Docs · Search Google Maps

Search Google Maps

Businesses and places matching a Google Maps search, with address, phone, website, rating, hours and coordinates.

1 credit per callFresh within 12 hoursMCP tool: google_maps_search

GEThttps://api.lurkapi.com/v1/google/maps/search

When to use this

Use it to find businesses by type and area ("dentists in Miami") for lead lists, local SEO or market maps. Each place carries its contact details, so most callers never need place details.

Pass what you'd type into Maps as query, and the area as location (free text, e.g. Austin, TX) or as lat + lng. One of them is required.

Pagination. 20 places per page in Google's order, up to 10 pages. Pass next_page as page for more; it's null on the last page. Later pages can repeat a few places from earlier ones.

A query that names one place (empire state building) returns just that place.

Parameters

All parameters go in the query string.

Parameter	Description
`query` stringrequired	What you'd type into Google Maps, e.g. `coffee shop` or `plumbers near me`. Example `coffee shop`
`location` stringoptional	Where to search, as free text: a city, area or address, e.g. `Austin, TX`. Example `Austin, TX`
`lat` numberoptional	Latitude to center the search on, with `lng`, e.g. `30.2672`.
`lng` numberoptional	Longitude to center the search on, with `lat`, e.g. `-97.7431`.
`zoom` integeroptional	How far in the map is zoomed around `lat`/`lng`, as on Maps: 10 ≈ a city, 14 ≈ a neighborhood (default), 17 ≈ a few streets. Default `14`
`page` integeroptional	Page of results, 1–10; 20 places each. Use `next_page` from the previous answer. Default `1`
`language` stringoptional	Language of names, categories, hours and review text, e.g. `en`, `de`, `pt-BR`. Default `en`. Default `en`

Example request

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your key, or set LURKAPI_KEY for the code. Get a free key.

curlJavaScriptPython

JavaScript · reads your key from LURKAPI_KEY

const params = new URLSearchParams({
  query: "coffee shop",
  location: "Austin, TX",
});
const res = await fetch(`https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/google/maps/search?${params}`, {
  headers: { "x-api-key": process.env.LURKAPI_KEY },
});
const data = await res.json();
if (!data.success) throw new Error(`${data.code}: ${data.error}`);
console.log(data.places);

Python · reads your key from LURKAPI_KEY

import os
import requests

res = requests.get(
    "https://api.lurkapi.com/v1/google/maps/search",
    params={
        "query": "coffee shop",
        "location": "Austin, TX",
    },
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["LURKAPI_KEY"]},
    timeout=60,
)
data = res.json()
if not data["success"]:
    raise RuntimeError(f"{data['code']}: {data['error']}")
print(data["places"])

Example response

A real response from this endpoint, captured from the live API and trimmed to a couple of items. Strings over 96 characters (mostly signed media URLs) are cut short and end in ….

Show the example response (4 KB)

