Guidelines for Hours of Operation

If you run a customer-facing business, then your local listings should include regular hours of operation.

For most businesses, publishing the hours of operation is straightforward. However, if your business has multiple sets of hours, like seasonal hours or limited hours during holidays and special events, then you will need to follow the specific style guidelines from Google, Bing, Yelp, and other local listings platforms.

Hours on Google

Google recommends that businesses with seasonal hours include their regular hours of operation in any Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business listings), and then set special hours in advance for holidays, temporary closures, and other special events. If your business is closed during the off-season, then you can mark your business as temporarily closed in the Google Business Profile dashboard.

Or, you can mark your business as permanently closed during this period.

Certain types of businesses shouldn’t include hours in their local listings, per Google’s guidelines. Businesses with varied hours (like showtimes, classes, or worship services) and those that are open only by appointment should not list their business hours.

If your business has multiple departments, then Google recommends publishing the business hours for each department on that department’s separate listing.

If you run a bank, car dealership, gas station, restaurant, or a storage facility, refer to Google’s hours of operation guidelines for your particular industry.

Hours on Yelp

Like Google, Yelp also recommends that businesses update their listings with seasonal hours, as this can help customers find your business when you’re open late for special occasions. You can set special hours through the Yelp for Business mobile app. Manually add each day where your operating hours will differ from the regular hours listed on Yelp.

Companies like SOCi will work with multi-location brands to update their listings across all the major platforms and make sure the hours of operation are updated for holidays and special events.