We reduced GBP Hours and organic rankings fell to page 2 or am I speculating

[pawan.gill]

We close GBP on weekends and also reduced GBP hours on weekdays starting from June 3, 2026, and the organic rankings of the page start that is linked to GBP starts falling from page 1 to page 2. Rankings of other pages have improved at the same time. Our GBP was ranking high, and the main traffic on that URL was from GBP, not from organic rankings, and it has fallen by 50%, and maybe Google thinks this page is not valuable and has lost rankings. Am I right, or is this just my theory? Any suggestions, or has someone faced the same issue?

 

[Tony Wang]

We need more info to understand what's going on.

It's well known that GBP hours can affect rankings, but only during the time of actual search. So if you're closed when I'm searching and your competitors are open, they're more likely to show up. But if I search when both of you are open, hours shouldn't affect you.

So it depends on how/when you're measuring rankings. Perhaps more importantly, is it actually affecting your business? Are you getting fewer calls or store visits? Rankings and website traffic doesn't tell the whole story.

What type of business is it? If you're a service area business and can answer the phone after hours, you can keep your hours open during those times.

 

[fisicx]

I'm a bit confused @pawan.gill

You start by saying you have changed your hours on your GBP. But then talk about ranking on your webpages. The two are not connected. A little more explanation is needed.

 

[JS Girard]

But if I search when both of you are open, hours shouldn't affect you.

I can't recall if it was @whitespark or something from @JoyHawkins, but someone demonstrated that rankings could start falling as much as two hours before closing time (whether that correlates with distance has not been discussed, though).