Duplicate companies in HubSpot: why they appear and how to merge them

HubSpot matches companies on the Company domain name property. When a company comes in through a form or the automatic company creation setting, HubSpot looks for a company with the same primary domain and uses it. Imports also match on secondary domains, or on a custom unique property if you choose one. Duplicates appear when there is no domain to match on, when one business uses two domains, or when an app creates the company through the API, because API-created companies skip domain deduplication.

Open two of the duplicates side by side and compare Company domain name and Record source. If one has no domain, or the domains differ by a subdomain or a country ending, you have found the pattern. If Record source names the same integration on most of the extras, fix that app before you merge, or the duplicates will come back. For duplicate people rather than businesses, see duplicate contacts.

Why HubSpot creates duplicate companies

The company has no domain

Deduplication runs on the primary Company domain name value, so a company with only a name gives HubSpot nothing to match later. In an import, every row without a primary or secondary domain, or another unique ID, becomes a new company. Filter your companies where Company domain name is unknown to see how many you have. When someone creates a company by hand with a domain that is already another company's primary domain, HubSpot alerts them that it exists, which is the cue to open the existing one instead.

Subdomains and second domains

With automatic company creation on, each unique email domain gets its own company, except free email domains such as gmail.com, and subdomains count as separate domains. A contact at mail.example.com creates a second company next to example.com. A business that emails from example.com and example.co.uk ends up as two records the same way. Keep one company and add the other domain to it as an additional domain. With automatic association on, contacts on any listed domain then link to that company.

Integrations, Zaps and the API

HubSpot says companies created through the API aren't deduplicated by domain, and that includes installed third-party sync apps. A Zap or custom integration that creates a company without searching for the domain first makes a new record every time it runs. HubSpot's own data sync apps can use their own matching rules, so check their settings too. The companies API guide tells developers to always send the domain.

Salesforce

With the Salesforce integration installed, HubSpot doesn't recommend automatic company creation, because it can create duplicate companies. The older version of the integration doesn't allow company merges at all. For that case, HubSpot's merge article says to delete the extra HubSpot companies, keeping the one that syncs to the primary Salesforce account, and to clean up the duplicate accounts in Salesforce. The newer version allows merging.

Forms with company fields

When a form submission includes company properties and a Company domain name, HubSpot updates the company with that domain, or creates a new one if nothing matches. A visitor who misspells their domain gets a company of their own. If the submission has no domain, HubSpot updates the contact's primary company instead.

How to find and merge duplicate companies

1. Use the duplicates tool if your plan has it. Manage duplicates comes with Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, Data Hub or Smart CRM Professional or Enterprise, as of October 2026, according to HubSpot's duplicates article. On the companies index page, click the three vertical dots icon in the upper right and choose Manage duplicates. For companies it compares domain, name, country or region, phone number and industry. You need data quality tools access and Edit permission for all companies, or Super Admin.
2. On Starter or free, export your companies, sort the file by Company name and then by domain, and note the pairs.
3. Pick the primary company. Choose the record with the correct domain and the most history. Its domain stays primary and the other company's domain becomes a secondary domain. Lifecycle stage keeps whichever is furthest along. For other properties the primary's values win unless they are empty, and the merge dialog lets you choose.
4. Merge. Open the primary company, click Actions in the left panel, choose Merge and select the other company. Merging works on every plan and needs the Merge records permission or Super Admin. Activities can take up to 30 minutes to catch up.
5. Check the exceptions. HubSpot lists a company that is currently a parent or child company as a case where the merge isn't possible, so sort out that relationship first. Records that have been part of 250 or more merges combined can't be merged, and a merge that would push past your association limits can fail.
6. Update anything that stores HubSpot IDs. By default the merged company gets a new Record ID. The old IDs are kept in the Merged Company IDs property, so integrations that saved the old ID need updating.

Merges can't be undone. If you merged the wrong pair, delete the extra domain from the merged company and create a new company with that domain.

How to stop duplicate companies coming back

• Fill in Company domain name on every company, as the root domain only, with no http://, www. or page path.
• Put every domain a business uses on one company as additional domains. Adding a domain that already sits on another company doesn't merge the two, so merge first.
• Make every Zap and integration search for the company by domain before it creates one.
• Add domains that many unrelated contacts share to the excluded domains list in the automatic association settings. The company association article explains those settings.
• Import companies with a domain or Record ID column. If another system gives each account its own ID, store it in a custom property that requires unique values and use that as the identifier.

From client work

Because the API doesn't deduplicate companies, any sync you build has to do its own matching. The NetSuite sync I built for Freedom and Glory Flags matches existing customers and contacts first and creates new records only when it finds no match.

If the duplicates run into the hundreds or keep arriving from an integration, I can audit your portal and clean it up with you.

Questions

Why did HubSpot create a new company when that domain already exists?

Check Record source on the new company. Companies created through the API or a third-party sync app aren't deduplicated by domain, and a subdomain counts as a different domain.

Can I create a company without a domain?

Yes. The API, for example, accepts a company with only a name. HubSpot can't deduplicate it later, though, so add the domain as soon as you know it.

Can I merge more than two companies at once?

From a company record you merge two at a time. Merging many pairs at once in the duplicates tool needs Data Hub Professional or Enterprise.

What happens to the contacts and deals when I merge?

Associated records and timeline activities from both companies appear on the merged company, and the property history of both is combined. The secondary company is also removed from any static segments it was in.