If your firm shows as closed when someone searches, you lose visibility. The Google Maps 3-pack, the trio of listings that shows up next to the map in local search results, favors businesses that are open at the moment of the search. Marking your hours as 24/7 (when it’s true) can keep your firm visible in evening and nighttime searches, especially in competitive markets.
Most local SEO experts seem to agree. Whitespark’s 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors survey of 47 local search experts ranks “Business is Open at Time of Search” as the 5th most impactful local pack ranking factor out of 187 factors scored. The same report shows “Proper Hours Set on GBP” climbing 64 spots since the last edition, up from position 85 to 21.
Here’s what that looks like in practice, and how to make the change if it fits your firm.
Watch a Business Listing Disappear After Closing Time
Take a search for “car accident lawyer” in Raleigh, NC, run at 3:15 p.m. local time. Ignoring the sponsored listing, the top two firms in the 3-pack show “Open 24 hours.” The third closes at 5 p.m. Run the same search, same location, at 5:45 p.m.
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- Raleigh, 3:15 PM
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- Raleigh, 5:45 PM
The firm that closed at 5 p.m. is gone. Anyone looking for a car accident lawyer in Raleigh after work won’t see them in the 3-pack at all.
Lest you think this is a phenomenon unique to Raleigh, the same pattern shows up in other markets we’ve tracked. Here’s a search from Buffalo, NY, at 9:20 a.m. local time. And here’s the same search at 5:30 p.m. local time.
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- Buffalo, 9:20 AM
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- Buffalo, 5:30 PM
The firm in the second spot in the morning (ignoring the Sponsored ad) fell from the map entirely in the evening search in favor of a third firm with 24/7 hours.
Am I Allowed to Set My Hours to 24/7?
Only if it’s true. If nobody answers your phone after 5 or 6 p.m., don’t mark your firm as open 24/7. Callers who get no response will feel misled, and that frustration tends to show up in reviews.
If your team or answering service picks up around the clock, go ahead and set your hours to match.
Darren Shaw, who authored the Whitespark report, makes the same point from the data side. He specifically warns against listing false 24/7 hours for brick-and-mortar businesses where clients might actually show up expecting someone to be there, and notes it runs against Google’s guidelines. Setting inaccurate hours to game the 3-pack can backfire in ways that cost you more than the ranking boost is worth.
How to Update Your Google Business Profile Hours
- Open your Google Business Profile dashboard and click “Edit profile.”
- Click the “Hours” option at the top of the window.
- Hover over “Hours” and click the pencil icon to edit.
- Select “Open with main hours,” then update each day.
- Uncheck any boxes marked “Closed.”
- Set each day to 24 hours by clicking the “Opens at” box and selecting “24 hours.”
Note: this is different from selecting “Open with no main hours.” That option marks your profile as open but won’t display 24-hour availability.
Do All Businesses Disappear From the 3-Pack After Closing Time?
No. Some firms hang on to their 3-pack spot even after their listed closing time.
Here’s a search from Delray Beach, FL, at 9:15 a.m. local time and the same search at 5:30 p.m., a half hour after the top-ranked firm’s listed closing time.
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- Delray Beach, 9:15 AM
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- Delray Beach, 5:30 PM
That firm is still in the 3-pack, just a spot lower. The likely reason: it has 501 reviews and a 4.9 rating, compared to 47, 72, and 16 reviews for the other firms in the mix. Review volume appears to be carrying enough weight to offset a closed listing, at least for this particular search.
Here’s another case. A search for “car accident lawyer” in Provo, UT, at 5:05 p.m. local time. Ignoring the sponsored ad, the top two firms in the 3-pack are open, but the third is closed. Meanwhile, a firm with 24/7 hours, a perfect 5.0 rating, and over 150 reviews didn’t make the 3-pack at all.
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- Provo, 5:05 PM
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- Unranked Firm Has Better Reviews
Why? While reviews explain Delray Beach, proximity could explain why the closed business appears in the Provo three-pack. It’s extremely close to the searcher and still carries a solid ranking. That’s consistent with the Whitespark data too that found “Proximity of Address to the Point of Search” ranks 2nd out of 187 local pack factors, right behind primary GBP category.
So, your hours are relevant to your map positions, but they’re one signal among several. Ignore fully optimizing your law firm’s GBP at your peril.
Not Getting Found in Local Search?
Marking your firm as open 24/7 on Google helps, but local SEO takes more. Your strategy should account for the map pack, local citations relevant to your firm, organic results, possibly LSAs, and now AI platforms like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode.
