Resolving Duplicate Addresses in Google My Business: The Definitive Guide [2021]
Google My Business can be finicky—especially with confirming addresses and business information. If you’re encountering problems with multiple listings, duplicate addresses, or duplicate business names, this guide has you covered. We’ll look at solutions for:
- Duplicate listings
- Duplicate addresses
- Businesses that share an address
- Professionals that share an address
Ready to fix your listing and bring balance to GMB? Find your situation below to get started.
1. You have 2 listings for the same business at the same address:
You will want to merge the listings.
- If both listings are verified and owned by you: Unverify one of the listings. (You can’t merge two verified listings.)
- If both listings are verified, but you only own one of them: Claim the unowned listing. Google will then tell you how you can get ownership.
- If only one is verified: Save the URLs for both listings. Contact Google My Business Help. Send them the listings’ URLs with a request to merge them.
Instead of merging the listings, you can remove one of them. Only do this if it is unverified and has no reviews—otherwise, those reviews won’t be transferred over.
To remove a duplicate listing you control:
- Sign in to Google My Business
- Go to the “Info” tab
- Click “Remove listing”
To report a duplicate listing you do not control:
- Open Google Maps
- Find the listing
- Click “Suggest an edit”
- Mark the listing as “Place is permanently closed or has never existed”
- Choose “Duplicate” as the reason
- Click “Submit”
2. You have 2 listings for different businesses at the same address:
Technically, having two businesses listed at the same address isn’t a problem. It’s perfectly acceptable so long as they are registered as separate, distinct entities and have different telephone numbers.
A big problem, though, is multiple home businesses. Unfortunately, Google usually doesn’t allow more than one listing out of a home unless you have permanent signage and separate phone numbers. You can list one of them, but they’ll tend to flag you if you have more.
To remove an unverified business listing:
- Open Google Maps
- Find the listing
- Click “Suggest an edit”
- Mark the listing as “Place is permanently closed or has never existed”
- Choose “Duplicate” as the reason
- Click “Submit”
To resolve “Duplicate Address” error:
If you have multiple businesses at the same address, and each is a real, distinct entity, you can add Store Codes to resolve the Duplicate Address error.
To add a store code:
- Log in to Google My Business
- Go to the Listing Editor
- Access the listing in question. Go to “Advanced Information”
- Click the Edit icon next to “Store Code,” and enter a code like “001,” “002,” etc.
After you give each listing a store code, Google should no longer highlight the listings as duplicate addresses.
3. You have 2 listings for the same business but at different addresses:
According to Google, businesses are allowed multiple listings if they have multiple locations. But they need to be genuine. Each of those locations needs to:
- Be in use
- Have its own phone number that can be contacted
- Provide accurate business hours
- Use a precise, accurate address where customers can reach
If you’re a service-area business (SAB), you cannot have multiple address listings. If you don’t have a storefront and directly travel to your customers’ locations, you can create only one Google My Business listing.
If you’re a service business with several storefronts, you can have a listing for each of them.
To remove a duplicate-address listing:
- Log in to Google My Business
- Under “Account Summary,” click “Duplicate Locations”
- Select the location you want to remove
- Click “Delete This Listing”
- If you’re removing several listings, click the three-dot menu and select “Remove”
4. You are a public-facing professional within an organization
Some professionals are allowed their own listings even if they work within an office, practice, or studio.
These professionals must act in a public-facing role and cannot be the only public-facing professional at that office. They must also be reachable at the verified location during business hours.
Some examples of permitted professions include:
- Doctors
- Lawyers
- Dentists
- Realtors
- Artists (such as tattoo artists)
To create a listing for a public-facing professional:
- Create one listing for the organization at its location
- Create a separate listing for each public-facing professional. This listing should include only the name of the practitioner, not the name of the organization.
- When applicable, professionals can include a title, such as Dr., M.D., J.D., Esq., CFA, etc.
- You can use the same address as the organization in your professional listing. Alternatively, you can use the organization as the professional listing’s address.
5. You share a co-working space with other companies
Co-working spaces complicate things. You can still have a listing if you operate out of a co-working space, but you might run into a few problems. Google wants you to have a permanent address for your listing. By nature, businesses don’t tend to set up shop permanently in co-working spaces. There’s a lot of transience, so Google usually doesn’t permit it.
Generally, businesses in co-working spaces will get filtered out of GMB listings. You’ll need to make sure you meet all of Google’s criteria to avoid that.
To be eligible, you will need:
- A direct phone line unique to your business
- Your own staff
- Listed business hours during which you or your staff are available
- Your own dedicated, permanent space in the co-working office
Ideally, you should also have your own suite number and permanent signage for your business. Otherwise, Google may still remove your listing.
You may also run into trouble if you share a workspace with another business in your industry. If they share your GMB categories, it’s likely that one of you will be filtered out of Google’s local search results.
Looking for More GMB Tricks? LinkNow Has You Covered
Need help managing your Google My Business account? LinkNow Media is here for you. With over 10,000 clients, we’ve established ourselves as one of the leading digital marketing agencies in North America. For search engine optimization, conversion-driven content, and more, consider us your first point of contact.
Feel free to leave us a comment below, call 1-888-667-7186, or email website@linknowmedia.com, and we’ll be happy to get back to you.
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