{
  "success": true,
  "credits_remaining": 999984,
  "credits_charged": 1,
  "places": [
    {
      "placeId": "ChIJ1S_Bov20RIYRe7MiR8tYawY",
      "cid": "462561016830669691",
      "featureId": "0x8644b4fda2c12fd5:0x66b58cb4722b37b",
      "name": "Jo's Coffee – South Congress",
      "url": "https://www.google.com/maps?cid=462561016830669691",
      "categories": [
        "Coffee shop",
        "Cafe",
        "Takeout Restaurant",
        "Sandwich shop"
      ],
      "address": "1300 S Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78704",
      "street": "1300 S Congress Ave",
      "city": "Austin",
      "state": "Texas",
      "postalCode": "78704",
      "countryCode": "US",
      "neighborhood": "Bouldin Creek",
      "plusCode": null,
      "latitude": 30.2510458,
      "longitude": -97.7493717,
      "phone": "(512) 852-2300",
      "phoneInternational": "+15128522300",
      "website": "https://www.joscoffee.com/south-congress-jos",
      "rating": 4.4,
      "reviewsCount": 2005,
      "hours": [
        {
          "day": "Monday",
          "hours": "7 AM–7 PM"
        },
        {
          "day": "Tuesday",
          "hours": "7 AM–7 PM"
        },
        {
          "day": "Wednesday",
          "hours": "7 AM–7 PM"
        },
        {
          "day": "Thursday",
          "hours": "7 AM–7 PM"
        },
        {
          "day": "Friday",
          "hours": "7 AM–7 PM"
        },
        {
          "day": "Saturday",
          "hours": "7 AM–7 PM"
        },
        {
          "day": "Sunday",
          "hours": "7 AM–7 PM"
        }
      ],
      "timezone": "America/Chicago",
      "description": "La Colombe coffee, specialty beverages & snacks in a down-to-earth, convivial locale.",
      "photo": "https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/grass-cs/AABkmLeA8s7ovG7n-CmQy3bJA92IH…",
      "permanentlyClosed": false,
      "temporarilyClosed": false
    },
    {
      "placeId": "ChIJG-gJw2vKRIYROWi2uwOp8QE",
      "cid": "140078896924485689",
      "featureId": "0x8644ca6bc309e81b:0x1f1a903bbb66839",
      "name": "Epoch Coffee",
      "url": "https://www.google.com/maps?cid=140078896924485689",
      "categories": [
        "Coffee shop"
      ],
      "address": "221 W N Loop Blvd, Austin, TX 78751",
      "street": "221 W N Loop Blvd",
      "city": "Austin",
      "state": "Texas",
      "postalCode": "78751",
      "countryCode": "US",
      "neighborhood": "North Loop",
      "plusCode": null,
      "latitude": 30.318603699999997,
      "longitude": -97.72454019999999,
      "phone": "(512) 454-3762",
      "phoneInternational": "+15124543762",
      "website": "http://www.epochcoffee.com/",
      "rating": 4.5,
      "reviewsCount": 2538,
      "hours": [
        {
          "day": "Monday",
          "hours": "12 AM–11:30 PM"
        },
        {
          "day": "Tuesday",
          "hours": "Open 24 hours"
        },
        {
          "day": "Wednesday",
          "hours": "Open 24 hours"
        },
        {
          "day": "Thursday",
          "hours": "Open 24 hours"
        },
        {
          "day": "Friday",
          "hours": "Open 24 hours"
        },
        {
          "day": "Saturday",
          "hours": "Open 24 hours"
        },
        {
          "day": "Sunday",
          "hours": "Open 24 hours"
        }
      ],
      "timezone": "America/Chicago",
      "description": "Cool, vibrant small-chain cafe featuring nibbles, tea & carefully brewed espresso drinks.",
      "photo": "https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/grass-cs/AABkmLeXAOUdE-8mLrosYeEJM3Iqh…",
      "permanentlyClosed": false,
      "temporarilyClosed": false
    }
  ],
  "page": 1,
  "next_page": 2
}

Response fields

Every field of a successful response. [] marks a list: a[].b is the b of each item in a. nullable fields can be null; optional fields can be missing.

