Duplicated profiles are profiles that appear twice on the same platform and represent the same physical location.
A duplicated profile is a profile that represents the same physical location on the platform and possibly shares the same or almost the same information as some other profile that already exists on the platform. Platforms typically do not permit the creation of duplicate profiles and usually remove these profiles from public visibility. For example, let's say that your business already has a profile on Google with the following details:
Name: Localistico
Address: Calle de Campomanes, 6, 28013 Madrid
If we tried to create a second profile with the same name and almost the same address and/or the coordinates, Google most likely would mark the profile as "duplicate" and the profile would not appear for other Google users.
As having two profiles for the same physical location is against most platforms' policies, this profile would be a real duplicate and should be managed accordingly. Some businesses sometimes open new profiles on Google on the same address when the store manager changes. Unfortunately, this practice goes against Google's guidelines and does not contribute to improving businesses' visibility on the platform.
If Google has already marked your profile as duplicate, you need to delete the duplicated profile from Google My Business and start managing the profile that is verified. If you are not yet an owner of the verified profile, you need to claim the ownership first:
Claim profile created by Google
Request ownership of a profile claimed by someone else
However, sometimes businesses with multiple locations near each other may get marked as duplicates by Google incorrectly. In this case, you may report the incorrect duplicates to Google via this link and ask Google's support team to unmerge the profiles.