How to Update Your Gym's Hours on Google

Key Takeaways

Wrong hours on Google is one of the fastest ways to lose a potential member. Someone drives to your gym at 6am because Google says you open at 6, finds the door locked because you actually open at 6:30, and goes to your competitor instead. Game over.
Google Business Profile has three types of hours — regular hours, special hours (for public holidays and one-off changes), and "More hours" for specific services like classes or staffed reception times.
You need to update special hours BEFORE public holidays, not after. Google will flag your listing as "Hours might differ" on public holidays if you haven't set them, which makes you look unreliable.
For gyms that run on a class timetable rather than open-close hours, the "More hours" feature lets you add specific time blocks — like "Class hours: 5:30am-8:30am, 4:00pm-7:30pm."
It takes minutes to update and the impact is immediate. There's no reason to have wrong hours on Google. Ever.

Why Getting Your Hours Right Actually Matters

I reckon this sounds like the most boring topic in the world. Hours. Who cares, right? Just put something up and move on.

But here's what happens in the real world. Someone in Homebush searches "gym near me" at 5:45am. They're already in their gym gear. They see your listing, check the hours — it says you open at 5:30am. Great. They drive over. But you actually open at 6am and just never updated Google. They're standing in your car park for 15 minutes in the dark.

They don't come back. They go to the gym down the road that had its hours right.

This happens constantly with gyms because gym hours are weird. You're not a café that opens at 7am and closes at 3pm. You might run morning classes from 5:30 to 8:30, close during the middle of the day, and reopen for evening classes at 4pm. Or you might be 24/7 with key card access but only staffed during certain hours.

Google Business Profile can handle all of these scenarios. Most gym owners just don't know how to set it up properly.

Setting Your Regular Hours

Regular hours are your standard weekly schedule. Here's how to set them:

On desktop:

Go to business.google.com
Select your gym's profile
Click "Edit profile"
Navigate to the "Hours" tab
Set your opening and closing times for each day
For days you're closed, toggle the day off
Click "Save"

On Google Maps app:

Open Google Maps → tap your profile icon → "Your Business Profile"
Tap "Edit profile" → "Business hours"
Set each day's hours
Save

Key things to get right:

Monday to Friday — set your actual opening and closing times. If you open at 5:30am for the first class and your last class finishes at 8pm, your hours are 5:30am to 8:00pm.
Saturday and Sunday — many gyms have reduced weekend hours. A boxing gym in Fitzroy might run 7am-12pm on Saturday and 8am-11am on Sunday. Set these accurately.
Closed days — if you're closed on public holidays or specific days, mark them as closed. Don't leave them blank.

Split hours (the gym-specific challenge):

Here's where it gets tricky. Many gyms don't operate continuously through the day. A typical martial arts academy might run:

Morning: 6:00am - 9:00am
Midday: Closed
Afternoon/Evening: 3:30pm - 8:30pm

Google supports split hours. On the hours editing screen, you can add multiple time blocks for a single day. Click "Add hours" under a day to add a second time block.

So for the martial arts academy above, Monday would look like:

Block 1: 6:00am - 9:00am
Block 2: 3:30pm - 8:30pm

This tells Google (and searchers) exactly when you're open, without the confusion of a single "6:00am - 8:30pm" range that implies you're open all day.

Special Hours — Holidays, School Holidays, and One-Off Changes

Special hours handle the exceptions — public holidays, school holiday schedules, closures for events, that week you close for a gym fit-out.

Why you need to set these proactively:

On public holidays (Christmas, Easter, Anzac Day, etc.), Google automatically adds a banner to your listing: "Hours might differ." This is Google covering itself because most businesses don't bother updating. But it also signals to searchers that your hours might be wrong — which reduces trust and clicks.

If you set special hours for the holiday BEFORE it happens, Google removes that warning banner and shows your confirmed hours instead. That's a trust signal.

How to set special hours:

In your GBP dashboard, go to "Edit profile" → "Hours"
Look for "Add special hours" or "Holiday hours"
Select the date
Set your hours for that day (or mark as closed)
Save

Australian public holidays to set every year:

New Year's Day (January 1)
Australia Day (January 26)
Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday
Anzac Day (April 25)
Queen's Birthday (varies by state — June in most states, September in WA)
Christmas Day (December 25)
Boxing Day (December 26)
State-specific holidays (Melbourne Cup Day in VIC, Reconciliation Day in ACT, etc.)

Pro tip: Set all your public holiday hours at the start of each year. Take 15 minutes in early January to go through the calendar and set hours for every public holiday. Done for the year.

School holiday adjustments:

Some gyms change their timetable during school holidays — maybe the kids' classes move to daytime, or you add extra sessions because members are off work. If your hours change during school holidays, set special hours for each affected day.

This is more admin-heavy, but it matters. A parent searching "kids martial arts Epping" during school holidays needs to know your actual hours, not your term-time schedule.

Temporary closures:

If you're closing for renovations, a gym fit-out, or a team event, set those dates as closed in your special hours. Don't just leave your regular hours up and hope people check your Instagram. They won't — they'll check Google.

