Duplicate Google Business listing: a fix guide for dental practices
Dental practices can pick up duplicate Google listings in several ways: old addresses, previous owners, associates who left, and practice names that changed after a sale. Here is how to tell a true duplicate from a listing Google allows, and how to fix each one.
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A duplicate Google Business listing is a second profile on Google Maps for the same business at the same place. For a dental practice it splits your reviews, confuses patients about which phone number or hours are right, and can mean the wrong listing shows when someone searches for you. Google's own position is blunt: you can have only one Business Profile for each business. This guide shows how to find duplicates, how to tell them apart from the profiles Google does allow for individual dentists, and the steps to remove or merge each kind.
What Google counts as a duplicate
Google's help page on resolving duplicate profiles says multiple profiles for the same business may mislead customers and are against its policies, and that if a profile is considered a duplicate it will not show on Google Search or Maps. It lists three reasons a profile may be treated as a duplicate:
- a verified profile already exists for the same business
- multiple profiles have the same address
- multiple profiles exist for the same business offering different services
That last one matters for practices. A separate profile for "[Practice] Implant Centre" or "[Practice] Orthodontics" at the same address, run by the same team, is likely to be treated as a duplicate. Google says to list your services on one profile instead of creating separate profiles for each service.
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When a second profile is not a duplicate: individual dentists
This is where dental practices differ from most businesses. Google's guidelines for representing your business name dentists as individual practitioners. They say a practitioner should have their own dedicated profile if they operate in a public-facing role and can be contacted directly at the verified location during stated hours.
For practices with several dentists, Google says:
- the practice should have its own Business Profile for the location, separate from the practitioners'
- a practitioner's profile should carry only the practitioner's name, not the practice name
For a practice with one public-facing dentist, Google says it is best to share a single profile named in the format "[practice name]: [dentist's name]".
So a profile for "Dr Jane Smith" at your address is not automatically a duplicate. It becomes a problem when it is out of date, belongs to someone who no longer works there, or competes with the practice profile for your practice's own name.
How to find duplicate listings for your practice
- Search Google Maps for your practice name, then for any previous names the practice has had.
- Search your address, including just the street and postcode. Look for every pin at your building.
- Search your phone numbers, current and old, in Google search and Maps.
- Search each dentist's name with your town, including dentists who have left in the last few years.
- Check the Business Profile Manager in your Google account for any second profile you may have created by mistake.
For each listing you find, note who controls it, whether it is verified, how many reviews it has and whether its details are correct.
How to fix each type of duplicate
| What you found | What to do |
|---|---|
| A duplicate you created yourself, in your own account | Remove it from your account. Google says this will not affect your verified listing |
| Two public profiles for the same practice, one yours, one unclaimed | Report the extra one as a duplicate in Google Maps, or request a merge |
| A duplicate verified by someone else, such as a former owner or agency | Request ownership, then remove or merge it |
| An old listing at your previous address | Update your existing profile's address rather than keeping two, and mark the old one as moved |
| A profile for a dentist who has left | Contact them first. If they keep it, it should show their new location. If not, report it in Maps |
| Separate profiles for each service | Keep one profile and list the services on it |
Removing a duplicate you manage
If you created a duplicate by mistake, Google says you can remove it without affecting your verified listing, but warns that all content and linked managers will be removed, so make sure you remove the correct one. Google's guide to removing a Business Profile from your account sets out the steps: open the profile, go to Business Profile settings, and choose to remove the profile content and managers. Only the primary owner can do this, and new owners and managers must wait seven days first.
Read the warning on that page carefully. Removing a profile from your account does not guarantee it disappears from Maps. Posts, photos and your review replies are deleted permanently, but reviews from patients remain.
Reporting or merging a duplicate on Google Maps
For a duplicate you do not control, Google's instructions for marking a place on Google Maps are:
- Sign in to your Google account and open Google Maps.
- Search for the duplicate listing or select it on the map.
- Select Suggest an edit, then Place closed or not here.
- Select Duplicate of another place and submit.
Google says edits are reviewed and can take some time to show. Its duplicates page adds that merge requests are subject to review, and that for a merge to succeed the profiles must represent the same business and should have the same information. So correct any differences first if you can.
Taking over a duplicate someone else verified
Duplicates verified by a previous owner, a former practice manager or an old agency can surface after a practice changes hands. Google lets you request ownership from the current owner. Its duplicates page says the owner has three days to respond. If they approve, you can manage the profile. If they deny it, you can appeal. If they do not respond, you may get the option to claim it, though Google notes that option is not always available.
What happens to your reviews
This is usually the first question, because duplicates often carry reviews you would rather not lose.
- Merged profiles: Google says that when two profiles are merged, their reviews are combined, but replies to reviews may be lost.
- A move to a new address: Google's page on moving reviews across profiles says that if you move and keep the same business name, Google transfers your reviews automatically. If a duplicate was created by mistake during a move, you can contact Google to transfer reviews from the old profile.
- A removed profile: reviews stay with the listing, not with you.
If a duplicate has a meaningful number of reviews, aim for a merge rather than a removal. Reviews matter: Google's local ranking guide says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. Our guide to working out a review target shows what the practices holding the map in towns like yours have.
Can I delete my Google Business listing and start over?
Generally, no, and you should not try. Google says not to create a new Business Profile because of a change in physical location or ownership. Starting again creates exactly the duplicate this guide is about, and you lose the reviews and history attached to the old profile. Update the existing profile instead: new address, new name if the practice was genuinely renamed, new hours.
How long does it take to remove a Google Business listing?
Google does not give a fixed time. It says suggested edits on Maps are reviewed and can take some time to appear, and that a business marked as permanently closed will not disappear from Maps straight away but will slowly drop out of search results before being removed completely. Check back after a week or two, and resubmit or contact Google Business Profile support if nothing has changed.
Preventing duplicates in future
- Hold ownership in a practice account, not a personal one, so access survives staff changes.
- On a sale or change of practice name, transfer ownership of the existing profile and update it. Do not create a new one.
- On a move, update the address on the existing profile.
- When a dentist joins or leaves, agree what happens to their individual profile.
- Check twice a year by repeating the searches above.
- Keep other listings consistent, because the same name, address and phone number everywhere makes it easier for Google to recognise one practice. Our guide to local SEO for dentists covers this.
Keep one clean listing everywhere
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