Blog Post

Let me say it upfront—duplicate listings on Google My Business (now officially called Google Business Profile, but we’ll call it GMB for short) can mess up your local SEO faster than you can say “NAP inconsistency.”

I’ve worked with clients who didn’t even realize they had duplicate GMB listings—until they started losing search visibility, traffic dipped, and customers were showing up to outdated locations. If your business is showing up more than once on Google, and not in a good way, this is the cleanup guide you need.

In this post, I’ll walk you through exactly how I identify, fix, and prevent duplicate Google listings. It’s straightforward—but only if you do it right the first time.

A duplicate GMB listing is any extra profile that shares the same business name, address, or phone number (NAP) as your original listing. These duplicates can show up for a lot of reasons—old location listings, multiple employees creating listings without checking, or even third-party data aggregators submitting your info without asking. I’ve seen it all.

The result? Confused customers, split reviews, and messed-up local rankings. If you care about local SEO performance, fixing this is not optional.

Here’s what I tell clients: if Google’s confused, your rankings suffer. If your customers are confused, your conversions suffer.

Duplicate listings can:

• Split your Google reviews, watering down credibility
  
• Confuse Maps users with old addresses or incorrect phone numbers
  
• Cause your business to vanish from Google Map Pack results
  
• Result in Google flagging or even suspending your profile
  

In local search, trust is everything. And duplicate listings don’t inspire trust.

Before you fix anything, you need to confirm whether you actually have a duplicate. Here’s how I do it:

Search your business name + city. Look closely for listings with outdated info or a second pin nearby.

If a listing says “Own this business?” or “Claim this business,” it’s unverified. That’s a red flag.

When I log into the GMB dashboard, I check for any “Duplicate Locations” alerts under Account Summary.

If your NAP data is even slightly different across platforms, duplicates can creep in. Use my NAP consistency guide if you’re not sure your info lines up.

Here comes the good part. Fixing duplicate listings doesn’t take a PhD—it just takes precision.

• I log into my Google Business Profile account.
  
• I decide which listing I want to keep—usually the one with better reviews or engagement.
  
• I contact Google Support and request a merge.
  

Important: Don’t delete either listing before merging. You’ll lose reviews and risk verification issues.

• I claim the unverified listing through Google Maps (“Claim this business”).
  
• Once I have access, I either delete it from my dashboard or contact Google Support to merge it.
  

• I go to the listing on Google Maps.
  
• I click “Suggest an edit” > “Close or remove” > “Duplicate of another place.”
  
• I select the correct location and submit.
  

Sometimes Google listens right away. Sometimes it needs a nudge. That’s when I reach out to support directly.

When edits don’t stick, here’s what I send through the Google Business Profile Help Center:

• Business name
  
• Address
  
• Links to both listings (duplicate + correct one)
  
• Short explanation of the issue
  
• Optional: screenshot proof
  

Google doesn’t always move fast, but they do respond—especially if you make their job easy with clear info.

One fix is great. No duplicates ever again? Even better.

Here’s what I do (and recommend to every client):

• Use only one official GMB account to manage all listings
  
• Avoid creating a new listing when relocating—update the existing one instead
  
• Disable auto-submissions from directories you don’t monitor
  
• Keep NAP data locked down across all platforms (Citations, Yelp, social media, etc.)
  
• Monitor your listings weekly—especially if you’re running multi-location SEO
  

Also, if your business is just getting started, learn how to optimize your Google Business Profile the right way before mistakes pile up.

Ignoring them is like ignoring a leaky faucet. It’ll cost you—just not right away.

Here’s what I’ve seen happen:

• Loss of map visibility (you fall out of local pack)
  
• Reviews split across profiles—hurting trust
  
• Less traffic, fewer calls, lower rankings
  
• Confused users showing up to closed or outdated addresses
  

I’ve even seen competitors flag duplicate listings as spam. Not cool, but it happens.

Duplicate listings may seem minor—but I’ve seen them sabotage entire local SEO campaigns. Clean listings mean stronger trust signals, better rankings, and a smoother experience for customers trying to reach you.One last tip: Once you’ve cleaned up your listings, make sure you’re taking full advantage of your GMB profile. Start using GMB posts to drive more traffic, and make sure you’re tracking performance like a pro.