Duplicate Google Business Profiles: how to merge or remove them

The short answer

Google allows one Business Profile per business. To fix a duplicate without losing reviews:

1. Find every copy of your business. Search Google Maps by name, phone number and every address you've used.
2. Check it really is a duplicate. Departments, individual practitioners and separate brands can have their own profiles.
3. Keep the profile with the reviews. Make the other one's details match it before you do anything else.
4. Ask Google to merge them from Google Maps. Select Suggest an edit, then Place closed or not here, then Duplicate of another place.
5. Remove a copy only if you created it by mistake and it has nothing worth keeping. Removal is permanent.

Why are duplicate profiles a problem?

Google is blunt about it. Its help page Resolve duplicate profiles and ownership issues says you can have "only one Business Profile for each business", that multiple profiles "may mislead your customers and are against our policies", and that "If a profile is considered a duplicate, it won't show on Google Search or Maps."

Its guidelines for representing your business add that one profile per business matters because extra ones "can cause problems with how your information displays on Google Maps and Search", and say plainly: "Do not create more than one page for each location of your business, either in a single account or multiple accounts." Breaking that rule is one of the reasons profiles get suspended; our guide to a suspended Google Business Profile covers the rest.

There is a practical cost too. Until Google catches a duplicate, customers who find the wrong copy see the wrong hours, the wrong phone number or a handful of old reviews instead of your real rating.

How do you find duplicate Google Business Profiles?

Start in your own account. Google says to open Business Profile Manager, select Businesses, and check the Status column (Business Profile status for bulk uploads). On that page, a status of Duplicate locations means "The location you uploaded is a duplicate of a location that has already been verified."

Then look at what the public sees. Duplicates often sit outside your account, created by a former employee, an old agency, or a customer adding a place to Maps. Our search routine, in a private browser window and in the Google Maps app:

• Search your business name with your town. Then try common misspellings and any name you used before.
• Search your phone number on its own. Old listings often keep the number even when the name changed.
• Search every address you've operated from. A move is the most common way an old listing stays behind.
• Search the names of practitioners or staff. Doctors, lawyers and agents sometimes have their own listing at your address.
• Note what each copy has. Write down for each one: who manages it (if you know), the review count, the rating, and whether it shows as open or closed.

Is it really a duplicate?

Not every second listing at your address breaks the rules. Google names three reasons a profile is marked as a duplicate: a verified profile already exists for the same business, several profiles share the same address, or several profiles exist for the same business offering different services. But its guidelines also allow separate profiles in some cases. Check yours against this table before you report anything:

Sources: Google's duplicate profiles page and the sections on departments and individual practitioners in its guidelines. If a practitioner is the only public-facing one at a branded location, Google says it's best to share one profile named like "Allstate: Joe Miller".

Which profile should you keep?

Google doesn't say which of two profiles survives a merge. So decide which one you want customers to land on, and make the other one match it. Our order of priorities:

• Keep the one with more reviews. Reviews are the hardest thing to rebuild, and they're what customers read first.
• Prefer the one you already own and have verified. You can edit it today, and it doesn't need a new verification.
• Make sure its details are right. Name, address or service area, phone, website, hours and primary category should be correct before you ask for anything.

Then line the two up. Google says that for a merge to work, the profiles "must represent the same business and should have the same info." If you manage the extra copy, correct its details to match; if you don't, use Suggest an edit on Maps to fix the obvious differences first. Our guide on how to edit your Google Business Profile shows where each field lives.

How do you merge two Google Business Profiles?

Google says that to request a merge when two or more profiles for the same business exist on Maps, you "report a suggestion on Google Maps", and that "All merge requests are subject to review." The steps, from Google's page Mark a place reopened or closed on Google Maps:

1. Sign in to your Google Account and open Google Maps.
2. Search for the profile you want to get rid of, or select it on the map.
3. Select Suggest an edit, then Place closed or not here.
4. Select Duplicate of another place, then Submit.

Report the copy you don't want, never the one you're keeping. Google says it reviews suggested edits, so it can take some time for the change to show on the map.

What happens to reviews in a merge

Google says: "When 2 profiles are merged, their reviews are combined, but replies to reviews may be lost." So before you send the request, copy the replies you'd want to post again, especially on negative reviews. Once the merge shows on Maps, check that the reviews arrived; if some seem to be missing, our guide to Google reviews not showing lists the usual causes.

