Skip to content
    Moz logo Menu open Menu close
    • Products
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Pro Home
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Home
      • STAT
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Home
      • Compare SEO Products
      • Moz Data
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis
      • Keyword Explorer
      • Link Explorer
      • Competitive Research
      • MozBar
      • More Free SEO Tools
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
      • SEO Learning Center
      • Moz Academy
      • MozCon
      • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers
      • Agency Solutions
      • Enterprise Solutions
      • Small Business Solutions
      • The Moz Story
      • New Releases
    • Log in
    • Log out
    • Products
      • Moz Pro

        Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

      • Moz Local

        Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

      • STAT

        SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

      • Moz API

        Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

      • Compare SEO Products

        See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

      • Moz Data

        Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

      Let your business shine with Listings AI
      Moz Local

      Let your business shine with Listings AI

      Learn more
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis

        Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

      • Keyword Explorer

        Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

      • Link Explorer

        Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

      • Competitive Research

        Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

      • MozBar

        See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

      • More Free SEO Tools

        Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO

        The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

      • SEO Learning Center

        Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

      • On-Demand Webinars

        Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

      • How-To Guides

        Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

      • Moz Academy

        Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

      • MozCon

        Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
      Moz API

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

      Find your plan
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers

        Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

      • Small Business Solutions

        Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

      • Agency Solutions

        Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

      • Enterprise Solutions

        Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

      • The Moz Story

        Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

      • New Releases

        Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

      Surface actionable competitive intel
      New Feature

      Surface actionable competitive intel

      Learn More
    • Log in
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Dashboard
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Dashboard
      • Moz Academy
    • Avatar
      • Moz Home
      • Notifications
      • Account & Billing
      • Manage Users
      • Community Profile
      • My Q&A
      • My Videos
      • Log Out

    The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. Home
    2. SEO Tactics
    3. Local SEO
    4. Local Listings
    5. "Duplicate" on Google Local - Attorney and Business Listing

    Moz Q&A is closed.

    After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

    "Duplicate" on Google Local - Attorney and Business Listing

    Local Listings
    3
    6
    1011
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
    • bpurdue
      bpurdue Subscriber last edited by

      For our law firm, we have a Google Local listing for the firm (Riddell Law LLC).  Google also created a local listing for one of the attorneys (Riddell) (we didn't create it, but are in the process of verifying it).  Both listings are at the same address.  Moz Local says these are "duplicates" - is that true?  Would Google penalize us for this?  I am not sure how to fix it - both the individual attorney and the business are in fact at the same address.

      If anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate it!  Thank you!!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • MiriamEllis
        MiriamEllis Subject Expert @toby-02 last edited by

        Hi Tony!

        Yes, you would want any practitioner listings on other platforms to match the practitioner listings on Google (i.e. have the same phone number across the board for each practitioner you are promoting). The idea here is that, the more frequently Google finds Practitioner A listed with Phone Number A, the more trust Google feels in the data they have about that entity. Conversely, if Google were to find Practitioner A listed with Phone Numbers A, B, C and D, Google would feel less trust in what the accurate data should be.

        So, for sure, you'll want to clean up phone number variants you find so that everything you can access matches what you're listing on Google for a given practitioner.

        Hope this helps!

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • toby-02
          toby-02 @MiriamEllis last edited by

          Hi Miriam,

          If it is recommended to create individual practitioner pages with unique phone numbers, is it necessary to build out citations beyond Google for the practitioners?

          For our case, our client has existing practitioner citations across various listing sources - would this mean we would also need to clean up these listings with the NAP that aligns with the practitioner GMB pages with different phone numbers?

          Thanks!

          MiriamEllis 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • MiriamEllis
            MiriamEllis Subject Expert last edited by

            My pleasure, Bridget! Happy to be of help to you.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • bpurdue
              bpurdue Subscriber last edited by

              This is immensely helpful.  Thank you!!

