Getting ownership of duplicate GBP profile nobody has access to

[SSMMatt]

Hi All,

Our client has a duplicate GBP that they set up ages ago. That one has reviews (some new) and some photos posted from the owner. He cannot remember the email that it's associated with. We don't want to have it closed. Trying to follow past posts, but I'm still not clear how to claim it when it doesn't show up in the "add a business" search.

Thanks!
Matt

 

[keyserholiday]

If you can trigger the Knowledge Panel by searching for the name or phone number, you should see own this business, and you can click on that to start requesting ownership access.

 

[SSMMatt]

Unfortunately, that's not available. How else to at least see what email they used to set it up?

 

[SSMMatt]

@keyserholiday I had no luck with the knowledge panel. How else can I gain access? Thanks!

 

[brandotech]

@SSMMatt

It varies depending on whether the address is hidden or not.

If the address isn't hidden, head over to business.google.com and send an ownership request. If there's no response, you can file an appeal via the same dashboard after 3 days, where Google will ask you to verify business ownership.

If the address is hidden, Fill out a support form on Google to claim the address.

Be prepared to provide additional verification material like photos, videos, and paper documentation to prove ownership.

Once you have access to both profiles, initiate a merge request through Google Support. They might be hesitant initially, but make sure to express your intent to preserve reviews and photos. This approach has been effective in similar situations I've encountered every few months.

 

[JS Girard]

... is it a SAB? You cannot request access directly to SABs

 

[SSMMatt]

Thanks @JS Girard and @brandotech . Yes, it is an SAB.

What do you mean to "Fill out a support form on Google to claim the address." When you say "address" do you mean the GBP or the actual address behind the GBP.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[JS Girard]

For a SAB, the process is frustratingly complicated. What you must do is create a SAB of your own (assuming your current GBP is not a SAB) with the same name, phone number and service area, then report them as duplicates of each others. If you're lucky the other GBP will be merged into yours and everything's good. If you are not, then yours will be merged, and then you can make a request for access, which if unanswered, will allow you to verify it on your own.

Note that when you gain access in this fashion, any content uploaded by the previous owner (e.g. photos, descriptions, services, posts...) are usually removed.

 

[SSMMatt]

Thanks @JS Girard . I guess I was ahead of myseIf by not having access. I was in process of sending an email to them to "merge" the two but one of the requirements on the form was to have a picture of signage, which as an SAB they don't have. Requesting access seems impossible since the GBP doesn't come up in the "add your business" area. How can I actually request access?

 

[JS Girard]

is your GBP already detected as a duplicate? If so you should have a message when you load the GBP profile that says something like "This GBP is a duplicate, request access to the correct GBP [Button]". If not, you have to make them identical in NAP so that what I described above will happen.

 

[SSMMatt]

I've updated the Service Areas to match. How long do you thing it would take for them to recognize they are a duplicate?

 

[JS Girard]

Just note that when I say names should be identical, I mean down to the last punctuation. You should definitely report the troublesome profile as a duplicate of yours, because you never know how long it takes for Google to detect it. This way if/when the edit is accepte, you will receive an email with a subject of "Your edit to [GBP] has been accepted". IGNORE the email that says "Thank your for edit to [GBP]".

 

[SSMMatt]

Made the changes and now need to reverify. What a pain.

 

[SSMMatt]

Hey @JS Girard - I was able to reverify and match exactly so I was able to report the duplicate. We'll see if they give us the reviews. Thanks again for getting me to this point.

 

[SSMMatt]

So...they rejected my suggested edit that this was a duplicate. I'm going to reach out directly with an email and see what happens. Unless you have other ideas.

 

[SSMMatt]

Happy New Year, all! Just wanted to close the loop on this in case someone else has this issue. I ended up reaching out directly by email and they worked with me to get it done. Supposedly, the reviews from the duplicate profile are being transferred in the next 24 hours. .