A duplicate Google Business Profile can create more than a little confusion for a dental practice. You may end up with reviews spread across two profiles, patients landing on the wrong listing, and local signals divided between profiles that should really be working together. Worse, the duplicate may sit there quietly while your team carries on with day-to-day practice, unaware that it is creating a problem.
The reassuring part is that you do not necessarily have to start over or sacrifice the reviews your practice has worked hard to earn. When two listings genuinely represent the same dental practice, Google may let you merge them so the stronger profile remains. The process, however, needs some care. Choosing the wrong listing, making changes too quickly, or treating two different locations as duplicates can create a bigger mess than the original. Here is how to approach the merge while protecting your dental reviews.
If your dental practice has been around for a few years, your Google presence has probably changed along with it. Maybe you moved offices, changed the practice name, took over an existing clinic, added another dentist, or switched marketing agencies. Each change can leave a little digital history behind, and sometimes that history turns into more than one Google Business Profile for what is essentially the same practice.
That is why duplicate listings rarely appear out of nowhere. They usually come from perfectly ordinary changes in the life of a dental practice. Here are some of the most common ways they happen.
Moving to a new office does not mean starting your Google presence from scratch. Google specifically advises businesses to update the existing profile rather than create a new one when they relocate. Creating another profile can leave the old listing behind with its reviews and history while the new one starts building from zero.
Dental practices evolve. A solo dentist joins with a partner, an ownership change brings a new brand, or a long-established clinic adopts a completely different name. Depending on the nature of the change, Google may treat a significant rebrand differently from a simple name update. Creating a second profile without first checking the existing listing can leave two versions of the practice competing for attention.
This is a particularly common source of confusion. You acquire an established dental practice with years of reviews, create a fresh Google profile under the new ownership or brand, and suddenly the old profile is still sitting at the same address. The practice may have a new name, but Google still sees a trail of information connected to the old business.
The important part is figuring out whether Google considers the change a continuation of the existing business or a genuinely new business before creating another profile. If you are taking over a practice, this guide on how to market a new dental practice covers the early steps that sit around the Google profile.
Sometimes the duplicate has nothing to do with the dentist. An agency may create a new profile instead of claiming or updating the one that already exists. Years later, the agency is gone, the login details are buried in an old email thread, and your practice has two listings with overlapping information.
It is the kind of problem nobody notices until someone finally asks, “Why do we have two of these?”
A new suite number, phone number, or other business information can create inconsistencies across your online presence. Google expects a practice to represent its real-world location accurately, including its physical address and signage. That makes it important to update the existing profile correctly rather than treating every change as a reason to create another one.
This one needs a closer look because not every practitioner profile is a duplicate. Google allows eligible, public-facing dentists to have individual practitioner profiles, and a practice with multiple practitioners can have a separate profile for the organization as well.
The problem arises when an individual profile no longer represents an eligible practitioner at that location, or when someone creates multiple profiles for the same practitioner. So before you try to merge a dentist's listing into the practice profile, check whether that profile is actually eligible to exist separately.
Google Maps is not built entirely from profiles created by business owners. Information can enter Google's ecosystem through user suggestions and other sources. That means you may occasionally discover a listing for your practice that nobody on your team remembers creating.
Before claiming or removing anything, compare the name, address, phone number, website, reviews, and other details against your legitimate profile. Two listings that look similar are not automatically two profiles you should merge.
Your practice name may appear one way on your website, another way in a directory, and slightly differently on an old citation. Those inconsistencies can make managing your local presence harder and may contribute to duplicate or conflicting information appearing across Google and other platforms. A clear directory and citation strategy keeps those details aligned.
The fix is not to create another profile to match every variation. Google recommends representing the business consistently as it is known in the real world and maintaining accurate location information.
Mostly duplicate listings are a history problem. Practice changes, ownership changes, people come and go, and old information does not always disappear with them. Before you merge anything, the first job is to work out which profiles genuinely represent the same business and which ones have a legitimate reason to exist separately.
The most obvious symptom is a practice appearing more than once in Google Search and Maps. But the downstream effects of duplicate listings reach much further. Once two profiles start representing the same dental practice, reviews, patient activity, business information, and profile management can all become fragmented.
