Facebook, Instagram and Nextdoor pages
• Data aggregators that feed many smaller directories
• Old articles, event listings or cached copies

If all of those agree, the answer is right. If two of them disagree, the assistant has to pick one. It may pick the wrong one, or blend them into something that was never true.

Why are the hours wrong in the first place?

In our experience, it is almost always one of these:

You changed your hours and updated one place. Most owners update Google and forget the rest. The website footer still says 8 to 5 from three years ago.

A directory created a listing on its own. Many directories scrape or buy business data. You may have a listing you never knew about, with hours someone guessed.

Your schema markup is stale. A plugin or theme added LocalBusiness markup years ago with default hours. It sits in the page code where you never see it. Our schema checklist for contractors covers how to check it.

You have two sets of hours. Office hours and field hours. Weekday and emergency hours. If you do not say clearly which is which, sources mix them up.

A seasonal change never got reversed. Holiday or summer hours left in place.

How do you find every place your hours are listed?

Set aside an hour and work through this list. Keep a simple spreadsheet with three columns: where, what it says, fixed or not.

1. Ask the assistants. In ChatGPT, Gemini and Google, ask "what are the hours for [business name] in [city]?" Note the answers and any sources they link. Those links are your first suspects. Our free AI visibility check shows the full answers with sources.
2. Check your own site. Header, footer, contact page, about page, location pages and any PDF menus or brochures.
3. Check your page code. Run your home page through the Schema Markup Validator and look for openingHours or openingHoursSpecification.
4. Check Google Business Profile. Regular hours, special hours, and any secondary hours like "online service hours."
5. Search your business name and phone number on Google. Open every directory listing on the first two or three pages.
6. Check the big map apps. Apple Maps (through Apple Business Connect) and Bing Places.
7. Check social profiles. Facebook in particular has its own hours field.

How do you fix it at the source?

Decide your true hours first, in one sentence per day, and write them down. That is your master copy. A business facts page on your site is the natural home for it.

Then fix in this order:

1. Your website. Facts page, footer, contact page and schema. These are the sources you fully control.
2. Google Business Profile. Regular hours, then special hours for upcoming holidays.
3. Apple Business Connect and Bing Places. These feed a lot of phone and assistant lookups.
4. Major directories. Yelp, Facebook, BBB and the ones your trade uses. Claim them if you have not.
5. Smaller listings. Fix what you can reach. Ask for removal of duplicates.

Use the exact same format everywhere. If your site says "7 am to 6 pm," do not write "7:00 to 18:00" somewhere else and "7 to 6" in a third place. Consistency makes it easy for any reader, human or machine, to see they match.

How should you handle emergency or after-hours service?

This is where trade businesses get tripped up most. If you answer emergency calls 24 hours but the office is open 7 to 6, say both, clearly and separately.

On your site, something like: "Office hours: Monday to Friday, 7 am to 6 pm. Emergency service: 24 hours, every day, call (555) 010-0000."

On Google Business Profile, set your regular hours to when you actually take calls. If that is 24 hours, set 24 hours. Use the description or a post to explain any after-hours fee. Do not set 24 hours if nobody picks up at 2 am. An assistant will repeat it, and an angry customer will remember it.

How do you keep the hours right?

Make it a habit, not a project.

• When hours change, update your site first, then Google, then the rest, all in the same week.
• Set special hours for every holiday at the start of each quarter.
• Recheck quarterly. Ask the assistants again, scan the main directories, and run the schema validator.
• Keep your spreadsheet. The list of where your hours live is the most useful thing you will make here.

Is this worth the effort?

Wrong hours cost real jobs. A customer who hears you are closed calls someone else, and you never know it happened. Hours are also one of the facts assistants state with the most confidence, so mistakes travel.

The fix is boring, and that is good news. It takes a few hours, not a big budget. Start by running our free AI visibility check to see what assistants say today. If you want us to do the cleanup and keep it current, it is part of our AI search (GEO) work. You can also read how ChatGPT picks local businesses for the wider picture.