Get Your Google Business Profile Ready for the Holidays (11 Things to Fix Before December)
Short answer: set your holiday hours in Google Business Profile in October, before the season starts. Every year, thousands of customers drive to local businesses that Google says are open and find a locked door. Some of them leave a one-star review about it. Setting special hours takes about ten minutes and prevents the most avoidable customer complaint of the entire year.
Here is that fix and ten more, in the order they matter during Q4.
How do I set holiday hours on Google Business Profile?
Search your own business name while signed into the Google account that manages it, or open the Google Business Profile manager. Find Hours, then Special hours or Holiday hours. Add each date individually, set it as open with adjusted times or closed entirely, and save.
Set every one of these, even the ones where nothing changes, because Google prompts customers with a "confirmed hours" indicator when you do:
- Thanksgiving, Thursday November 26
- Black Friday, Friday November 27
- Small Business Saturday, Saturday November 28
- Christmas Eve, Thursday December 24
- Christmas Day, Friday December 25
- Saturday December 26
- New Year's Eve, Thursday December 31
- New Year's Day, Friday January 1
Add any other dates your business observes. Then check your website, your voicemail greeting, and your social profiles so they all say the same thing.
Do this in October. In December you will be too busy, and the whole point is that the customer knows before they get in the car.
The other ten fixes
1. Confirm you actually control the profile
If you have never signed in, someone else may be managing it, or nobody is. Claim and verify it now. An unmanaged profile can be edited by the public, and Google will happily accept a stranger's suggestion that your hours changed.
2. Add your holiday products and services
The Products and Services sections are underused and they surface in search. Add gift cards as a product. Add seasonal offerings, holiday menus, gift sets, and any December-specific service. Include prices where you can, since price is what people are filtering for right now.
3. Turn on the gift card link
If Google offers a gift card attribute or link for your category, use it. Gift cards are the last thing people can buy before Christmas and the easiest thing to sell online. More on making them a real revenue line in how to sell more gift cards.
4. Post weekly through the season
Google Posts show directly on your profile and expire, which means a stale profile looks abandoned. Post once a week from November through December: your holiday offer, your order deadlines, your Small Business Saturday plans, your hours, your gift cards.
Keep each one short, add a photo, and include a button. Deadline reminders perform best.
5. Upload fresh, seasonal photos
Holiday shoppers are comparing your profile against three others in the same second. A profile with photos from 2022 loses that comparison.
Upload eight to ten current photos in early November: your decorated space, your seasonal products, your team, your storefront. Shoot them yourself in good light using the approach in marketing photos on your phone.
6. Rewrite your business description for the season
You have 750 characters. Use them to say what you actually do, where you are, and what you offer right now. Mention gift cards, holiday hours, and any seasonal service.
Write it plainly and specifically. This description is one of the sources AI assistants read when someone asks for a local recommendation, which is covered in how to get recommended by ChatGPT and AI search.
7. Turn on messaging, or turn it off honestly
Google messaging is useful in December when people have quick questions about hours, stock, and deadlines. But an unanswered message is worse than no messaging at all, and Google will eventually deactivate it.
Decide whether someone will actually watch it. If yes, turn it on and check it twice a day. If no, turn it off.
8. Answer the Q&A section yourself
Most owners do not know this section exists. Anyone can ask a question on your profile, and anyone can answer, including people who do not work for you and do not know the answer.
Go read it. Answer everything. Then seed it yourself: post the questions you get asked most and answer them from your business account. "Do you sell gift cards?" "What are your holiday hours?" "Do you do custom orders and what is the deadline?"
This is one of the most extractable pieces of content on your profile for both search and AI answers, and it takes fifteen minutes.
9. Push reviews hard in November and December
Holiday customers are in a good mood and there are more of them than usual. This is the highest-volume review-collection window of your year, and reviews collected now benefit you through the following spring.
Ask every happy customer, in person, at the moment they seem pleased. Use the nine scripts if the ask feels awkward.
10. Respond to every review within 48 hours, especially the bad ones
December generates more negative reviews than any other month, because volume is up, staff is stretched, and expectations are high. That is normal. What matters is the response.
A calm, specific, non-defensive reply to a holiday complaint is read by hundreds of future customers. Thank them, acknowledge the specific issue, say what you are doing, and offer a real name and number to continue offline. Never argue in public in December. You are tired and it will show.
The week-of-Christmas check
On about December 20, spend five minutes confirming:
- Special hours for December 24, 25, 26, 31, and January 1 are all still correct
- Your last-order date is posted as a Google Post
- Your gift card link works when you tap it on a phone
- Your phone number on the profile is the one someone will actually answer
After the holidays
Two January tasks that take ten minutes and get skipped every year:
Remove your holiday special hours so your normal hours show again. Leftover special hours cause confusion into February.
Update your description back to your standard version, and swap seasonal photos for current ones.
Then fold the profile into your regular rhythm. The local SEO checklist covers the year-round version of all of this.
Start my local advertising plan
Frequently asked questions
How do I set holiday hours on Google Business Profile? Sign in to the Google account that manages your profile, go to Hours, select Special hours or Holiday hours, then add each date individually and mark it as closed or set adjusted open and close times. Save, then confirm the same hours appear on your website and voicemail.
When should I set my holiday hours? October. Setting them early prevents customers from arriving at a closed business, which is the most common and most avoidable holiday complaint. It also gives Google time to display confirmed hours in search results.
Does posting on Google Business Profile actually help? Yes. Google Posts appear directly on your profile in search and Maps, and an actively updated profile signals to both customers and Google that the business is operating. Weekly posts through November and December are a reasonable cadence.
What should I do about a bad review during the holidays? Respond within 48 hours, thank the person, acknowledge the specific issue without arguing the facts, state what you are changing, and move the conversation offline with a real name and number. Write the reply for the future customers reading it rather than for the reviewer.
Should I turn on Google messaging for the holidays? Only if someone will check it at least twice a day. Google messaging is useful for quick holiday questions about hours and stock, but unanswered messages hurt more than not offering it, and Google may deactivate the feature for slow responders.
Do I need to remove holiday hours afterward? Yes. Clear your special hours in early January so your standard hours display correctly. Leftover special hours are a common cause of wrong information showing well into the new year.