How-to · Updated October 11, 2026
Remove a duplicate Google Business Profile
Updated October 11, 2026
20 minutes, plus Google's review
Keep the verified profile that holds your reviews. Report the extra one in Google Maps as a duplicate, and if it sits in your account, also remove it there, carefully: removal permanently deletes the posts, photos and review replies its owners added, and the listing may still show. Request ownership first if someone else controls it.
Before you start
- The Google Account that manages your profile, signed in.
- Primary owner access to any profile you plan to remove. Google says only primary owners can remove a profile, and new owners and managers must wait 7 days first.
- Every name, phone number and past address the business has used, to search for copies.
Find every copy and who controls it
Start by finding every listing for the business and which ones your account already controls.
- Search Google Maps for the business name, each phone number it has used and each past address. Note every listing that is your business.
- While signed in, open each one. A listing showing Claim this business or Own this business is one your account does not control. Google says that if you cannot find either button, you might already be the owner.
- If a verified copy belongs to someone else, such as a former employee or provider, request it: go to business.google.com/add, enter the name and address, choose the business, and at "Someone else may manage this Business Profile" select Request Access. Fill out the form and select Submit.
- Give the owner 3 days. Google emails you when they approve or deny. With no answer after 3 days you may get an option to claim the profile, though Google says it is not always available.
A service-area business with no shop or office requests ownership through Google's support contact page instead, entering "Transfer ownership of listing" in the "Tell us what we can help with" field.
Keep one profile and report the copy in Google Maps
Keep the verified profile with the most reviews and history, and report every other copy in Google Maps as a duplicate.
- Choose the verified profile with the most reviews and history as the one to keep. Google says that for a merge to succeed, both profiles must represent the same business and should have the same info.
- Open Google Maps, sign in, and select the duplicate listing.
- Select Suggest an edit, then Place closed or not here. Google's pages also call it Place is closed or not here.
- Select Duplicate of another place, then Submit. Google reviews every merge request.
Google says this edit is only offered in select countries and regions, and that when two profiles merge, their reviews are combined but replies to reviews may be lost. Google gives this report and removal from your account as separate routes and does not say to use both; doing both is a judgment, not Google's rule.
Remove it from your account, if it is yours
Remove a copy your account owns only after confirming it is the copy, because removal is permanent and does not guarantee the listing leaves Search and Maps.
- Go to the duplicate profile and confirm its name, address and review count are the copy's, not your main profile's.
- Select More Business Profile settings, then Remove Business Profile, then Remove profile content and managers.
- Leave Mark your business as permanently closed off. Google says a profile marked closed disappears from Maps slowly and is then removed, while a removed profile may still show; a copy marked closed carries your name and a closed label in the meantime, and Google says a profile considered a duplicate will not show on Search or Maps. This is a judgment, not Google's rule.
- Select Continue, then Remove, then Done.
Google says a copy created by mistake can be removed without affecting your verified profile. Removal is permanent for every owner and manager and deletes the posts, photos, videos and review replies that owners and managers added. Customer reviews and other customer content stay. To manage it again you would have to verify it again.
Check it worked
Search Google Maps again for the name, phone numbers and old addresses. Google states no time for Maps reviews, only that edits are reviewed before they show, so check again after a week or two.
Your kept profile should be the only listing for the business, still verified, with its reviews. Open your account's profile list and confirm the removed copy is gone from it.
Copies made for each service or each address
Google allows one profile for each business. Do not keep one profile per service or per address the business has used: list extra services on the one profile, and after a move, update its address.
Two different businesses were merged by mistake
Contact Google Business Profile support to appeal the duplicate status. Google says both businesses must be eligible and distinct, and if both serve customers at the same address, it asks for evidence of permanent signage clearly showing both.
Someone else's listing should not exist
A listing that never existed or is not eligible can be reported for removal even if you do not own it: in Google Maps select Suggest an edit, then Place is closed or not here, and pick the option that fits, such as Doesn't exist here. Google may email follow-up questions.
For incorrect info or fraudulent activity in a listing's name, phone number or website, Google points to its business redressal complaint form instead.