Business acquires another business. Should I rename the old GMB listing or label it as "Permanently Closed"?

[DanielTexasLira]

Hi Guys,

A business that I work with recently acquired several locations from an old business that offers the same services. Should I rename the business on the old GMB listing to the business that acquired it or label it as "Permanently Closed"?

I feel like from a brand perspective, it's ideal to label the old listing as "Permanently Closed" and just create and new one since a lot of the old reviews are referring to the old business and their practices. Also, some of the reviews mention the old business name, so I want to avoid any sort of confusion there.

However, I see the opportunity to utilize that authority that the old business acquired overtime like consistent 5-star reviews and the listing's age, instead of starting from scratch. I can't seem to find any information on Googles My Business Guidelines around business acquisitions.

What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks!

 

[Phil Rozek]

@DanielTexasLira, it's a case-by-case question, but if none of the other basic info is changing (e.g. address or website) then I'd just rename the page and not do "permanently closed." Followed by a blast of citation clean-up, of course.

 

[NexstarNickR]

Citation clean-up is an excellent note, Phil.

Closing and reopening means starting all the way back at square one, so I would say that so long as the customers are happy and the brand's reputation is good (i.e. they have a high review score and lots of reviews), then you can definitely pick up where they left off. But you'll need to fully overhaul the listing to properly brand it without losing it. Might need to work with an agency that has ties to Google to ensure the transition moves smoothly.