Arrow 
Correct branch addresses, appointment rules and opening hours across your website and public profiles with a practical location review process.
A wrong address turns a visibility problem into a wasted journey.
If an AI answer gives the wrong address or opening hours, verify the exact branch and date first, then compare the answer with your website, business profiles and cited listings. Correct the responsible source and keep branch details separate from headquarters, delivery areas and appointment availability.
Location information is not one fact. A shop can be open while its repair counter is closed. A business can serve a city without accepting visitors there. A holiday can change the schedule without changing the regular week. These distinctions should be understandable before a customer leaves home.
The fastest useful action is often to correct a local record, not to publish a new blog post about the business. This guide helps you find that record and explain the operating conditions clearly.
Which location or schedule is the answer describing?
Check the branch name, full address, date and service in the question. “Open on Sunday” is incomplete if the business has multiple branches or seasonal schedules. Preserve the user's local context when comparing answers.
| Detail | Common ambiguity | What to publish |
|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | Presented as a customer-facing location | State whether visitors are accepted |
| Branch | Mixed with another branch's hours | A maintained page for that actual location |
| Service area | Treated as a physical office | Define coverage without implying a storefront |
| Appointment hours | Confused with general opening hours | Explain when booking or prior confirmation is required |
| Holiday schedule | Regular hours repeated on an exception date | Date-specific exception information |
| Department | Shop hours used for a separate service counter | Separate relevant service hours |
A clear location record should let a visitor distinguish “the business operates here” from “I can walk in at this time.” Those statements are not interchangeable.
Where should you make the correction?
Start with the source that actually contains the wrong information. If it is your location page, update that page and related structured fields. If it is an owned business profile, review and edit the relevant fields. If it is an external listing, use its correction route with evidence.
Google's Business Profile guidance explains how owners can edit business information, including address and hours. A profile edit can require review; submitting a change is not the same as seeing it reflected publicly. Record both steps.
Inspect the branch's contact page, booking page and location selector together. A correct footer does not repair an old map embed on the page customers use. Check whether the booking system represents actual availability or only a request form; the wording should make that distinction clear.
Do not create an invented local address to appear relevant to a city. Use the real business model: storefront, service-area business, remote offer or appointment-only premises. Accuracy is the purpose of the exercise.
What does a useful branch page look like?
A branch page should identify the location, explain access, give its maintained schedule and direct the visitor to the right confirmation or booking route. Include exceptions that materially affect the visit, and make contact information usable on a phone.
Consider a fictional repair shop with a city showroom and an out-of-town workshop. Customers can visit the showroom during retail hours, but workshop visits require an appointment. An answer that combines the workshop address with showroom hours sends customers to the wrong place at the wrong time.
| Fictional location | Public description | Correct next step |
|---|---|---|
| City showroom | Walk-in product viewing during published showroom hours | Check today's showroom schedule |
| Repair workshop | Repairs by prior appointment; no walk-in reception | Book and confirm the workshop visit |
| Collection area | Pickup offered in listed districts | Confirm pickup availability for the address |
The corrective action is to separate these records and link them by purpose. A single “Find us” paragraph containing all three addresses or areas leaves the visitor to infer which one applies.
How should you handle a move or temporary closure?
Explain the effective date and the relevant customer action. For a move, identify the current destination and clarify which location has closed. For a temporary closure, say what is unavailable and where customers can check reopening information.
Keep old location pages useful when they still receive visits. A clear move notice with a link to the current branch can answer the question better than an unexplained jump to the homepage. If your web team changes URLs, it should review the old-to-new mapping and internal links.
Review business profiles, appointment emails, public directions and partner listings as part of the same operational change. The AI answer is only one place where outdated directions can surface. Fixing the underlying records helps people who arrive through search, social links or an old bookmark as well.
How do you test location accuracy without changing the question?
Record the location and date used for each check. A question asked from another city or for a different day can legitimately produce a different answer. If the assistant's location context is unknown, keep that limitation in the observation record.
Use a branch-specific question for identity and a separate need-based question for discovery. “What time does the Northbridge branch open on Saturday?” checks a specific schedule. “Where can I get a repair near Northbridge this Saturday?” adds availability and provider selection, so it should not be treated as the same test.
Open the cited location source and verify the relevant service hours. If the answer says “open” but the page says “appointment required,” the mismatch is material even when the time range matches. Save the full qualification rather than scoring only the numerical hours.
What should the local team maintain each month?
Assign a location owner who can confirm exceptions, moves and service-specific hours. The review cadence should reflect how often the business changes; a seasonal venue needs different checks from a remote software company.
Use a small change log: branch, changed field, approved value, effective date, affected records and confirmation status. Check upcoming holidays before they arrive. When several teams maintain different channels, give each record an owner instead of assuming the website update will reach everything else.
This guide is a specialised part of the business information cluster. For a wider local discovery strategy, continue to local GEO for service businesses. For conflicting listings, use the directory correction guide.
Sources and editorial scope
Reviewed September 23, 2026. Platform-specific statements link to the documentation beside the claim. The workflows and examples are Arrow AI editorial guidance. Fictional scenarios illustrate a method; they are not customer results, measured demand or evidence of ranking gains.
Part of What AI Says About Your Business. Explore Arrow GEO or request a free audit to identify the next public-information gap.