Google also has a "Temporarily closed" status for longer closures (more than a few days). Use this if you're shutting down for a week or more for renovations.

The "More Hours" Feature — Your Secret Weapon

This is the feature most gym owners don't know exists, and it's incredibly useful for gyms specifically.

"More hours" lets you add additional hour sets for specific services or departments. Google offers several pre-set labels:

Access hours — perfect for 24/7 gyms with key card access
Senior hours — if you run specific times for seniors
Online service hours — if you offer online classes
Drive-through hours — not relevant for gyms (unless you're doing something very creative)

But the real value is using the custom labels that align with how your gym operates:

Scenario 1: 24/7 gym with staffed reception

Regular hours: Open 24 hours (this shows as "Open 24 hours" on your listing)
More hours → "Staffed hours": Monday-Friday 6am-9pm, Saturday 7am-1pm, Sunday 8am-12pm

This tells people: you can access the gym anytime, but if you need to speak to someone, come during staffed hours.

Scenario 2: Gym with distinct class blocks

Regular hours: 5:30am - 8:30pm (your full opening range)
More hours → custom label: "Class times: 5:30-7:30am, 12:00-1:00pm, 4:30-8:30pm"

Scenario 3: Martial arts academy with different programs on different days

Regular hours: 3:30pm - 9:00pm Monday-Thursday, 3:30pm-6:00pm Friday, 9:00am-12:00pm Saturday
More hours → "Kids classes": Monday-Friday 3:30-5:00pm, Saturday 9:00-10:30am

How to set up More hours:

In your GBP dashboard, go to "Edit profile" → "Hours"
Look for "More hours" or "Add more hours"
Select a label or create a custom one
Set the time blocks
Save

What About 24/7 Gyms?

If you run a 24-hour gym with key-card access, your regular hours should be set to "Open 24 hours" for every day of the week. This is straightforward.

But think about what "open" really means for your members:

Can they access the gym 24/7? Set regular hours to "Open 24 hours."
Is there staff on site 24/7? Probably not. Use "More hours" to indicate staffed reception times.
Are there hours when group classes run? Use "More hours" to show class schedules.

The 24-hour setting means someone searching at 2am sees "Open now" — which is accurate if they can badge in. But if your front door is locked after 10pm and they need a key card, make sure your description or a pinned Google Post explains the after-hours access process.

Holiday hours for 24/7 gyms:

Even 24/7 gyms sometimes reduce access on public holidays — maybe the gym is open but classes are cancelled. Set special hours to reflect this. "Open 6am-6pm" on Christmas Day is better than letting Google show "Open 24 hours" when you've actually restricted access.

Keeping Hours Updated — The System

The biggest challenge isn't setting hours once — it's keeping them accurate over time. Timetables change. You add a Saturday arvo class. You drop the 6am Friday session because nobody shows up.

Build it into your routine:

When you change your class timetable (even if it's one class shifting 30 minutes), update your GBP hours the same day. It takes 2 minutes.
Start of each year — set all public holiday hours for the year ahead. January is the time.
Start of each school term — if your schedule changes during school holidays, update ahead of the break.
Monthly GBP check — as part of your monthly profile review (checking insights, replying to reviews, uploading photos), glance at your hours and make sure they're still right.

Assign it to someone. If you're not going to do it yourself, make it someone's job. Your gym manager, front desk person, or admin. "When the timetable changes, update Google" should be a line item in their responsibilities.

Common Mistakes

Leaving hours as "Open 24 hours" when you're not actually 24/7. Some gym owners do this because they think wider hours means more visibility. It doesn't — it means angry people showing up to a locked door and leaving one-star reviews.
Not setting special hours for public holidays. The "Hours might differ" banner makes your listing look unreliable. Set holiday hours proactively.
Using one continuous block when you should use split hours. If your gym runs 6-9am and 4-8pm, don't set hours as 6am-8pm. People will show up at noon to an empty building.
Forgetting to update Google when the timetable changes. Your Instagram story announcing the new timetable is not enough. Most potential members find you on Google, not Instagram.
Not using "More hours" for specific services. If you have staffed hours, class hours, or kids' program hours that differ from your general opening times, use this feature. It exists for exactly this reason.
Setting hours based on when YOU arrive, not when members can access. If your first class starts at 5:30am but you unlock the doors at 5:15am, your opening time is 5:15am — people arrive early.

Next Steps

Hours are a foundational part of your profile setup. Make sure the rest of your GBP is squared away:

[How to Set Up Google Business Profile for Your Gym](/guides/set-up-google-business-profile-gym) — the complete step-by-step setup guide
[Google Business Profile for Gyms: Complete Guide](/guides/google-business-profile-for-gyms) — the full optimisation checklist

Not sure if your profile is set up correctly? We do free GBP audits for gym owners — takes 5 minutes of your time and you'll get a clear picture of what's working and what needs fixing. Book your free GBP audit here.

HOW TO UPDATE YOUR GYM'S HOURS ON GOOGLE