Duplicate Listing, How to fix when only one is owned?

[ForwardMotion]

Hello,

I am working with a client who now has duplicate listings. When we started the process only one listing was out there and we clicked on, Claim this Business. Google had us go through the whole process of setting it up and now there are two listings. The original one has 2 reviews, the new one doesn't have any reviews. It now shows that my client owns the new one, but not the original one we thought we were claiming. Now it doesn't give us the option to claim the original business and we have no control of it. The phone number on the original is incorrect, but other than that the information is the same with the same website address. How do we go about getting ownership of the original one now and then how do we get these merged so we retain the 2 reviews and get the information correct on the listing?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Tyy

 

[Phil Rozek]

@ForwardMotion, I'd try 3 things, in this order:

1. Try to claim the older page. I know you said you can't, but what happens when you try? What does Google tell you?

2. Do a "suggest an edit" on the older page to try to get the address switched to whatever your address is. Then try to get the verification postcard sent there. It's a longshot, but unclaimed GMB pages are more susceptible to those sorts of edits.

3. Contact GMB support and ask them to help you reverify the older page. All they'll do is initiate the postcard verification (which you may not have been able to do, so far). Is possible, provide them the CID of that page and of the newer page, and tell them you're trying to re-verify the former. Step #3 is a hassle, but there's probably no way around it, at least if you want to reclaim the old page rather than get it removed.

 

[ForwardMotion]

@ForwardMotion, I'd try 3 things, in this order:

1. Try to claim the older page. I know you said you can't, but what happens when you try? What does Google tell you?

2. Do a "suggest an edit" on the older page to try to get the address switched to whatever your address is. Then try to get the verification postcard sent there. It's a longshot, but unclaimed GMB pages are more susceptible to those sorts of edits.

3. Contact GMB support and ask them to help you reverify the older page. All they'll do is initiate the postcard verification (which you may not have been able to do, so far). Is possible, provide them the CID of that page and of the newer page, and tell them you're trying to re-verify the former. Step #3 is a hassle, but there's probably no way around it, at least if you want to reclaim the old page rather than get it removed.

Thank you Phil. I will see what I can do. It's looking like #3 is my only choice since this is a SAB and the address is hidden. It doesn't give me the option to claim the business and I can't "suggest an edit" to change the address. I will give #3 a try and see what happens.

Thanks!

Tyy

 

[Phil Rozek]

Sure thing, Tyy. With #2, even though the address is hidden, Google still has the address on-file, so they'd just send the postcard to whatever address you used for verification last.

I'd be interested to hear how it goes.