How to Build a Local Business Lead List from Google Maps

I keep needing the same thing: a clean list of local businesses in one area, with phone numbers, so I can call them or map them. Doing it by hand in Google Maps is slow, and the official Maps API wants a Google Cloud project and billing before you get a single row. So I use a scraper that just returns the data.

A Google Maps scraper takes a search and a location and returns the matching business listings as structured JSON, in bulk, so you can build a lead list or a dataset in minutes.

What the Google Maps scraper returns

You get one clean row per place, with:

• Business name and full address

• Phone number and website

• Rating and review count

• Category and all categories

• Latitude, longitude, and Google place IDs

• Opening hours and price level

It returns phone numbers and websites, but not email addresses, review text, or popular-times data. For the core place record, it is fast and cheap.

Run it in three steps

1. Open the Google Maps Places Scraper and type a search term, like "dentists in 90210", plus a location.

2. Set how many results you want per search, then click Start.

3. When the run finishes, export the places as JSON, CSV, or Excel.

Use it as a REST API

To run it from your own code, start a run over the Apify API with a small JSON input:

POST /v2/acts/johnvc~google-maps-places-api/runs
{
 "searchTerms": ["roofing contractors in Tampa, FL"],
 "maxResultsPerSearch": 100,
 "language": "en"
}

The run returns a dataset you can pull as JSON or CSV. Pricing is pay per result, from $0.002 per unique place, so a 100-place list costs about $0.20 on the Free plan.

Wire it into Claude with MCP

Add the Apify MCP server to Claude or any MCP client and the scraper becomes a tool your agent can call:

https://mcp.apify.com

Then ask, in plain language, for "med spas in Miami with phone numbers" and the agent runs the search and hands back the rows, no code required.

What people build with it

Sales teams build call lists of local businesses by city and niche. Market researchers pull competitor locations, ratings, and price levels across a whole city. GIS and mapping folks assemble location layers from names and coordinates. And data teams collect real-world place attributes for machine-learning training sets.

Runnable examples

The scraper ships with eight one-click examples, from roofing leads in Tampa to med spas in Miami. You can also see the full project, pricing, and field list on the Peerlist project page.

FAQ About Scraping Google Maps

Where does this Google Maps scraper get its data?

It returns the public business information Google Maps already shows: names, addresses, phone numbers, ratings, categories, and coordinates. The data is as fresh as the listing, and duplicate places are removed before you are billed.

Should I use the Google Maps Places API or a scraper?

The official Places API is built for looking up one place at a time inside an app, and it needs a Google Cloud project and billing. If you want hundreds or thousands of places for a lead list or research, a scraper is simpler: no key, no setup, and you pay only for the unique places you receive.

How much does a 100-place list cost with this scraper?

Pricing is pay per result, starting at $0.002 per unique place on the Free plan, so 100 places is about $0.20. There is no per-run fee and no subscription.

Can I use this Google Maps scraper from Claude with MCP?

Yes. Add the Apify MCP server to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client, and the scraper runs as a tool. You ask for places in plain language and the agent returns structured rows, no code.

Can I schedule this scraper to refresh a list?

Yes. From the Apify Console you can put any run on a daily or weekly schedule, so a fresh list of places is waiting for you. It is the simple way to keep a directory or a lead list current.

What can this scraper not do?

It does not collect email addresses, individual review text, popular-times graphs, or owner and social details. It is focused on the core place record. For emails, pair it with a dedicated contact-enrichment tool.

Run into a bad result or a field you need? Open an issue on the Actor page and I usually respond within a day.