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • MiriamEllis
                MiriamEllis Subject Expert last edited by

                Hi Bridget!

                I'll respond to your important question with numbers, for easier reading:

                1. Moz Local will surface any listing we discover that strongly matches your Moz Local listing. We're making you aware of the existence of these listings, but this does not necessarily mean that they are, in fact, duplicates. It's up to the customer to decide whether a listing is a duplicate or not.

                2. It's very important that your law firm study the Guidelines for Representing Your Business On Google. Read the entire document and pay particular attention to the sections on naming and practitioners.

                3. Google does allow multi-practitioner firms to build a listing for the business and one for each practitioner. If there is only one lawyer at the practice, Google doesn't want him to build a separate listing, but if there are multiple lawyers, then it's allowed to build a listing for each of them, in addition to the listing for the practice. This is all laid out in the guidelines

                4. If there are multiple practitioners, it is highly advised that each one has his own, unique phone number, not shared by any other practitioner or by the business. He should be directly contactable via the number. And, it is also advised that you create a landing page on the website for each of the practitioners and link their listings you build to these pages. All of this serves to differentiate one practitioner from another and one practitioner from the business, itself, hopefully securing you against ranking problems, accidental merges, customer misdirection, etc.

                So, in sum, practitioner listings are not true duplicates, but you must follow guidelines for creating them and be sure that the practitioners are being properly differentiated from one another and from the business. And, finally, if you judge that a listing Moz Local surfaces for you is not a true duplicate, you can use the 'ignore' button to have it removed from the list.

                Hope this helps, and please let me know if you have any further questions!

                toby-02 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • 1 / 1
                • First post
                  Last post

                Got a burning SEO question?

                Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                Start my free trial


                Browse Questions

                Explore more categories

                • Moz Tools

                  Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                • SEO Tactics

                  Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                • Community

                  Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                • Digital Marketing

                  Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                • Research & Trends

                  Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                • Support

                  Connect on product support and feature requests.

                • See all categories

                Related Questions

                • AnkitS.1990

                  Incorrect Image is Displaying on Google My Business Knowledge Graph - Need Urgent Solution??

                  Incorrect Image is Displaying on Google My Business for our company. We have updated new image on google business But still, Google is fetching and showing old image on the google my business knowledge panel. What will be the right fix for this? Our site URL :  www.yolobus.in

                  Local Listings | | AnkitS.1990
                  0
                • TaylorRHawkins

                  How do you do Local SEO in a small town?

                  Good afternoon everyone! I wanted to start a discourse on a subject that I think might benefit a few select readers. What would be your best plan-of-action to successfully propose and execute a Local-SEO campaign for a small, local business in a rural town? The type of town that has next to zero local directories, the type of business that has hardly any (if any at all) "fresh mentions" on the internet, etc. I'm interested to see how other SEOs would handle tackling this kind of campaign. Can't wait to hear what people have to say! 
                  Thanks! 
                  Taylor

                  Local Listings | | TaylorRHawkins
                  1
                • GO2Tech

                  Can I request removal of a duplicate competitor Google Business listing?

                  I have a local competitor that is boggling me with his local pack rankings. For certain keyword phrases, he is ranking in multiple local 3 pack spots. The thing is, he only has one business location. So basically he has two different Google maps listings for the same business location ranking in the local pack. The NAP information is different for both listings except for the physical address. I can't understand for the life of me how this is actually helping him instead of hurting him.... My client has way more citations. A decent blog with solid content. An SEO optimized mobile website (compeititor website is not mobile ready). Etc..... Don't get me wrong, my client is doing really well and is ranking top 3 in his area for nearly 30 industry related keyword phrases. I guess that is part of the reason I'm so boggled. Can anyone provide any insight? Can I bring this up to Google and have them remove the duplicate listing somehow? I'm literally sitting #4 in the local pack for some valuable keywords, and the only reason I'm not #3 or higher is because the same physical business location is taking up two of the spots. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

