Finding and Merging Duplicate Listings

Search for your own business name. If you are lucky, you will see one listing. If not, you may see two, three or more: one with your old address, one with a slightly different name, one created years ago by someone who no longer works for you. Each looks like a real business, each collects a share of reviews and visits, and each tells customers something slightly different.

Duplicate listings are one of the most common and most fixable problems in local presence. This guide explains how they arise, how to find them and how to get rid of them properly.

Why duplicates happen

Moves. You relocate, create a new listing and forget to close the old one.

Name changes and rebrands. The new name gets a new listing, and the old one remains.

More than one person editing. A manager, an agency and an employee each create a listing, unaware of the others.

Automatic creation. Directories and map services build listings from public data, such as business registers or phone books, and a manually created one then duplicates it.

Mergers and acquisitions. Two businesses combine, and both listings live on.

Changes of ownership. The previous owner's listing stays at the address.

Shared premises. Several businesses or departments at one address, mistaken for each other.

Geocoding quirks. Wikipedia notes that geocoding is imperfect, with ambiguous addresses and out-of-date reference data causing errors, which can lead to apparent duplicates at slightly different locations.

Why they matter

Split reviews. Customers leave reviews on whichever listing they find, so your reputation is divided and no single listing looks as strong as the combined total.

Conflicting details. One listing has the new phone number, another the old. Customers may ring a disconnected line.

Confusion in search. Local results aim to show a business once. Google's guidance on business profiles emphasises complete and accurate information, and duplicates undermine both.

Wasted effort. You update one and forget the others.

Risk of rule breaches. Some directories treat unauthorised duplicates as violations.

Step one: find them

Look in several places.

• Search by name, including old names and variations.
• Search by address and postcode, including your previous addresses.
• Search by phone number, old and new.
• Search by website address.
• Search the directory's own search and the major map services.
• Look at your analytics for visits from listings you do not recognise.
• Ask colleagues whether they created any.
• Check your email for old confirmation messages from directories.

Make a list: where each listing is, how it is named, what details it shows, who owns it, when it was created and how many reviews it has.

Step two: decide what to keep

For each set of duplicates, choose the one to keep. Consider:

• Which has the most reviews and history? Those are worth preserving.
• Which do you control? If you cannot edit one, you may need to claim it first.
• Which is the best match for current details? Name, address and category.
• Which is the oldest, if the directory favours it?

Often the listing with the most reviews is the best choice, even if its details need updating. Details can be corrected. Reviews cannot easily be moved.

Step three: claim and verify

Make sure you can control the listing you plan to keep. Follow the directory's process for claiming and verifying ownership. This may involve a code sent by post, phone or email, or evidence of your business. Verification is how a directory confirms that you are authorised to manage the business. Until you have it, you cannot make the changes you need.

Step four: update the keeper

Before dealing with the duplicates, make the keeper correct and complete.

• Correct name, address, phone, website and hours.
• The right category and attributes.
• Good photographs.
• A clear description.

Then you can point to it as the authoritative listing.

Step five: merge or remove the others

Different directories handle duplicates differently. Look for a "report a duplicate", "merge" or "suggest an edit" option. Typical routes:

• Merge request. Ask the directory to combine two listings, moving reviews and photographs where possible. This is often only available to verified owners of both.
• Mark as duplicate. Report the extra listing so the directory can review and merge or remove it.
• Mark as closed or moved. If the duplicate represents an old address, mark it closed or moved, so that customers are directed to the right place.
• Request removal. If the listing is wrong or fraudulent, report it with evidence.
• Contact support. If self-service options do not work, explain clearly, with links to each listing and evidence that they are the same business.

Be patient. Reviews of requests may take days or weeks. Keep a record of requests and dates.

Step six: tidy the web around it

Duplicates often leave traces elsewhere.

• Update your own website so that the address, phone and name match the keeper.
• Update social profiles and other directories.
• Check that old addresses are not still shown anywhere.
• Ask partners who link to you to update.

Consistency across the web helps search systems recognise that all references are to the same business.

Prevent them

A few habits stop duplicates from returning.

• Keep a master list of every listing: where, who owns it and when it was last checked.
• Search before creating. Always look for an existing listing before adding a new one.
• Name an owner for each directory.
• Tell staff and agencies not to create listings without checking.
• Close old listings properly when moving, rebranding or closing a branch.
• Review twice a year, by searching for your name, old names and addresses.

For multi-branch businesses, a master spreadsheet with a row per location is essential. Our article on multi-branch listings describes this.

What not to do

• Do not create a new listing to replace a duplicate. That makes more duplicates.
• Do not delete the one with the most reviews just because it is old.
• Do not impersonate or claim a listing that is not yours.
• Do not ask for reviews to be moved by unofficial means, or offer incentives for them.
• Do not neglect small directories. Old entries elsewhere still confuse customers.

A worked example

A small accountancy firm moved offices two years ago. A search for its name shows three listings: the current one, with five reviews; an old one at the previous address, with eleven reviews; and a third, created by a former employee under an abbreviated name, with none.

The practice manager lists them in a spreadsheet. She decides to keep the old one, because it has eleven reviews and a history, and update it to the new address. She verifies ownership of that listing, updates the name, address, phone, website, hours and category, and adds recent photographs. She then reports the current-address listing as a duplicate and asks for a merge. She marks the third as a duplicate and asks for removal.

Within three weeks, the directory merges two of the listings, and the third is removed. The remaining listing shows sixteen reviews and the correct details. She updates the firm's website and social profiles to match, adds a note to her master list and sets a reminder for six months' time to search again.

A checklist

• Searches by name, address, phone and website
• A list of all listings found
• A decision on which to keep
• Ownership claimed and verified
• Keeper updated
• Merge, mark or removal requests sent
• Web footprint tidied
• Master list and owner assigned
• Twice-yearly review

A note on this site: the advice above about reviews, hours and map pins describes directories and map services in general. A listing here describes the business and links to its website, and it has no opening-hours or street-address fields. If you find two listings for one business here, search first, update the one you own from your account, and use the contact page to tell us about the other, naming both. The categories page here shows how listings are grouped, the search page finds listings by words, and the submit page starts a listing, so check for an existing one first and update it from your account.

Signs you may have a duplicate you have not seen

Not all duplicates show up in a simple name search. Watch for hints: reviews mentioning a different address or phone number than the one you use, calls from people who say they found a number you no longer use, visits in your analytics from a listing page you do not recognise, or customers who say they left a review that you cannot find. Ask staff and long-standing customers whether they have ever seen another version of your business online. A few minutes of conversation sometimes finds duplicates that an hour of searching misses.

Talking to the directory

When you write to a directory about duplicates, make the case easy to approve. Give a one-line summary, then a short list of each listing with its link, address and review count, saying which is the keeper. State that all are the same business and give the evidence: your registration, your website, a photograph of your sign. Offer to provide anything else. Keep the tone friendly, thank them and avoid repeating the request every day. Most teams respond to a clear, well-organised message more quickly than to an urgent but vague one.

Frequently asked questions

Will merging lose my reviews? It depends on the directory. Many try to keep them, but check the policy.

What if a duplicate belongs to someone else? Report it with evidence. Do not edit what you do not own.

How often do duplicates reappear? After moves, renames and automatic imports. A regular search catches them early.