When AI Says a Business Is Open 24/7, It's Wrong 14.4% of the Time

A homeowner is locked out at 2 a.m. and asks ChatGPT for a 24-hour locksmith nearby. The answer names three, each "available 24/7", each with a phone number ready to tap. The homeowner taps the first one and gets a recorded message with opening hours; on the business's own Google listing, it closes in the evening. Another night, a basement is flooding, and the number shown for an emergency plumber reaches a disconnected line or a different company.

That is the moment AI answers are trusted most: late at night, in a hurry, with no time to check. A wrong "open 24/7" costs the searcher time when it matters, and it costs the business a frustrated caller who blames it, not the AI. A wrong phone number is worse: the business ChatGPT recommended never hears about the job at all.

14.4% of the businesses ChatGPT or Gemini describe as open 24/7 do not list 24-hour opening on all seven days on Google, rising to 17.5% for veterinarians and 16.9% for locksmiths. Phone numbers are right far more often, with 1.4% of ChatGPT's listings showing a number that does not match Google, but the misses cluster in the same emergency trades, and both kinds of error are worse in smaller cities.

On September 23 and 24, 2026 we asked ChatGPT and Gemini for the best local businesses in 20 services, from plumbers and locksmiths to gyms and veterinarians, across 79 US cities: 50 large cities and 29 smaller ones. We looked up the 10,000 businesses they recommended on Google Business Profiles, 8,338 named by ChatGPT and 1,662 by Gemini. A business counts as an AI 24/7 claim when the answer names it on the same line as "24/7", "24 hours" or "around the clock"; 513 of those businesses have a Google Business Profile with posted hours. ChatGPT answers these questions with a list of business listings, each showing a name, address and phone number, and we matched 7,623 of those listings to the business's Google Business Profile.

A Google Business Profile is the free listing a business controls on Google Search and Maps, including its weekly opening hours and phone number. If the profile does not show the business open from midnight to midnight on all seven days, the AI's 24/7 claim counts as wrong. When the number in ChatGPT's answer differs from the number on the business's own Google profile, it counts as a wrong number.

That is 74 of the 513 businesses AI assistants called open around the clock. Every one of the 513 has an operating Google Business Profile, so these are real, working businesses. The problem is the hours: the profile shows set opening times on at least one day, while the AI answer promised round-the-clock service.

AI assistants build these answers from what they find about a business across the web: its website, directory listings, reviews and ads. A business that once offered 24-hour service, that advertises "24/7 emergency calls" on one page while posting set hours on Google, or that appears on a "24-hour locksmiths" list, can end up described as always open. The AI repeats the most confident version it finds.

Among services with at least 36 claims, veterinarians have the highest error rate: 17.5% of the vets AI calls open 24/7 do not list round-the-clock hours on Google. Locksmiths follow at 16.9% and gyms at 14.7%. These are services people often need at night, which is exactly when a wrong answer does the most harm.

HVAC companies have the lowest rate at 10%, still one wrong claim in ten. Trades that advertise emergency callouts heavily, such as locksmiths and vets, leave the most room for an AI to turn "emergency service" into "open 24/7".

Emergency plumbers are the service AI assistants most often call open around the clock: 212 of the 513 claims, followed by plumbers with 97 and locksmiths with 83. 11.3% of the emergency plumbers AI calls open 24/7 do not list round-the-clock hours on Google, a lower rate than vets or locksmiths, but across the largest number of claims.

The picture changes when the question itself asks for round-the-clock service. We also asked ChatGPT for the best 24/7 emergency plumbers in each of the 79 cities: 18.3% of the plumbers it named do not list 24-hour opening on all seven days on Google. That rate is higher than the 11.3% above because it covers every plumber named in answer to a 24/7 question, not only the ones the answer itself calls open around the clock.

That is 105 of 7,623 listings. ChatGPT shows a list of businesses with contact details in 95.1% of local answers, so for most local questions a phone number sits right in the answer, one tap away, and 0.4% of listings show no phone at all. The misses are not spread evenly: emergency plumbers have the highest mismatch rate at 3.9%, followed by moving companies at 3.5%, plumbers at 2.9%, HVAC companies at 2.7% and roofers at 2.5%. Restaurants had no mismatches at all.

The top of the list is the home-service trades, where businesses often run several phone numbers: call-tracking numbers for ads, separate lines for emergencies, and numbers for each service area. Every extra number is another chance for ChatGPT to pick up one that does not match Google. Restaurants and offices usually have one fixed line at one address, and ChatGPT gets it right.

City size matters for both hours and phone numbers. In the 29 smaller cities, 34.5% of ChatGPT's 24/7 emergency plumber picks do not list 24-hour hours on Google, against 10.1% in the 50 large cities, a gap of more than three times. ChatGPT's listings for businesses in smaller cities also show a phone number that does not match Google 2.1% of the time, against 1.5% in large cities.

Smaller cities have fewer plumbers to choose from, and an answer asked for round-the-clock service still fills out its list, in smaller cities often with businesses that keep regular hours. For a business owner, an old number or old hours left on a directory or an outdated page is the likeliest way to end up misdescribed.

Your Google Business Profile is effectively the source AI assistants are checked against, so start there. If you offer 24/7 service, set your Google hours to open 24 hours on all seven days, and make every public listing say the same thing: your website, Yelp, Facebook and the directories in your trade. Check that the phone number on your profile is the one you want customers to call.

If you are not open 24/7, find out what AI says about you. Ask ChatGPT and Gemini for the best businesses in your service and city, read what they write about your hours, and tap the number shown for you. If they overstate your hours, remove "24/7" wording from old pages, ads and directory listings, and state plainly on your website when after-hours help is by phone only or by appointment. If you use call tracking, pick one primary number for your Google profile, website contact page and directories, and keep tracking numbers on ads and landing pages.

Suff Digital's local seo packages keep your hours, phone number and details consistent across Google, your website and the directories AI assistants read.

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