If your Search Atlas credit balance is dropping faster than expected, duplicate projects sharing the same name may be the cause. Delete the duplicates using the steps below to stop the credit drain immediately.
⚠️ What Is This Issue?
Search Atlas currently does not enforce unique project names within an account. The same project name can be created an unlimited number of times — in some cases, a single name has been found duplicated up to seven times on one account. Every duplicate project runs its own automated processes and draws from your credit balance independently, with no warning or notification.
This is a known issue under investigation. Until a permanent fix is released, manually removing duplicates is the recommended workaround.
🩺 First: Confirm the Source of the Credit Drain
Before deleting anything, confirm the credit drain is tied to project activity by checking your Credits Usage log. If the drain is in AI Visibility (formerly LLM Visibility) or AI-generated content credits rather than standard project credits, the cause may differ — contact Search Atlas Support for a usage audit before deleting any projects.
Note: If a project appears in Atlas Agent only and cannot be deleted from the Projects list, this is a separate ghost-project issue. Contact Search Atlas Support to have the orphaned agent_project record removed manually.
🔍 How to Identify Duplicate Projects in Search Atlas
Check your project list for any names that appear more than once:
- Log in to your Search Atlas account.
- Select Projects from the left-hand navigation menu.
- Scan the list for any project name that appears two or more times.
- For each repeated name, note the creation date. To identify the original, compare creation dates and review which project contains your active tracked keywords, reports, or linked OTTO/Site Auditor data. The project with the most data is almost always the one to keep, regardless of age.
Once you've identified which projects are duplicates, you're ready to delete them and stop the credit drain.
🗑️ How to Remove Duplicate Projects in Search Atlas
Before deleting, confirm which project is the original by reviewing its creation date and any data you want to keep — tracked keywords, reports, custom settings, linked OTTO/Site Auditor data, and historical reporting. Then remove each duplicate:
- Go to Projects in the left-hand navigation menu.
- Locate a project whose name matches another project on your account.
- Click the three-dot menu (⋯) next to the duplicate project name.
- Select Delete Project.
- Confirm the deletion when prompted.
- Repeat for every additional duplicate.
Project deletion is not reversible — once deleted, associated historical data (tracked keywords, reports, audit history) cannot be recovered. Always confirm you are deleting a duplicate, not the project containing your active data.
After removing all duplicates, only one project should exist per unique name. Credit consumption will return to the expected rate immediately.
💳 How Duplicate Projects Drain Search Atlas Credits
Every Search Atlas project runs scheduled automated tasks — keyword tracking, site audits, and other processes — each of which deducts credits from your balance. When multiple projects share the same name:
- Each duplicate runs the same tasks as the original project.
- Credits are deducted for every duplicate, multiplying your usage with no notification.
- There is currently no alert shown when a duplicate is created or when it consumes credits.
For example, if the same project name was created seven times, you may have been charged up to 7× the expected credit cost for that project's activity. Understanding this helps you estimate the full scope of the drain before contacting support.
💰 Can I Recover Credits Consumed by Duplicate Projects?
Credits already consumed by duplicate projects are not automatically refunded. If you believe a significant number of credits were drained by unintentional duplicates, contact Search Atlas Support with your account details and the names and creation dates of the duplicates. Refund eligibility is assessed case by case.
🛠️ Current Fix Status
This is a known issue under investigation. Once a permanent solution is released, Search Atlas will block duplicate project names at the point of creation — no further manual action will be needed on your end.
If you believe credits were consumed by duplicates before you discovered this issue, contact Search Atlas Support with the affected project names and approximate dates so the team can review your account.
🌀 You now know how to identify and remove duplicate projects to stop unintended credit usage — delete any duplicates from your account today, and reach out to Search Atlas Support if you need help reviewing your credit history.