Reviews get split: When two profiles represent the same practice, the reviews earned over years can end up divided between them. A patient may find one listing with 300 reviews and another with 40, without realising they are looking at the same dental office. Your reputation is still there, but it is no longer telling its full story in one place. Keeping your online reputation in a single profile makes it easier to protect.
Google gets confused: Google has to make sense of multiple profiles that appear to represent one business. Instead of one clear profile carrying the practice's information and activity, there are competing versions of the same business for Google to process. A second listing may look like extra visibility, but duplicate profiles do not work like extra seats at the table.
Information becomes inconsistent: One profile may show your current hours while another still carries an old schedule. A website, business category, phone number, or other profile detail can also differ between listings. Now the same practice has two versions of the truth sitting on Google, and patients should not have to figure out which one is right.
Patients call the wrong number: An outdated phone number can turn a simple search into a missed connection. A patient finds the practice, taps Call, and reaches a number that no longer works. Most people will not launch an investigation to find the correct contact details. They will simply go back to Google and try the next dentist.
Reviews and interactions get scattered: Reviews are only part of the picture. Questions, answers, photos, updates, and responses from your team can also live across different profiles. Instead of giving a prospective patient one complete view of the practice, useful information ends up scattered across several listings.
Suspensions and verification trouble may trigger: Google has guidelines for how Business Profiles should be created and maintained, including rules around duplicate profiles. An improper duplicate can create verification or profile-management problems and, depending on the circumstances, suspension concerns. What started as an extra listing can become something your team has to untangle before making other changes.
Before making any changes, check whether the duplicate has reviews or information you want to preserve.
Merging combines profiles. If two profiles represent the same eligible business at the same location, a merge may be the right solution. It brings the profiles together instead of treating one as a closed business.
Closing marks the business as closed. Marking a profile as permanently closed tells Google that the business or location is no longer operating. It is not the right option for cleaning up a duplicate profile for an active dental practice.
Deleting removes your access. Removing a profile from your account does not necessarily remove the listing from Google Search or Maps. The duplicate may still remain visible, just without you managing it from your account.
You do not need a complicated audit to find duplicate Google listings. A few targeted searches can quickly show you what Google is displaying for your practice and where an older or duplicate profile may be hiding. A free Google Business Profile audit tool can also give you a quick read on the profile you manage.
To check your practice, start with these five steps:
Open Google in an incognito window and search your:
Look for listings with the same or very similar name, address, phone number, or website. Make a note of the review count and rating for each one.
Sign in to the Google account that manages your practice profiles and review every listing connected to it.
An old profile may still be sitting in an account managed by a former employee, marketing agency, or previous practice owner. If you find one you did not know existed, add it to your list before making any changes.
Search your practice address directly in Google Maps. Check the results around the office, not just the listing you normally manage.
Two profiles showing the same practice at the same location deserve a closer look. One may be the profile you actively manage while the other is an older or unclaimed listing.
Open any listing you do not control. If Google shows “Own this business?”, the profile may be unclaimed.
That does not automatically mean it is a duplicate. Check the name, address, phone number, website, photos, and reviews before deciding what it represents.
Before making any changes, put every listing into one simple record with its name, address, phone number, website, review count, rating, owner, and current status. Having all the details together makes it easier to spot which profiles represent the same practice, which one is active, and which listing needs a closer look.
Merging duplicate Google listings is not something you want to rush. The right profile needs to stay, the duplicate needs to be clearly identified, and your hard-earned patient reviews need to be accounted for along the way. A little preparation upfront can save you a much bigger cleanup later.
Start by searching Google Maps the way a patient would. Search your practice name, address, phone number, and any previous name the practice has used. It is also worth searching the names of dentists who work at the practice or have worked there in the past. An older listing can sometimes surface under a name you have not used in years.
You can also search Google for:
As you find listings, record the business name, address, phone number, website, review count, rating, and Google Maps URL. Save the Place ID too, if available. At this stage, you are simply building a clear picture of what Google has on record for your practice.
Before requesting a merge, take screenshots of the duplicate listing. Capture the review count, overall rating, and individual reviews you want to keep an eye on.
Make a note of the names and dates of recent reviews as well. Think of this as your before-and-after record. If something looks different once the profiles are merged, you will have a clear reference instead of trying to remember what was there before.
If you manage both listings, record the Business Profile IDs too. You can find these under Business Profile settings → Advanced settings.
