How to Merge Two Google My Business Pages

Discovering a rogue duplicate of your Google My Business page can sink your heart - it splits your reviews, confuses customers, and weakens your local SEO. Getting those stray pages under control isn't just a cleanup task, it's a critical move for your brand's online health. This guide will walk you through exactly how to merge those duplicate Google Business Profiles, get your online presence unified, and funnel all that hard-earned customer trust into a single authoritative listing.

Why Duplicate Google Business Profiles Are a Big Problem

You might think two listings are better than one, giving you double the visibility. In reality, it does the exact opposite. Duplicate listings cause serious friction for both search engines and your potential customers, creating problems you can't afford to ignore.

• It Confuses Google's Algorithm: Search engines reward authority and consistency. When Google finds two profiles for one business at the same address, its algorithm gets confused. Which one is the "real" one? This confusion causes Google to split your SEO authority - your ranking power, reviews, links - between the two pages. Instead of one strong profile ranking high in local search results and Google Maps, you end up with two weak ones that struggle to compete.
• It Dilutes Your Social Proof: Reviews are the lifeblood of a local business. A healthy stream of positive reviews builds trust and attracts new customers. When your reviews are scattered across two listings, the impact of your social proof is cut in half. A customer might see one profile with 15 reviews and another with 20. Neither looks as impressive as a single profile with 35 reviews, which more accurately reflects your business's reputation.
• It Creates a Terrible Customer Experience: Imagine a customer finds a duplicate listing with old operating hours and drives to your store only to find it closed. Or another customer leaves a rave review on an unmanaged duplicate that you never see or get to respond to. Inconsistent information like phone numbers, hours, temporary closures, or even business photos leads to frustration and lost revenue. A unified profile ensures every customer finds accurate, up-to-date information every single time.
• It Weakens Your Brand Control: Unclaimed or unmanaged duplicate listings are often created automatically by Google or accidentally by well-meaning customers. These profiles can sit there with wrong information, unanswered questions, and negative reviews that you're unaware of. Merging duplicates is about reclaiming control over your brand's narrative and ensuring you manage every single customer touchpoint associated with your business on Google.

Can Your Pages Even Be Merged? Google's Rules

Before you jump into the process, you need to understand Google's basic requirements for a merge. Google wants to keep its map data clean and accurate, so it has a few specific rules. The number one rule is that the profiles must represent the same physical business at the same location.

The Basics of Eligibility:

At a high level, the listings you want to merge should have a nearly identical Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP). If your business moved locations or changed its name, you should update the old listing rather than trying to merge the old one with a new one.

• For Businesses at the Same Location: This is the most straightforward scenario. You have two profiles with the same (or very similar) name, address, and primary business category. Maybe one was created automatically, and the other was created by a previous marketing manager. These are prime candidates for a merge.
• For Businesses That Have Moved: You cannot merge a profile at an old address with one at a new address. The correct procedure is to go into the profile for the old location and mark it as permanently closed. Then, you continue operating the profile for your new address as a separate entity.
• For Businesses That Rebranded: If you've only changed your name but stay in the same location, merging isn't typically necessary. The proper step is to update your existing Google Business Profile with the new business name, logo, and branding. It's only a merge situation if a new page was created under the new brand while the old page still exists.

If the NAP information isn't perfectly consistent between the profiles, spend some time editing the pages to match as closely as possible before you request a merge. Consistent information signals to Google Support that the pages legitimately represent the same entity.

Your Pre-Merge Checklist: A Little Prep Goes a Long Way

Rushing into a merge request without preparation can lead to unwanted data loss or having your request rejected. Take a few minutes to complete this simple checklist. Future you will be grateful.

1. Choose Your "Primary" Profile (The One to Keep)

One profile will serve as the final, primary profile, and the other will be absorbed into it. You must decide which one that will be. In almost every case, you should choose the profile that is a bit "stickier" - the one that has more authority, history, and engagement. Look for:

• The most reviews and a higher average rating.
• The best ranking on Google Maps for your main keywords.
• The profile that is older and has remained verified for a longer period.
• The profile that already has an active Q&A section, a good volume of uploaded photos, and an active history of Google Posts.

Choose wisely. This will be the surviving profile.

2. Back Up Your Information

While Google attempts to transfer critical data like reviews during a merge, not everything is guaranteed to make the jump. Data from the profile being removed - such as Google Posts, your owner responses to reviews, and answers in the Q&A section - is almost always lost.

