A duplicate Google Business listing happens more often than most business owners realize, sometimes because an old address was carried over from a data provider, sometimes because a previous employee or a well-meaning customer created a second profile years ago. Either way, it's worth fixing rather than ignoring.
Why it actually causes problems
Reviews, photos, and search visibility split across two listings instead of consolidating into one strong profile. A customer might land on the wrong one, see fewer reviews than the business actually has, or find outdated information on the listing nobody's been maintaining.
How to find out if you have one
Search the business name plus city directly in Google, and check Google Maps for the same. A duplicate often surfaces immediately once you're specifically looking for it, even though it never shows up during a normal search for the business.
How to report it
Google allows reporting a duplicate listing for merger directly through Google Maps: find the incorrect listing, use the "Suggest an edit" option, and flag it as a duplicate. Google typically merges the listings and consolidates the data, though the timeline varies.
Don't just try to delete the old one yourself
If you don't have owner access to the duplicate, deleting it isn't an option available to you directly. Reporting it for merge is the correct path, and trying workarounds risks flagging your legitimate listing for review instead.
Prevention going forward
Duplicate listings often reappear when NAP information (name, address, phone) is inconsistent across the web, since some directories auto-generate listings based on scraped data. See NAP consistency: why your name, address and phone must match everywhere.
Questions
How long does a merge request take?
It varies, sometimes days, sometimes longer, depending on how clear-cut the duplicate is and current review volume on Google's end.
What happens to reviews on the listing that gets removed?
In a clean merge, reviews typically transfer to the surviving listing, though this isn't always guaranteed to work perfectly for older or long-inactive duplicates.
Can a duplicate happen again after it's fixed?
It's uncommon but possible, especially if the underlying inconsistent data (an old address still listed somewhere online) hasn't been cleaned up at the source.