How to remove a duplicate business listing on Google

To remove a duplicate business listing from Google, open the extra listing in Google Maps, choose Suggest an edit, then Place closed or not here, then Duplicate of another place, and submit. Google reviews the report and, if it agrees, merges or removes the extra pin. If you created the duplicate yourself by accident and it is in your own account, you can remove it from your Business Profile settings instead. Either way, find both listings first and make sure you keep the right one.

Why one business ends up with two pins

Duplicates rarely come from anything you did wrong on purpose. The usual causes:

You set it up twice, years apart, with two different Google accounts.
A former agency or employee created one in their account while you had another.
You moved, and someone created a new listing at the new address instead of updating the old one.
Google created one itself from public information, such as a directory listing or a customer adding your business to Maps.
A name change, where the old name lives on as its own pin.

Duplicates split your reviews, show different phone numbers or hours, and confuse customers about which one is real. Fixing them is worth an afternoon.

Step 1: find every listing

Open Google Maps on a computer, not signed in or in a private window, so you see what customers see.
Search your business name, then your phone number, then your old name and old address if you have them.
Zoom out and search "your trade near your town" too, for example "upholstery near Dayton".
For each listing you find, write down the name, address, phone number, number of reviews, and its Maps link (use the Share button and copy the link).

Then sign in to business.google.com with every Google account you might have used and note which of those listings appear in which account.

Step 2: decide which one to keep

Keep the listing that is verified in your account, carries the most reviews, and has your current address. If the one with the reviews is not in your account, keep that one anyway and get access to it, because reviews are what customers trust.

Before you remove anything, check whether the two pins really are the same business at the same place. A second location, or a separate business you run from the same address, is not a duplicate in Google's eyes.

Step 3: if both are in your account

If you made the extra listing by mistake and you are its primary owner, you can remove it yourself.

At business.google.com, open the duplicate, not the one you are keeping.
Choose More, then Business Profile settings.
Choose Remove Business Profile, then Remove profile content and managers.
Follow the prompts to confirm.

Google's help pages warn about three things here. Removing deletes posts, photos and your review replies on that profile, and cannot be undone. A brand-new owner or manager has to wait a week before they can remove anything. And removing a profile from your account does not guarantee the pin disappears from Search and Maps. That is why the next step matters even for listings you own.

Step 4: report it as a duplicate in Maps

This works whether or not you control the extra listing.

Sign in to your Google account and open Google Maps.
Find the duplicate listing and open it.
Choose Suggest an edit.
Choose Place closed or not here.
Choose Duplicate of another place, pick the listing you are keeping if Maps asks, and submit.

Google reviews these reports, which can take days or longer. If it merges the two, the reviews are combined onto one listing, though Google says your replies to reviews may be lost in the merge. Check back in a week and report again if nothing has changed.

When someone else controls the duplicate

If the extra listing is verified in an account you cannot reach, such as an old agency's, request access through Google. From your Business Profile, search for the business and request ownership; the current owner has a few days to answer. If they do not respond, Google may let you claim it. If they refuse, you can appeal. Getting your Google Business Profile back from an old agency covers each outcome, and who controls your Google listing explains why it matters to hold it yourself.

Once you have access, you can merge, remove or report it like any listing of your own.

An old location you closed

A listing at an address you left is not quite a duplicate. Do not delete it and create a new one.

If you moved, update the existing listing to the new address rather than starting a new profile. Google's help says this directly, and it keeps your reviews. Moving your business: updating Google and your website walks through it.
If you closed one of several locations, mark that listing as permanently closed. In Maps, that is Suggest an edit, then Place closed or not here, then Permanently closed. A closed listing fades from results over time.

Why deleting is rarely the right move

When a listing is a mess, deleting it feels clean. It usually is not. A deleted profile loses its photos, posts and review replies for good, while the customer reviews and the pin can stay on Maps without anyone managing them. The listing you keep should be the one with history; the extra one should be reported, merged or marked closed.

The same goes for a listing with wrong details. Fix the details rather than starting over. Getting your Google Maps pin right covers correcting the location itself.

What to do this week

Search Maps for your name, phone, old name and old address, and list every pin.
Sign in with every Google account you may have used and note which listings each one manages.
Screenshot every listing and save each Maps link.
Remove any extra listing you own by mistake, then report it in Maps as a duplicate.
Request access to any duplicate held by someone else.
Make sure the listing you keep shows your current phone, hours and website.

Your website should match the one listing you keep, with the same name, phone and address; if yours is out of date, you can see your site rebuilt first with the details right.