Now compare the two profiles side by side. Google needs to be able to see that both listings point to the same real-world dental practice.
Check the:
If one profile is carrying an old phone number, outdated address, or former business name, bring the information up to date where appropriate. This is not about stuffing both profiles with identical details just to make them match. It is about removing obvious inconsistencies that could make two listings look like separate businesses.
Decide which listing should become the practice's main profile going forward. In most cases, that will be the profile your team actively manages and the one with the strongest, most accurate representation of the practice.
Do not mark the duplicate as permanently closed simply because you want it gone. A duplicate profile is not the same thing as a closed practice.
If another person, former employee, or agency controls the profile you need to deal with, sort out the ownership issue through Google's Business Profile process before proceeding.
Once you have established that both profiles represent the same practice, request the merge through Google. Be direct about what you want Google to do: identify the profile you want to keep, identify the duplicate, and ask for the duplicate to be merged into the primary listing.
Google reviews these requests before taking action. If the merge is approved, Google says the reviews from the duplicate profiles are combined. However, remember that review replies may not carry over, so check them after the merge.
Subject: Request to Merge Duplicate Google Business Profiles: [Practice Name]
Dear Google Business Profile Support Team,
We have two Google Business Profiles representing the same dental practice at the same physical location. We would like to have the duplicate profile merged into our primary listing.
Primary Profile:
Business Name: [Primary Practice Name]
Address: [Full Address]
Business Profile ID: [Profile ID]
Google Maps URL: [Maps URL]
Duplicate Profile:
Business Name: [Duplicate Practice Name]
Address: [Full Address]
Business Profile ID: [Profile ID or “Unverified Listing”]
Google Maps URL: [Maps URL]
Reason for Merge:
[Briefly explain why both profiles represent the same practice.]
Please merge the duplicate profile into the primary listing and consolidate the reviews associated with both profiles.
Thank you for your assistance.
Warm regards,
[Name]
[Practice Name]
[Direct Phone Number]
Once Google has completed the merge, give the primary profile a careful once-over. Check the review count, ratings, business information, and review responses rather than assuming everything landed exactly where it should.
Cleaning up duplicates is also a good moment to review the common local SEO mistakes dentists make, since several of them show up around the same profile issues.
Will my review star rating change after merging duplicate profiles?
Yes. Google recalculates your overall star rating using a weighted average of all combined reviews. For example, if your current Profile A has 100 reviews at 5.0 stars and Profile B has 50 reviews at 4.0 stars, your new combined profile will feature 150 total reviews with a calculated average of 4.67 stars.
Can I merge two Google profiles if they are located at different addresses?
No. Google will only merge profiles that exist at the exact same physical location. If your practice moved across town, you must first update the address on the old profile to match your new location, allow Google to verify the address change, and then submit the merge request.
How long does Google take to process a duplicate listing merge?
Usually, Standard merge requests take between 3 and 7 business days. However, During peak periods, manual review escalations can take up to 14 days.
Should I Merge a Practitioner Listing With my Practice Listing?
A practice listing represents the dental office. A practitioner listing represents the dentist. So, having both at the same address does not automatically mean one should be merged.
If the dentist is the only practitioner and both listings essentially represent the same business, merging them may be appropriate. If the dentist has moved to another practice, their listing should follow their current location.
What happens to uploaded photos, posts, and Q&A entries during a merge?
Reviews transfer reliably during profile merges. However, photos, Google Posts, and custom Q&A items from the duplicate listing may not carry over. Download high-resolution copies of all facility and staff photos from the duplicate profile before requesting a merge so you can re-upload them to your primary listing.
What if Google Support denies my merge request?
If Google denies your request, it is usually because the NAP data between the two profiles does not match closely enough, or Google views them as separate business entities (e.g., two distinct specialists). Re-check that your business name, suite number, primary category, and website URL are identical on both profiles, then resubmit your request or seek assistance on the official Google Business Profile Help Community forum.
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Harsh Bansal has spent 15 years pioneering, scaling, and redefining what dental marketing and data can truly unlock. He is at the forefront of AI-driven dental growth, helping more than 8,000+ dental practices and DSOs worldwide attract more patients, strengthen their market presence, and gain the financial clarity needed to drive sustainable growth.
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