| Purpose | Explain how automatic Guest Profile deduplication works, how Cloudbeds identifies likely duplicates, and how automatic deduplication differs from Manual Profile Merge. |
| Best for | Front desk staff and managers/GM who need to understand why Guest Profiles may be combined automatically and when manual review is appropriate. |
| Use this when | You want to understand why Guest Profiles were merged automatically, why duplicate profiles may still remain, or whether Manual Profile Merge is the better option. |
| Requirements | No manual action is required for automatic deduplication. Manual Profile Merge is a separate workflow with its own access requirements. |
| Expected result | Staff can distinguish automatic deduplication from Manual Profile Merge and understand the matching behavior Cloudbeds uses to keep Guest Profile data cleaner and more consistent. |
Introduction
Duplicate Guest Profiles can appear when the same guest is recorded more than once with different or slightly varied information. Cloudbeds uses automatic deduplication to identify likely duplicates and consolidate matching records into a single Guest Profile.
This process runs in the background and does not require staff to start a merge. When duplicate profiles remain and staff confirm that the records belong to the same guest, Manual Profile Merge provides a separate way to review and combine them.
Table of contents
- Who this affects and how
- What is automatic Guest Profile deduplication?
- How automatic Guest Profile deduplication works
- What guest information is used for matching?
- Automatic deduplication and Manual Profile Merge
- Exact duplicates and Manual Profile Unmerge
- Why Guest Profile deduplication matters
Who this affects and how
Automatic deduplication runs without staff action, but understanding how it works helps teams decide when a remaining duplicate should be reviewed manually.
| Role | What to know |
|---|---|
| Front Desk | Automatic deduplication runs without staff action. If duplicate profiles still remain, review how automatic deduplication and Manual Profile Merge work before deciding whether manual cleanup is appropriate. |
| Manager / GM | Understand how Cloudbeds reduces duplicate Guest Profiles, what guest information can be considered during matching, and why exact duplicates cannot remain separated after unmerge. |
What is automatic Guest Profile deduplication?
Automatic Guest Profile deduplication is the background process Cloudbeds uses to identify Guest Profiles that are likely to belong to the same person and consolidate them into one Guest Profile.
The goal is to reduce redundant guest records so staff have a more consistent view of a guest's information and history.
Example: A returning guest may have one profile created as John Smith and another as Jon Smith. If other guest details also indicate that both records belong to the same person, Cloudbeds can identify the profiles as potential duplicates during automatic deduplication.
How automatic Guest Profile deduplication works
Cloudbeds evaluates Guest Profiles automatically once nightly at 2:00 AM UTC. Profiles with a high-confidence match of 90% or higher may be automatically deduplicated based on combinations of guest information.
Matching is case-insensitive, so uppercase or lowercase differences do not prevent otherwise matching guest information from being compared. Cloudbeds uses both fuzzy and deterministic matching to evaluate potential duplicates.
Fuzzy matching
Fuzzy matching helps identify Guest Profiles that are very similar but not identical. It can account for small variations in names and other guest information instead of requiring every value to match exactly.
Example: Profiles for John Smith and Jon Smith could still be considered a potential match if other details, such as the email address, phone number, country, or address, also indicate that the records belong to the same guest. Review what guest information is used for matching for the fields considered by the process.
Deterministic matching
Deterministic matching uses exact rules for clear duplicate records. For example, two Guest Profiles with the same first name, last name, and email address can be treated as exact duplicates.
Exact duplicates also have a specific impact on Manual Profile Unmerge. Review Exact duplicates and Manual Profile Unmerge if you need to understand why certain profiles cannot remain separated after an unmerge.
What guest information is used for matching?
Cloudbeds can evaluate combinations of the following Guest Profile information when identifying potential duplicates:
- First Name
- Last Name
- Phone Number
- Email Address
- Country
- Address
A single matching field does not necessarily mean two Guest Profiles belong to the same person. The automatic process evaluates the available information together when determining whether the profiles meet the required confidence level.
Example: Two guests may share the same last name, but that alone does not establish a duplicate. Additional matching information is needed before the profiles can meet the automatic deduplication criteria.
Automatic deduplication and Manual Profile Merge
Cloudbeds supports two separate ways to consolidate duplicate Guest Profiles. Automatic deduplication runs in the background, while Manual Profile Merge allows authorized staff to review and combine duplicate profiles directly.
| Method | How it works |
|---|---|
| Automatic deduplication | Cloudbeds evaluates Guest Profiles during the nightly process and automatically consolidates profiles that meet the matching criteria. |
| Manual Profile Merge | Authorized staff can review duplicate profiles they identify, choose which guest information the surviving profile keeps, and confirm the merge. The complete Merge and Unmerge workflows are documented in Guest Profile Overview. |
Example: A returning guest may have two profiles because separate reservations were created with different email addresses. If the profiles are not consolidated automatically and staff confirm that both records belong to the same guest, authorized users can use Manual Profile Merge to review the information and combine the records.
Guest Tag selection during Manual Profile Merge is handled separately from automatic deduplication. See Tags - Everything you need to know for how Guest Tags are reviewed and selected during Manual Profile Merge.
Exact duplicates and Manual Profile Unmerge
Exact duplicate profiles cannot remain separated through Manual Profile Unmerge when they have the same first name, last name, and email address.
Automatic deduplication would identify those records as exact duplicates and merge them again, so they cannot remain separated through Manual Profile Unmerge.
Example: If two profiles are both named Maria Lopez and use the same email address, they meet the exact-duplicate condition. Even if staff attempt to separate them through unmerge, automatic deduplication would identify the same matching information and consolidate the profiles again.
For the complete Merge and Unmerge workflow, see Guest Profile Overview.
Why Guest Profile deduplication matters
Duplicate Guest Profiles can split guest information and history across multiple records. Keeping those records consolidated helps staff work from a cleaner and more consistent Guest Profile.
Automatic deduplication can help reduce:
- Duplicate or fragmented guest records.
- Inconsistent guest information across multiple profiles.
- Extra time spent identifying which Guest Profile represents the returning guest.
- Confusion when reviewing guest history or operational context.
When automatic deduplication does not resolve a known duplicate, Manual Profile Merge gives authorized staff a separate way to review and consolidate the records.
Related articles
Now that you understand how automatic Guest Profile deduplication works and how it differs from manual cleanup, review this resource for the broader Guest Profile structure and related guest-management concepts:
Comments
In addition to this, we also need to be able to merge some guests manually due to name changes, email changes, phone number changes, etc. There are some things that need a human touch! I am extremely unhappy that your 'improvements' have made the system not work as well for us.
Hello, Teresa Robinson,
We truly appreciate your honest feedback and improvement suggestions about the Guest Profile Merge feature.
Please note that this suggestion is already in our team's radar for review and possible consideration.
Regards,
The deduplication process has not worked in WEEKS. I have several guests who have 6-7 profiles in the system. Instead of making the profile the "parent" record and the reservation the "child" the system is making the reservation the "parent" record so each reservation for a returning guest is creating a new profile. It's very difficult to look at a guest's historical data. When will this be fixed? This is an awful process and should NOT have been changed. We should have the ability to manually merge guests.
Hello, Jeni Janis,
Thank you very much for your honest feedback about the Guest Merge feature.
Our Product Team is aware of this improvement to bring the feature back to the PMS, and we have previously escalated all the corresponding details. We understand the importance of having an easy tool for manually merging guests in the platform. We have already linked your particular feedback to this active escalation, so the team can review it as well.
Thank you for your follow-up and for your patience as we work on this.
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