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Duplicate Google Business listing

Duplicate Google Business listing: 10 steps to find it, fix it and keep your reviews

Two listings for the same business split your reviews, confuse customers and can get both suspended. Duplicates usually come from an old address, an old phone number or a second listing someone set up years ago. Here is how to clean them up.

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  • One business of each type per area
  • No contract
  • Nothing changes without your approval
Owner comparing two business listings on his laptop
Where the calls go

10 steps to fix a duplicate Google Business listing

Owner photographing her business license and sign as proof

  1. Search every way a customer might.

    Search Google Maps by your business name, any past names, your phone numbers old and new, and every address you have used.

    What we do: we search by name, phone and address and list every listing that could be a duplicate.

  2. Decide which listing is the real one.

    Keep the listing at your current, verified location, usually the one with the most reviews. That is the one you want to protect.

    What we do: we compare the listings with you and pick the keeper.

  3. Make sure you own the keeper.

    You need to be the verified owner of the listing you keep before you ask Google to deal with the other one.

    What we do: we confirm ownership first.

    How to claim your business on Google

  4. If you own both, mark the extra one closed or remove it.

    When both listings are under your control and they are at the same location, the extra one should go. Removing it from your account is not the same as removing it from Maps, so check the result.

    What we do: we handle the extra listing on your account and check Maps afterward.

  5. Ask Google to merge or remove duplicates you do not own.

    Use the Suggest an edit option on the duplicate to report it as a duplicate of your real listing, or contact Business Profile support from your owner account.

    What we do: we file the report from the right account and keep a dated record.

  6. Old address? Mark it moved, not closed.

    A listing at an address you left can be marked as moved to your new location, which helps Google connect the two.

    What we do: we set the old listing up so Google points people to the new one.

  7. Reviews may not come with it.

    When duplicates are merged, Google decides what happens to the reviews. Do not count on every review moving over.

    What we do: we tell you up front what you might lose, so the decision is yours.

  8. Do not create another listing to fix it.

    A third listing only makes the problem worse and raises the risk of a suspension.

    What we do: we work through Google's process on the listings that already exist.

  9. Clean up the directories that feed it.

    Duplicates often come back because an old address or phone number lives on in directories like Yelp, Bing or Apple Maps.

    What we do: we correct your details across the main directories.

    Business listings and citations

  10. Watch for it coming back.

    Google can recreate a listing from old data or a public suggestion. Checking regularly catches it early.

    What we do: our weekly profile check watches for new listings and changes to yours.

Proof

Real listing cleanup work

We sign mutual NDAs with our clients, so we describe the work instead of naming the business.

An appliance repair and HVAC company in Utah with more than 250 reviews at 5.0 ranked only 10th at its own address. We traced it to a shared coworking address, switched it to a service area business with 20 towns and advised against opening a second profile that could risk a suspension.
A chimney company in New Hampshire still ranked around its old address four years after moving when we scanned it, and its listing showed as unclaimed.
A moving company in Northern Virginia did not show up at any of 49 search points around its town. Its only listing was placed in Tennessee and filed under a generic category.
A painting contractor in Florida with hundreds of reviews. We cut 106 service entries down to 37, replaced a description that was cut off at Google's 750 character limit and cleaned up duplicate and ZIP code service areas. The owner gets a dated change log every month.
A carpet cleaning company in central Mississippi. Our scan found its listing placed by Google in Kentucky, about 400 miles away. It reached the top 3 at none of 49 points.
A pressure washing company in Central Texas. We removed a house cleaning category for work it does not do, added an emergency spill cleanup service and rewrote a description that had been copied from another service. Every change was applied after the owner approved it in writing.

Every business and market is different. We do not promise rankings. We show you the same map every month so you can see what changed.

Why us

Why owners trust us with listing cleanup

  • One business of each type per service area. We will not work for your direct competitor in the same towns.
  • Google Business Profiles and Google Maps are what we focus on, not a menu of everything.
  • You see the proof: a 49 point map of your area before we start, and the same map every month after.
  • Nothing changes on your profile without your written approval, and you stay the owner of it.
  • No contract. Stay because it is working.
Google Business Profile suspended: what to doHow to claim your business on Google
The package

What you get every month

  • A 49 point Google Maps scan of your service area before we start
  • Profile fixes: categories, services, description, service area, hours, attributes and booking or quote links
  • One post a week plus up to three photos from your work, approved by you
  • Suggested replies to new reviews, posted only after you approve
  • A weekly profile check that catches changes Google or anyone else makes
  • A monthly rescan on the same 49 points, with a plain update on your map, calls and clicks from Google, what we did and what comes next

Pricing comes with your scan. Request your map scan at no cost and we will send your map, a short video walkthrough and pricing together.

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Guides

More Google Business Profile guides

Straight answers

Common questions

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See where your business shows up after the cleanup.

Send us your business and the towns you want customers from. We will run your 49 point map scan and send your map, a short video walkthrough and pricing together.

What happens next
  1. 1.We run your map scan and look at your profile and search results.
  2. 2.You get a short note with what we would fix first.
  3. 3.If it makes sense, we set it up on a 15 minute call.
What do you need help with?

Pick as many as you like, or none if you are not sure yet.

No obligation. We will tell you straight what we would do.