Open both profiles and take screenshots or copy and paste the following into a document:

• Reviews: Save the content from any unique reviews on the "duplicate" profile. That way, if they don't transfer, you still have a record.
• Responses: Save any responses you've written to reviews on the account to be merged. You may want to recreate them on the primary account later.
• Question & Answer: Replicate any important questions and their answers from the duplicate profile onto your primary profile. This customer-generated content often contained keywords and should be preserved.
• Photos: Download any unique owner-uploaded photos from the duplicate profile that you don't have saved elsewhere, so you can re-upload them to the primary one post-merge.

3. Standardize Your NAP Information

Finally, double-check that all your core info is correct and consistent across both profiles before you send a request. Name, address, phone number, website, and hours of operation should line up perfectly. That makes it a no-brainer for the Google support team to see that they are, in fact, duplicates.

The Step-by-Step Guide to Merging GMB Listings

With technology constantly in flux, the process of handling these tasks has changed. There is no simple "Merge" button, so you'll need to get help from Google directly. Here's the most reliable way to get it done.

Step 1: Get Both of Your Profile IDs Ready

To make things as clear for Google's team as possible, you need to provide them with the unique ID for both the primary profile you want to keep and the duplicate profile you want to have merged. If you own or manage both pages:

1. Navigate to Google Business Profile Manager.
2. Click on the profile you want to find the ID for.
3. On the right side of the main dashboard, click the three vertical dots (More menu icon) next to your profile name.
4. Select "Business Profile Settings," then "Advanced Settings."
5. You'll see the "Profile ID," a string of numbers. Copy it and save it somewhere.

If you don't own one of the listings, and can't find its profile ID, you can provide the Google Maps URL instead. Find the listing on Maps, click the Share button, and copy that link.

Step 2: Contact Google Business Profile Support

The most direct and effective method now is contacting Google's support team. Follow these steps:

1. Go to Google Business Profile Help Support Form.
2. You'll be prompted to choose the Business Profile you want to discuss from a drop-down menu. Select the one you want to keep.
3. Tell us what we can help with. In this field, type something simple and direct, like "Merge duplicate listings."
4. Click "Next Step," and a few potential solutions will pop up. Ignore them and click "next step" again.
5. You will see two contact options: "Get a Call" or "Email." Email is generally a simpler way to handle this so you can paste your Profile IDs and URLs.
6. In the form, you'll have a place to provide a detailed explanation. This is where you should be as clear and precise as possible. Use a format similar to this:
7. Hello there,

I would like to merge two duplicate Google Business Profiles. They are for the same business entity at the same location.

The primary profile I want to keep is: Profile ID ABC123... or Google Maps URL: [link]

The duplicate profile I want to have merged is: Profile ID XYZ987... or Google Maps URL: [link]

Thank you for your assistance!

3. Submit the form and wait for a response. Google is usually pretty quick to respond (within 48 hours) and may ask a couple of verification questions to confirm ownership or the situation before proceeding with the merge.

What If You Don't Own the Duplicate Listing?

This scenario happens all the time. An automatically generated profile appears and starts gathering public facts, but you can't access it. In this case, your most effective method is to go through Google Maps.

1. Find the duplicate listing on Google Maps.
2. Click on "Suggest an Edit."
3. Click "Close or remove."
4. Choose "Duplicate of another place..." as the reason.
5. You'll be prompted to select the correct listing (the one you own and manage) from the map. Choose your profile and submit.

This process sends an alert to Google's moderation team that there is a duplicate. It's not as immediate or guaranteed as the support method but is the correct protocol for profiles you don't own.

What to Do After Your Profiles Are Merged

Once Google confirms that the merge is completed, your work isn't quite done yet.

Take a few minutes to do a post-merge audit of your remaining "primary" profile. Here's what to look for:

• Check your reviews. Hopefully, all of the unique reviews from the old listing have successfully moved over. If not, at least you have them saved from your pre-merge backup.
• Re-upload Photos. Any photos that were specifically unique to the old profile should be re-uploaded manually to your primary page.
• Rebuild Your Q&A section. If you saved any valuable questions and answers from the old page, go ahead and re-post them manually.

Final Thoughts

Cleaning up Google Business Profile duplicates isn't just administrative busy-work, it's an essential strategic move to strengthen your local SEO and enhance trust with potential customers. The process requires precise communication with Google Support, but by being prepared and following the steps outlined here, you can consolidate your online authority and ensure every customer finds your one true, authoritative business listing.

That same instinct to create a clean, unified presence like an organized single GBM profile stretches across your entire online ecosystem. Just as it's chaotic to respond to customers across two Google profiles, it's equally hectic trying to manage your social media communities across a half-dozen apps. With Postbase, we built a social media management platform that can provide a central dashboard for engagement and scheduled posts. We help consolidate your brand voice into an organized and cohesive workflow so you can spend less time juggling tabs and more time connecting with your audience. Postbase.