Appropriate dupe removal method?

[Daniel]

I found 2 dupe listings and have been combing through the forum to figure out the best way to remove them, but at this point I'm just confused!

One dupe has the same biz name, but says the location is closed. The other has the practitioners name only.

From what I've read on the forum there is the option to remove from the dashboard, although that may result in a merged listing, which is bad? The other option is to report it, which seems like it may take a while and may not even be effective.

What's the quickest and most effective way to deal with these dupes?

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Daniel,

Can't really easily tell you without more info because every situation is different.

In a nutshell Google won't remove or merge dupes unless it's a REAL dupe and there are all different kinds of dupes. When I say real I mean pretty much same NAP. In that case you can report a problem right on the listing or contact phone support. But yes, those can take time time to clear up.

And you are correct, if you delete a listing in GMB, all that does is delete from dash, wont delete from maps. Then it will still show up but will be a bare unclaimed listing.

But in your 1st case if the business moved. Same name but old address then "closed" is the right status. Although you should try to get the closed message changed to a "Relocated To" message with link to the new location. (Moves handled properly will have this tagged right but I think there has been a glitch with that lately.)

Anyway Google won't delete old locations and wants a record of them. But once marked closed or relocated it should pull the listing out of KW searches so won't be that discoverable unless someone searches directly for the biz name.

For the practitioner listing - Google won't delete or merge either. And those will hurt ranking for the practice listing. So only thing you can do is to "minimize" that listing.
I explain how below. It's a sticky at the top of this dupe forum:

<a href="http://www.localsearchforum.com/google-duplicates-merges/864-overcoming-google-practitioner-duplicate-listing-problems-dentists-attorneys.html">Overcoming Google Practitioner Duplicate Listing Problems for Dentists, Attorneys</a>