Show all 35 fields

Field	Type	Description
success	true	Always true here; errors have `success: false`.
credits_remaining	number	Your balance after this call. On anonymous playground calls: free tries left today.
credits_charged	number	Credits this call cost; 0 on free endpoints. On anonymous playground calls: tries used (1).
places	object[]	Matching places in Google's order.
places[].placeId	stringnullable	Google's place id (`ChIJ…`), the id Google's Places API uses too. Pass it as `place_id` to place details or reviews.
places[].cid	string	The place's cid (customer id), stable for the life of the listing: `maps.google.com/?cid=<cid>`.
places[].featureId	string	Google Maps' own feature id (`0x…:0x…`), as it appears in Maps links.
places[].name	string	The place's name as Google lists it.
places[].url	string	The place on Google Maps.
places[].categories	string[]	Google's categories, main one first, e.g. ["Coffee shop", "Cafe"].
places[].address	stringnullable	Full street address on one line, e.g. `1300 S Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78704`.
places[].street	stringnullable	Street and number.
places[].city	stringnullable	City or town.
places[].state	stringnullable	State, province or region, when the country uses one.
places[].postalCode	stringnullable	Postal code.
places[].countryCode	stringnullable	2-letter country code, e.g. US.
places[].neighborhood	stringnullable	Neighborhood or district, when Google names one.
places[].plusCode	stringnullable	The place's global plus code, e.g. `86247722+C7`. Place details only: null in search results with more than one place.
places[].latitude	numbernullable	Latitude of the place's pin.
places[].longitude	numbernullable	Longitude of the place's pin.
places[].phone	stringnullable	Phone number as written locally, e.g. `(512) 852-2300`; null when the listing has none.
places[].phoneInternational	stringnullable	Phone number in E.164 form, e.g. `+15128522300`, ready to dial or match.
places[].website	stringnullable	The business's own website; null when the listing has none.
places[].rating	numbernullable	Average star rating, 1–5; null with no reviews.
places[].reviewsCount	numbernullable	How many reviews Google counts; null with none.
places[].hours	object[]nullable	Regular weekly hours, starting with the current day; null when the listing has none. Holiday hours can differ.
places[].hours[].day	string	Day of the week, in `language`.
places[].hours[].hours	string	Opening hours that day as Google writes them, e.g. `7 AM–7 PM`, `Open 24 hours` or `Closed`.
places[].timezone	stringnullable	The place's IANA timezone, e.g. America/Chicago.
places[].description	stringnullable	Google's one-line summary of the place; null for most places.
places[].photo	stringnullable	The listing's main photo, 800 px wide (edit `=w800` in the URL for another size).
places[].permanentlyClosed	boolean	true when Google marks the place permanently closed.
places[].temporarilyClosed	boolean	true when Google marks the place temporarily closed.
page	number	This page's number.
next_page	numbernullable	Pass as `page` for the next 20 places; null on the last page.

Caching and freshness

Responses are cached for up to 12 hours, so a repeat call within that window can return the same data. It still costs 1 credit.

Errors return { success: false, error, code, docs } with the HTTP status below. Validation errors, 401/402/429 rejections and 5xx failures are free; not_found is charged (how charging works). All error codes.

Status	Code	Meaning
401	`missing_api_key`	No API key. Send it in the `x-api-key` header.
401	`invalid_api_key`	The key is unknown or was revoked.
402	`insufficient_credits`	Not enough credits for this call. Buy a pack or wait for tomorrow's top-up.
403	`account_suspended`	This account is suspended. Contact support@lurkapi.com. Never charged.
405	`method_not_allowed`	Endpoints take GET with query params.
429	`rate_limited`	Too many calls at once. Wait for the `retry-after` seconds, then retry.
500	`internal_error`	Something broke on our side. Retry; 5xx errors are free.
502	`upstream_error`	The platform didn't give a usable answer. Retry; 5xx errors are free.
503	`upstream_busy`	All our connections to the platform are busy. Retry in a few seconds; 5xx errors are free.
504	`upstream_timeout`	The platform took over 30 seconds to answer (90 for web pages). Retry; timeouts are free.

Use it in Claude

Once LurkAPI is connected to Claude, this endpoint is the google_maps_search tool. Ask in plain English, for example:

Ask Claude

Use LurkAPI's google_maps_search with query "coffee shop", location "Austin, TX" and summarize what you find.

Claude calls google_maps_search with arguments like these, and each call costs 1 credit:

Tool arguments

{
  "query": "coffee shop",
  "location": "Austin, TX"
}

Tool results are compact to save tokens: no nulls or empty lists, one URL per image or video, transcripts as plain text unless you pass timestamps=true. A result over 45,000 characters comes in parts: its _note gives the offset for the rest, and later parts are free for 15 minutes. trim=false returns the full response.

From the blog

All posts

Search Google Maps

When to use this

Parameters

Example request

Example response

Response fields

Caching and freshness

Errors

Use it in Claude

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