                  Local Listings | | GO2Tech
                  0
                • TomBinga1125

                  Local SEO business name issue due to aggregator

                  So I work for a college and we have multiple locations. My tactic has been always to keep the name the same for all of them (no city name), and then change the address and phone number for each. But there is 1000s of college listings websites out there that aggregate college and school data from the same source: the US government. Now the way that they have most, if not all, multi-location colleges listed is: "college name-city name". I can see the value in that, but I guess I'm just wondering what to do since it obviously can't be changed. Should I revert all of our listings as "college name-city name" to match the 1000s of listings that have it that way? I've been under the impression that I should leave the city/town name out of the name, but I'm just wondering what you think best practices would be? Thanks
                  Tom

                  Local Listings | | TomBinga1125
                  0
                • RosemaryB

                  How can I submit Baidu business listings if I live outside of China?

                  A client of our wants to manage business listings for three locations in China.   We wanted to submit to Baidu but from what I've learned this is highly regulated (you live in China, pay a fee and call them to confirm). This is the only article I could find about submitting to Baidu: http://www.nanjingmarketinggroup.com/blog/baidu/how-can-baidu-maps-help-my-business Are there any conduit or 3rd party services available that can handle this? Thanks

                  Local Listings | | RosemaryB
                  0
                • henya

                  1800 number for google local

                  Hi A client with a local business has a 1800 number on their google plus page and most citations. How important is it to use the local number and not a 1800 one for google local? Should we change the phone number to the local number and update all listings? Or should we just continue with the 1800 number and stay consistent? I have added the local number as a second number on the google plus page.

                  Local Listings | | henya
                  1
                • localtrifecta_im

                  What To Do With Two Business Having The Same Name?

                  Hi friends, We have a client who is in a peculiar predicament... essentially his business and his biggest competitor share the same name. Officially on their business licenses they are differentiated by the year they were each established, but in all their marketing, on their website, and in the community they are both known by the exact same name. When the company name is searched for, the competitor shows up #1 organically with the map pin as well as in the knowledge graph, and our site shows up number 2 without any any map pin or Google+ page site link or anything. We thought we could differentiate ourselves by changing his Google+ page name to his official business name (with the date) and building a bunch of really good citations with that official business name, but we still haven't made a dent for his branded keyword, and our Google+ page site links aren't even showing up. Has anyone run into a situation like this and any suggestions?

                  Local Listings | | localtrifecta_im
                  0
                • Ampweb

                  Address Format for Local SEO

                  Hi, Ive been reading how important it is to get the address of a business consistent and written in the right format to help with Local Search Engine Rankings. Is this correct? If this is the case, are there any online generators to help create this html in the right format to put into a webpage. Thank you.

                  Local Listings | | Ampweb
                  0

                Get started with Moz Pro!

                Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                Start my free trial
                Products
                • Moz Pro
                • Moz Local
                • Moz API
                • Moz Data
                • STAT
                • Product Updates
                Moz Solutions
                • SMB Solutions
                • Agency Solutions
                • Enterprise Solutions
                Free SEO Tools
                • Domain Authority Checker
                • Link Explorer
                • Keyword Explorer
                • Competitive Research
                • Brand Authority Checker
                • Local Citation Checker
                • MozBar Extension
                • MozCast
                Resources
                • Blog
                • SEO Learning Center
                • Help Hub
                • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                • How-to Guides
                • Moz Academy
                • API Docs
                About Moz
                • About
                • Team
                • Careers
                • Contact
                Why Moz
                • Case Studies
                • Testimonials
                Get Involved
                • Become an Affiliate
                • MozCon
                • Webinars
                • Practical Marketer Series
                • MozPod
                Connect with us

                Contact the Help team

                Join our newsletter
                Moz logo
                © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                • Accessibility
                • Terms of Use
                • Privacy

                Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.