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The short version: find both listings, decide which one survives, then ask Google to merge them. Google's own instruction is to report a suggestion on Google Maps when two or more profiles exist for the same business. When the merge goes through, the reviews from both profiles are combined, but your replies to those reviews may be lost, so copy your reply text somewhere safe first. And do not mark the listing you are giving up as closed to hurry things along. A closed label shows to customers on Maps and Search, and they will take it at face value.
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The second listing announces itself sideways. A customer says they left you a review and you cannot find it. You search your own business name and two pins show up two streets apart. A regular says the hours online show you closed and you know the lights are on. Each of those is the same problem underneath: Google has two separate profiles for one real business, and your reviews, photos and hours are split between them.
How a business ends up with two listings
Nobody set out to create it. A previous web designer set up a profile to manage your listing and never handed over the login. A chamber directory or a data company generated one from public records before you touched your own. The business changed hands, and the new owner started fresh because nobody told them the old one existed. Or the address moved a few doors down Ridge Road, or across to a unit in Crystal Beach, and Google treated the new address as a brand new place.
Whatever the cause, the shape is the same: two pins, one business, and Google has no way of knowing they are the same place until somebody tells it.
Why it costs you
The obvious cost is confusion. A customer calls the number on the listing that has been stale since 2019, or checks the hours on the one nobody updates and drives past. Then there are the reviews. Say the previous owner's listing has thirty and yours has three. Your listing looks brand new; the old one shows hours and photos from before you took over. Neither profile tells the full story. If the map results seem to favour a competitor with fewer years behind them, split reviews are one of the first things to rule out (the map-pack guide walks through the rest).
Which listing to keep
Before you ask for anything, decide which profile should survive. The obvious candidate is the one with more reviews and a longer history. The other thing that matters, and it matters a lot, is whether you can get into it. A listing with three reviews and full owner access can still beat one with thirty reviews and a login nobody has. The survivor is where you will manage hours, photos and review replies from now on.
| What you find | Keep | Why |
|---|---|---|
| One listing has the reviews and you have the login | That one | Nothing to untangle; the other is a straight duplicate |
| The reviews are on a listing you cannot get into | The one with the reviews, after you get access | Reviews combine in a merge; a login does not. Sort access first |
| Both have reviews, you can get into both | The older one, or the one with the address customers use | The survivor becomes the one address Google shows, so pick the pin people already drive to |
| Neither has reviews, one is yours | Yours | Report the other as a duplicate and move on |
"Claimed" just means someone has told Google they run the business and proved it, which Google calls verifying. If the listing you want is verified under someone else's account (an old employee's Gmail, say, or a designer who has since closed shop), Google has a request form for exactly this. Go to business.google.com/add, enter the business name and address, pick the listing, and choose the option to request access. Google emails the current owner, who has three days to respond. Yes gets you management rights; no can be appealed. After three silent days, Google says you may be offered the option to claim the profile yourself, though not always.
Sort that access out before the merge. It is much simpler to get the login on a listing that still exists than on one that has been folded into another.
Save your replies, then ask Google to merge
Google's published instruction for two profiles of the same business is to report a suggestion on Google Maps. Here is the order that protects what you have built:
- Copy your review replies. Open each review on both listings and paste your reply text into a document, with the reviewer's name and date beside it. Google says reviews are combined when two profiles are merged, but replies may be lost. A few minutes now saves rewriting them later.
- Open the duplicate on Google Maps and report a suggestion that it is the same business as the listing you are keeping. Name the surviving listing by its business name and address so there is no guesswork.
- Wait, and check back. Google says every merge request is reviewed, and its help page gives no timeline. There is no progress bar. Search your business name every week or so and watch for the second pin to disappear.
It is much simpler to get the login on a listing that still exists than on one that has been folded into another.
What to check once it has merged
The second pin is gone. Before you put it out of your mind, run through this on the listing that is left:
- The review count is the combined total, not just the survivor's original number.
- Name, address and phone are current, read line by line.
- Hours match the door, including any seasonal change coming up.
- Your saved replies are pasted back in under the reviews that lost them.
- Photos from the retired listing that were worth keeping have been re-uploaded.
- A calendar reminder is set to search your business name again in a month.
The last one matters more than it looks. Whatever created the first duplicate may create another, and if a fresh pin shows up, the same steps apply. If you have never replied to a review, the guide to responding to Google reviews is the natural next job once the listing is tidy.
Common questions
Can I just delete the extra listing instead?
That depends on who made it. Google says that if you created the duplicate yourself, by mistake, you can remove it without affecting your verified listing. If someone else created it, or you are not sure, the merge request is the route. Either way, remove nothing until the survivor shows the combined reviews.
Can I ask for a merge if I cannot get into the old listing?
Yes. Reporting a duplicate is done from the public side of Google Maps, so it needs no login to either profile. Access matters on the survivor, where hours, photos and replies live afterwards. If that is the one you are locked out of, use the access request described above first.
How long does a merge take?
Google's help page says merge requests are reviewed and does not give a timeline, so plan on checking rather than waiting for a notice. If nothing has changed after a few weeks, you can report the suggestion again with the same details.
We moved. Is the listing at the old address a duplicate?
Google's instruction for a move is to update the address on the existing profile, not create a new one. A business that moves after verifying has to verify again. If a listing already exists at the new address, treat the pair like any other duplicate: keep the one with the reviews, report the other.
Checked against Google's own help pages on 2026-09-21: Resolve duplicate profiles and ownership issues, Request ownership of a Business Profile, Mark your business as closed, Edit your Business Profile and re-verify after a move.
Sorting out which listing is worth keeping is part of the Google Business Profile cleanup described on the Niagara SEO homepage. The Fort Erie page covers the version where a previous owner or a departed employee still holds the login. If the second listing is proving hard to find, email hello@niagaraseo.com with your business name, or call 905.682.4642, and I will track down both pins for you.