Optimising for terms which are not in line with brand guidelines

[musthavemarketing]

Hi Fellow Mozzers,

Happy New Year! - I have a client who run runs a leisure/recreation centre.  The centre went through a change of name a couple of years ago.  from XXXX recreation centre to xxxx youth and community centre.  It is part of a wider organisation and so they have a 'content section dedicated to their centre.  On the main landing page we have referred to the centre by both terms -  however it seems from GA Search Console stats that the general public still refer to the centre by its old name. The manager would like the old term removed but I wonder whether this would impact on the SEO effectiveness of the page or not? Any Comments would be gratefully received.

[katemorris]

I can't say for sure, but my experience with Google recently would suggest that having it on the page will not matter. You could remove instances of it, but there are probably external signals that will let SEs understand that you used to go by name. Same how they understand that a vehicle, car, and auto are generally the same thing.