Direct answer
Change your hours on Google first, then on your website, Facebook and every other listing you control, on the same day. For a closure of seven days or less, Google asks you to use special hours. For a longer break, such as closing for low season, it asks you to mark the business as temporarily closed. Set a reminder to change everything back when you reopen.
Why do seasonal hours cause so much trouble?
Our listings check gets your details matching everywhere. Seasonal hours can undo that several times a year.
In Thailand, hours often change for low season, for Songkran in April, for other holidays, and for weather on the islands. Each change has to be made in five or six places. It is easy to update Google and forget Facebook, or update Facebook and forget the booking site. Then a customer arrives to a closed door, or an AI tool tells them you’re open when you aren’t.
What should I change, and where?
Work through the same list every time, in this order.
- Google Business Profile. This is what shows in Google Maps and Google search.
- Your website. Keep your hours in one place, such as the contact page, so there is only one thing to change.
- Facebook. Update the hours on the page, not just in a post.
- Wongnai, TripAdvisor and booking platforms. Any listing you control.
- LINE or other messaging accounts. If your greeting message mentions opening hours, update that too.
Special hours or temporarily closed?
Google gives you two tools, and they are for different things.
| Situation | What to use on Google |
|---|---|
| Closed for three days over Songkran | Special hours |
| Closed or open late for a public holiday | Special hours |
| Open all year, but shorter hours in low season | Change your regular hours, then change them back |
| Closed for two months in low season | Temporarily closed |
Google’s guidance is that closures of seven days or less use special hours, and longer closures, including off season, use temporarily closed. Google also says that for broad searches, a business marked temporarily closed can rank after businesses that are open. So use it only for the time you are actually closed, and restore your normal hours the day you reopen.
If you close for part of the year, say so in your business description too, for example “open from November to April”. Check Google’s current guidelines on seasonal businesses before you close for a long period.
Set it up before the season, not on the day
The changes that go wrong are the ones made in a rush. Once a year, put the dates you know into your calendar: the start and end of low season, Songkran, and any holidays when you close. Add a reminder a week before each one, with the list above.
On Google, you can add special hours ahead of time, so the change happens on the right day without you.
What about AI tools?
AI tools take your hours from the same places customers do: Google, your website, Facebook and listing sites. If those sources disagree, the answer a customer gets may be the old one. After a change, ask an AI tool when you’re open and check the answer. Our post on checking whether AI tools recommend you explains how to run that check properly.
Common questions
Will marking my business temporarily closed hurt my ranking? Google says a temporarily closed business can rank after open businesses for broad searches. Use it only while you are closed, and change it back as soon as you reopen.
I stay open in low season but with shorter hours. What should I do? Change your regular hours for the season on every listing, then change them back when the season ends. Put both dates in your calendar so you don’t forget the second one.
What if a listing shows my business but I didn’t create it? Claim it if the platform lets you, so you can keep the hours right. If you can’t claim it, use the platform’s option to suggest an edit or report a change.
Hours are one detail of many that Google and AI tools check. Our Visibility Report grades your site’s technical SEO and its AEO readiness together, and our SEO and AI search work for Thailand fixes what it finds, month by month. More posts like this are in Recognise.