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⚠️ OTTO Duplicate Installation Warning: Wrong Project UUID

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Camilo Aponte

Camilo Aponte

Last updated on Sep 30, 2026

The "Duplicate Installation Detected" warning in OTTO SEO means the same UUID tracking script is active on more than one website. This happens when the wrong site's OTTO script is pasted into another site's header — replacing it with the correct script clears the warning once the correct script is saved, published, and any site cache is cleared. It may take a few minutes for OTTO to re-scan the domain.

⚠️ What Causes the Duplicate Installation Detected Warning

Every website you manage in OTTO SEO has a unique UUID (universally unique identifier) embedded in its tracking script. OTTO monitors which UUID reports from which domain. If Site A's script is installed on Site B, OTTO sees the same UUID coming from two different domains and triggers the duplicate warning.

Common scenarios that cause this:

  • You manage multiple websites and accidentally copy the wrong site's script during setup.
  • A script from one OTTO project is pasted into the header of a different project's site.
  • You previously had an OTTO project for this domain, deleted or replaced it, and the old script with the previous UUID was never removed from the site. Check for and remove any legacy OTTO script tags before installing the new one.

Note: In some cases, OTTO may incorrectly show as installed across multiple projects even when no UUID actually matches. If comparing UUIDs does not resolve the warning, contact Search Atlas support so an agent can verify the correct UUID for your account.

Website Studio users: If your site is built with Search Atlas Website Studio, you may see a false duplicate warning due to a known platform issue, even if the pixel was only added once. Do not assume you pasted the wrong script — open a support ticket so the team can investigate.

🔍 How to Identify Which Site Has the Wrong UUID

Compare the UUID embedded in each installed script against the UUID shown in your OTTO SEO dashboard for that domain.

  1. In Search Atlas, go to OTTO SEO and open the project for each affected website.
  2. Locate the UUID for each project — it appears in the installation script as either the HTML attribute data-uuid="your-uuid-here" on the script tag, or as the JavaScript property script.dataset.uuid = "your-uuid-here". Both forms reference the same value; which one you see depends on the installation method used.
  3. In your website's CMS or theme editor, find the installed OTTO script inside the header (<head>) section.
  4. Compare the UUID in the installed script to the UUID shown in your OTTO project for that domain.

A mismatch confirms which site has the wrong script installed.

🛠️ How to Replace the OTTO Script with the Correct UUID

Once you've identified the site with the wrong script, remove it and install the correct one for that domain.

  1. In Search Atlas, go to OTTO SEO → your correct project → Installation and copy the correct UUID/script shown there.
  2. In your website's CMS or theme editor, open the header section.
  3. Find and delete the incorrectly installed OTTO script entirely.
  4. Paste the correct script into the header of the matching website.
  5. Save and publish your changes, and clear any site or CDN cache.
  6. Return to the OTTO SEO dashboard and confirm the "Duplicate Installation Detected" warning has cleared. It may take a few minutes for OTTO to re-scan the domain.

After saving, return to OTTO SEO. The "Duplicate Installation Detected" warning clears automatically once OTTO confirms the correct UUID is reporting from the correct domain.

🏗️ Website Studio Users: Known Limitation

If your site is hosted on Search Atlas Website Studio, manually installing the OTTO pixel inside Website Studio may not result in a functional OTTO connection. OTTO deployments can fail because there is no CMS connector or Cloudflare Worker configured for Website Studio sites. If you are using Website Studio, open a support ticket referencing this known limitation rather than continuing to troubleshoot the script manually.

🔌 Alternative: Install OTTO via the Search Atlas WordPress Plugin

If your site runs on WordPress, the Search Atlas WordPress Plugin installs the correct OTTO script automatically, eliminating the risk of copying the wrong UUID.

  1. Install and activate the Search Atlas plugin by uploading the plugin .zip provided by Search Atlas in WordPress → Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.
  2. Connect the plugin to your Search Atlas account.
  3. Select the correct OTTO project for the site — the plugin manages the UUID and script automatically.

This method is recommended for WordPress sites to prevent future UUID mismatches.

UUID vs. API Key: When using the WordPress plugin, do not confuse the OTTO UUID (the data-uuid attribute in the installation script, tied to a specific OTTO project) with your Search Atlas API Key (found under Account Menu → Settings → API Keys, used to authenticate the plugin to your account). Entering one in place of the other will produce a connection failure that can look like a UUID mismatch.

🌐 Whitelabel Domain Note

If your account has a whitelabel domain configured, OTTO scripts route through that domain. An unreachable whitelabel domain (for example, one not pointed to Search Atlas IPs) will cause OTTO connection failures that are unrelated to UUID mismatches but can appear alongside or be confused with duplicate/mismatch warnings. If you suspect this is the case, contact Search Atlas support.

🎯 You now know how to identify and fix the UUID mismatch that triggers OTTO's duplicate installation warning. For a visual walkthrough of the exact fix, watch the screen recording. If the warning persists after replacing the script, contact Search Atlas support so an agent can verify the correct UUID for your account.