What can you do if someone is using your business name online?

Ascent Vision · Published October 25, 2026

First work out whether it is an impostor or simply another business with a similar name. An impostor, such as a fake page, profile or website posing as you, can usually be reported where it appears, and the FTC's rule on impersonation treats materially and falsely posing as a business, in or affecting commerce, as an unfair or deceptive practice. Save evidence, warn customers where they will see it, and ask a lawyer about any name or trademark dispute. This is a plain summary, not legal advice.

Impostor or same name?

Two real businesses can share a name. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says a trademark owner does not have rights to a word or phrase in general, only to how it is used with their specific goods or services. It also says rights from using a mark without registering it are limited to the geographic area where you provide your goods or services, and that federal registration creates nationwide rights. So a business with your name in another trade or another state may be entirely legitimate.

An impostor is different. As general advice, the signs include using your logo or photos, your address or phone number, claiming to be you, messaging your customers, or asking people for payment or personal details in your name.

What the FTC's rule says

The Federal Trade Commission's Rule on Impersonation of Government and Businesses (16 CFR Part 461, published March 1, 2024) says it is a violation, and an unfair or deceptive act or practice, to materially and falsely pose as a business or its officer, or to materially misrepresent affiliation with a business, including its endorsement or sponsorship, in or affecting commerce as the FTC Act defines it. It defines materially as likely to affect a person's choice of, or conduct regarding, goods or services, and its definition of business includes not-for-profit entities.

The rule's text sets out those definitions and prohibitions; it does not itself describe how to report a violation or how a platform must respond. This is a plain summary, not legal advice.

Steps that usually help

Save evidence: the web address of each page or profile, dated screenshots, and any messages customers received.
Report it on the platform that hosts it; large platforms usually have a report option for an account pretending to be someone else. For a fake listing on Google Maps, the related answer on reporting a fake business there covers Google's routes.
If it copied your website's words or photos, the related answer on what to do if someone copies your website covers the takedown route.
Tell customers, on your own website and pages, which accounts are really yours and how you take payment, so they can check before they pay.
Record any inquiry or complaint that mentions the impostor, so you can show what it cost you if you need to.

If it is a name dispute, not an impostor

If another real business uses a name close to yours in your trade and area, and customers are confusing the two, that is a trademark question rather than an impersonation report. The USPTO says you are not required to register a trademark, but that a registered one gives broader rights and protections than an unregistered one. Talk to a lawyer before sending any demand, since a weak claim can cost more than the confusion. For Facebook and Instagram, the related answer on Meta Verified covers Meta's paid impersonation protection.

Sources

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