Competitor using exactly the same name

[kiwi-nz]

Hi everyone
I have a competitor who previously worked with my company, who has set up a GMB page with exactly the same name as mine. I don't think I can reach out to him because he is doing this on purpose to steal business and pass himself off as a leader in the field. I have the registered company in the same name. He did this quite a while ago and I noticed but he wasn't showing up in local search as well as I was until now, he is showing up above me, and sometimes I am not showing in the top 3. I have 195 reviews and he has 28. I've tried a few variations of the name to see if it makes any difference, and I changed the name twice today (risky), and it has made no difference to the results.
Do you think GMB admins will care about this? I see they say that you should sort it out by approaching the other company first but this guy will insist that there's nothing wrong with him using the same name because it's a key-word rich name, which is why I registered it as a company name in the first place.
Other competitors use variations of it in their names but nobody has gone so far as to use it like this. It's an intensely competitive business sector.
Has anybody had success with this? and if I somehow get it changed is there anything stopping him from changing it back like I've seen happen to others who have had similar issues?
thanks
Kate

 

[JoyHawkins]

Hey Kate,

If it's your business name and you have it legally registered, I'd suggest talking to a lawyer.

 

[kiwi-nz]

Hey Kate,

If it's your business name and you have it legally registered, I'd suggest talking to a lawyer.

I will, thanks Joy.

 

[Tony Wang]

Hi Kate, Are you saying that he named his actual company the same? Or just made his GMB name the same? Because if it's just his GMB name, and his actual company name is something else, you can definitely complain to Google, using this form:

Business Redressal Complaint Form - Google Business Profile Help

But make sure you document it well or it may not get removed.

 

[kiwi-nz]

Hi Kate, Are you saying that he named his actual company the same? Or just made his GMB name the same? Because if it's just his GMB name, and his actual company name is something else, you can definitely complain to Google, using this form:

Business Redressal Complaint Form - Google Business Profile Help

But make sure you document it well or it may not get removed.

Thanks Tony, I'll think about using that form.
He's using my registered company name/trading name but his business has a different name.
He registered a company with the first 3 words the same as mine. so it's similar but not the same.
On his GMB page, he is using my name not his.
So the local results have been showing his business and my business in the top 3 with exactly the same name. Often his name is on top and mine doesn't show. I have added Ltd to my company name to try and show that it is the official company but they still show together.
It's obviously causing confusion, we got a really bad review from someone we don't recognise recently which I assume was for him because he is extremely rude and unprofessional so it really is an issue.
He's good at SEO, but he plays dirty.
If the redressal form is successful at getting his listing removed will he be notified as to the reason? and that someone complained?
I'm worried about that because he's vindictive. I don't really want to get a lawyer involved for that reason.

 

[Tony Wang]

I'm not sure exactly what type of notification he'll receive, He definitely won't know it's you, and I don't think he'll be informed that someone complained, but not sure. @JoyHawkins, do you know?

I know that a lot of us folks use the redressal form whenever we see spammy listings, especially if it's a competitor to one of our clients. Again, document it well, e.g., is there signage on Google streetview, or can you get a picture of his storefront? Include his website, and whatever name he uses on that, which is hopefully his actual name. And for sure show the official business registration, since it sounds like the record is public.

However, if the first three words of his actual name is the same as yours, even if his listing gets corrected he may still be showing up.

Not sure what else to say without actually knowing the business name and seeing the listing. If you don't mind sharing that info here you might get some more suggestions on what you can do.

 

[kiwi-nz]

I'm not sure exactly what type of notification he'll receive, He definitely won't know it's you, and I don't think he'll be informed that someone complained, but not sure. @JoyHawkins, do you know?

I know that a lot of us folks use the redressal form whenever we see spammy listings, especially if it's a competitor to one of our clients. Again, document it well, e.g., is there signage on Google streetview, or can you get a picture of his storefront? Include his website, and whatever name he uses on that, which is hopefully his actual name. And for sure show the official business registration, since it sounds like the record is public.

However, if the first three words of his actual name is the same as yours, even if his listing gets corrected he may still be showing up.

Not sure what else to say without actually knowing the business name and seeing the listing. If you don't mind sharing that info here you might get some more suggestions on what you can do.

thanks Tony, I've submitted a redressal form. I included company listing details and website domain registration ages. I appreciate the advice.

 

[JoyHawkins]

He wouldn't know who submitted it unless there was a lawsuit involved.