Try using Google to search for florist listings in your city, or Google Maps to get directions or a phone number for your shop, and you might be surprised to discover that Google indicates your shop is “temporarily closed”— even if it isn’t. Fortunately, correcting the listing is quick and fairly easy.

Implementation of the policy to label florists as “temporarily closed” began in March, according to a Google representative. It was applied in several U.S. states and in countries where the multinational web giant had “data from an authoritative data source” indicating that flower shops should indeed be closed. The data source might be a state or local government, but it could also be an educational institution, nonprofit organization, or business.

Florists in many cases were not alerted to the change. This was true even if they had made a claim to their business profile with Google (thereby opening a free Google My Business account).

“It just popped up one morning,” said Robert Bryant, owner of Flowers by Robert Taylor in West Covina, California. “Thank goodness, a customer who had a pickup early that morning called to let me know.” Like many others, Bryant cannot receive customers in the store, but remains open for curbside pickup and contact-free delivery.

After trying to reach Google by phone with no success, Bryant tried a second time and found that he was able change the status simply by logging into his Google My Business account: “An option came up, Mark This Business as Open. It wasn’t there in the morning, but an hour or two later, it was there.”

Once he made the change, the effect was dramatic: orders started coming in for birthday flowers, anniversaries, even sympathy work (the latter sent to the home, of course). Bryant does have the ability to track which orders originate with Google, but he hasn’t had time to confirm that the flood of new orders was owing to his status change, since he is the only one working in the shop right now.

Claiming your Google Business Profile is a very good idea — but even if you haven’t done so, you should still be able to change your status to “open” and to list the hours you are open. Find your Google listing online. If it bears a red banner with the words “Temporarily Closed,” click on the downward-pointing arrow that appears to the right of those words. Google then gives you an opportunity to report that information as incorrect.

That’s what happened for Melinda McCoy at Melinda McCoy’s Flowers in Long Beach, California, who has kept her business going, observing legal restrictions, all through California’s state-ordered stay-at-home order of March 19. A florist friend, Elizabeth Seiji AIFD of Edelweiss Flowers in Santa Monica, California, called to let her know that Google was telling the world she was closed.

“I didn’t know how to fix that, but Liz did it for me on her computer,” said McCoy. “I cannot thank her enough.” The change took effect in a matter of minutes — and when it did, McCoy’s business went from five or six deliveries a day to about 24.

A change to a business’s status in online search listings will update in both Google Search and Google Maps, according to the representative from Google, who also confirms that Google does vet each request to temporarily close or reopen a business.

Google listings may be more important than ever when so many flower shops are, in fact, temporarily closed. Both McCoy and Bryant believe they are now receiving orders that would otherwise have gone to another florist. “When they find out you are open, they are so grateful,” agrees Seiji, who also had to correct the default “temporarily closed” status on her listing.

Seiji, McCoy and Bryant all say that customers who manage to find a florist who can fill their order are less price-sensitive and more open to suggestion than would have been the case in the past. Business overall is still down, but those who come through are generous. “One customer went from $150 to $250,” said Bryant. “She told me she had just received her stimulus check, so money was no object.

Bruce Wright is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.