If Google merged two different businesses

It happens the other way too. Google says that if profiles for 2 distinct and eligible businesses were incorrectly merged, you contact support to appeal the duplicate status. If both businesses serve customers at the same place, you'll be asked for evidence of permanent signage that clearly shows both.

How do you delete a duplicate profile you created?

If you created a duplicate by mistake, Google says you can remove it "without affecting your verified listing", and warns that "all content and linked managers will be removed, so make sure to remove the correct profile." Use this only for a copy with no reviews you care about; if it has reviews, ask for a merge instead. The steps, from Remove a Business Profile from your Google Account:

1. Go to the duplicate profile, signed in to the Google Account that manages it.
2. Select More, then Business Profile settings.
3. Select Remove Business Profile, then Remove profile content and managers.
4. Leave "Mark your business as permanently closed" off. This is our advice: Google offers that switch for a business that has closed, and yours hasn't.
5. Select Continue, Remove, then Done.

Read what Google says removal does before you click:

• It is permanent and affects every owner and manager. Posts, photos, videos and review replies by owners and managers are deleted for good.
• Customer reviews stay. Google says user-generated content and reviews remain.
• The listing may still show on Maps. Google says the business "might still show up on Search and Maps" after removal. That's why we also report the copy as a duplicate on Maps, as in the merge steps above.
• Only the primary owner can do it. New owners and managers have to wait 7 days.

What if you don't manage the duplicate?

Pick the route that matches what you see on Maps:

• It's verified by someone else, like a former agency or employee. Request ownership: Google says to go to business.google.com/add, find the business and select Request access. The current owner has 3 days to respond; if they don't, you may get the option to claim it (Request ownership of a Business Profile). Once you own both, you can merge or remove. Our guide on how to claim your business on Google covers this in detail.
• Nobody has claimed it. Google says you can claim and verify an unverified profile, but if your own verified profile already exists, a second verified one is the duplicate you're trying to avoid. Report it as a duplicate on Maps instead. Our guide to Google Business Profile verification explains the verification side.
• The place never existed, or it's fake. Google lets anyone request removal: on Maps, select Suggest an edit, then Place is closed or not here, and choose an option such as "Doesn't exist here". If approved, it's removed from Search and Maps (Request removal of a Business Profile).

How do moves, rebrands and new owners create duplicates?

Most duplicates start with a real change in the business, handled with a new profile instead of an edit.

You moved

Google says: "If your business relocates, do not create a new Business Profile for the new location. Instead, update the existing profile with the new address." There is one exception in its policy overview: for businesses whose physical place is part of the experience, like restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues, Google rejects location edits, and you mark the old profile permanently closed and create a new one at the new address. If an old listing you don't control remains, mark it on Maps with Moved to a new location.

You changed your name

Google treats a minor name change, where the proper nouns, services and category stay the same, as a rebrand you can make by editing the name. A bigger change counts as a new business: Google says to mark the existing profile closed and create a new one. Doing that for a minor change means starting again with no reviews, for no reason.

You bought the business

Google's tip is that the previous owner should add you as an owner and transfer ownership to you. Creating a fresh profile beside the old one gives you a duplicate, and leaves the reviews on the copy you don't control.

What should you never do with a duplicate?

• Never remove the profile that has your reviews. A merge is the only route Google documents for combining reviews, and removing a profile permanently deletes your replies, posts and photos.
• Never mark your main profile as closed to make the duplicate win. Customers will see your business as closed.
• Never rename one profile into another business to reuse it. Google says edits that significantly change the nature of a business are often fraudulent, and it may reject them.
• Never create a new profile to "start clean". That is exactly how a duplicate is made, and a suspended profile is no exception: Google says not to create a new one while you appeal.
• Never report a competitor's real listing as a duplicate. It isn't one, and Google's content policy bans posting content on a competitor's place to undermine its reputation.

How do you stop duplicates coming back?

These are our habits, not Google rules, but each one closes a gap that creates duplicates:

• Keep one owner account for the business. Add staff and agencies as managers on the existing profile, never as owners of new ones.
• Edit, don't recreate. New address, new phone, new service: each is an edit on the profile you already have.
• Check Maps a few times a year. Run the searches above, so a stray listing is caught before it collects reviews.
• Write down who owns the profile. Most ownership fights start when the only person with the login leaves.

If your business still doesn't appear after the cleanup, our guide on why your business isn't showing on Google covers the other causes.