You already know what your next move is: you need a list of local businesses to reach out to. Maybe you’re targeting plumbers in Phoenix for an ad campaign. Maybe you need every dental practice within 30 miles of a city for a B2B pitch. Maybe you want to map out your competitors’ locations before you launch in a new market. Whatever it is, you’ve probably spent at least an hour doing some version of this by hand: open Google Maps, search, scroll, click a business, copy the name, copy the phone number, paste it somewhere, repeat. It’s maddening. And by the time you have 40 rows in a spreadsheet, you realize you need 400.
There’s a better way. Apify’s Google Maps Scraper is a no-code tool that can pull thousands of business records from Google Maps in the time it would take you to copy 20 entries by hand. Business names, phone numbers, websites, emails, ratings, review counts, hours, categories, coordinates: all of it, exported into a clean CSV you can actually use. This guide walks you through the exact workflow, step by step, with real notes on what to expect when you actually run it.
If you’ve been searching for a google maps scraper, a reliable google maps data extractor, or a smarter approach to local business lead generation, this is the guide you’ve been looking for. Let’s get into it.
What Is Apify’s Google Maps Scraper?
Apify is a cloud-based web scraping and automation platform that runs what it calls “actors” — pre-built scrapers you can use without writing a single line of code. The Google Maps Scraper actor (officially called Crawler Google Places) is one of its most popular tools, and for good reason. It’s designed specifically to extract business data from Google Maps at scale, using Apify’s cloud infrastructure so you don’t have to run anything on your own computer.
You configure it through a simple web form, hit run, and it does the rest. The scraper navigates Google Maps just like a browser would, pulling the data fields you need across hundreds or thousands of listings. For small business owners, freelance marketers, and agencies doing lead generation work, it solves a problem that used to require either expensive data vendors or a developer on retainer.
It’s worth understanding what you’re paying for (or not paying for). Apify runs on a credit system tied to compute time. The free tier gives you $5 in monthly credits, which is enough to run a modest scrape of a few hundred businesses. Larger runs cost more, and the pricing scales predictably based on how many results you pull. We’ll get into the specifics shortly.
What Data Can You Actually Extract?
This is where it gets genuinely useful. The Google Maps Scraper doesn’t just pull business names and phone numbers. A complete run can return the following fields for each listing:
- Business name
- Full street address
- Phone number
- Website URL
- Email address (where publicly listed)
- Google star rating
- Total review count
- Business category (primary and secondary)
- Business hours (including day-by-day breakdown)
- GPS coordinates (latitude and longitude)
- Google Place ID
- Social media links (where available on the listing)
A note on emails: the google maps email scraper functionality is one of the most searched features, and it’s worth being direct about it. Apify’s scraper pulls emails that are publicly listed on a business’s Google Maps profile. Not every business lists an email there. For businesses that do list one, you’ll get it. For those that don’t, you’ll need to supplement with a tool that scrapes the business’s actual website. Apify has separate actors for that as well.
The output format is flexible. You can export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or HTML. CSV is the most practical choice for most use cases, especially if you’re dropping the data into a CRM or outreach tool.
Step-by-Step: How to Use the Apify Google Maps Scraper
Step 1: Create a Free Apify Account
Go to apify.com and sign up for a free account. You don’t need a credit card to start. The free tier gives you $5 in monthly credits, which is enough to pull a few hundred listings per run. Registration takes about two minutes.
Step 2: Find the Google Maps Scraper Actor
Once you’re in, head to the Apify Store (there’s a navigation link at the top). Search for “Google Maps Scraper” or “Crawler Google Places.” You’re looking for the actor built by Compass. You can also navigate directly at apify.com/compass/crawler-google-places. Click “Try for free” to open it in your account.
Step 3: Configure Your Inputs
This is where most people slow down the first time, so here’s exactly what to set:
Search query: This is the term Google Maps will use to find businesses. Be specific. “HVAC companies in Austin Texas” works better than just “HVAC.” You can also enter multiple search queries at once, which is useful if you’re pulling businesses across several cities.
Max results: Set this to however many listings you want. Be realistic here. 100 to 500 is a solid starting range for most campaigns. Going higher is possible, but it consumes more credits and takes longer. Start smaller on your first run so you can verify the output quality before committing to a large batch.
Location / country: You can specify a geographic region here to narrow results. If your search query already includes a city and state, this field is less critical, but adding a country code (“US”) doesn’t hurt.
Scrape reviews: You can optionally pull full review data per business. This adds significant processing time and credit usage. Unless you specifically need the google maps reviews scraper functionality, leave this off for lead generation runs.
Leave the advanced settings at their defaults unless you have a specific reason to adjust them. The scraper is well-calibrated out of the box.
Step 4: Run the Scraper
Hit “Start” and let Apify do its thing. A run pulling 200 businesses typically completes in 3 to 8 minutes. You’ll see a live progress log showing how many records have been collected. If something goes wrong (a search query returns no results, for example), you’ll see it in the log and can adjust and rerun without it counting against your full credit allocation.
One thing I’ve noticed across multiple runs: the scraper occasionally hits a slower stretch partway through, then catches up. Don’t cancel it thinking it’s stalled unless the log shows zero new results for more than 10 minutes.
Step 5: Export Your Data
When the run completes, click the “Export” tab. Choose CSV for the cleanest output. You’ll get a file with one row per business and one column per data field. Open it in Excel or Google Sheets, and you have a working lead list.
Here’s roughly what a real output row looks like:
| Field | Example Value |
|---|---|
| title | Austin Air Solutions LLC |
| address | 1204 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78703 |
| phone | +1 512-555-0192 |
| website | www.austinairsolutions.com |
| info@austinairsolutions.com | |
| rating | 4.7 |
| reviewsCount | 214 |
| category | HVAC contractor |
| openingHours | Mon-Fri 7am-6pm, Sat 8am-2pm |
| latitude | 30.2672 |
| longitude | -97.7431 |
Clean. Structured. Ready to work with.
Real Use Cases for Small Businesses
Building a Local Prospect List for Outreach
This is the most common use case, and it works exactly as well as you’d hope. If you’re a marketing agency looking to pitch local service businesses, you can pull every roofing contractor, landscaping company, or med spa in a target city, filter the CSV by rating or review count to prioritize the best prospects, and start outreach within the same day you run the scraper. No manual research, no data vendor, no developer.
Competitor Mapping
The google maps scraper is genuinely excellent for competitor analysis. Search for businesses in your category within your service area, export the results, and you have a complete picture of who’s operating there, how many reviews they have, what their ratings look like, and where they’re located. For local SEO lead generation specifically, this gives you a competitive baseline you can actually act on.
Building Niche Outreach Lists for Agencies
If you’re running outreach for a software company, a supplier, or any B2B business that sells to a specific industry vertical, the google maps business scraper is one of the best B2B lead scraping tools available. Search by SIC-adjacent categories on Google Maps and you can build vertically-organized lead lists by city, region, or nationwide, without paying data vendors hundreds of dollars per export.
Finding Underserved Markets
Want to know which neighborhoods have zero physical therapy practices, or which cities in a state are underserved by a specific restaurant category? Running the scraper across multiple geographic searches and comparing results gives you a fast, data-driven answer. It’s the kind of market research that used to require hiring a research firm.
Apify Google Maps Scraper Pricing: What to Expect
Apify runs on a credit model, not a flat subscription per feature. Here’s a realistic breakdown of what you can expect from the Google Maps Scraper specifically:
| Plan | Monthly Credits | Approx. Results | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $5 | 200 to 400 records | Testing and small one-off lists |
| Starter | $49/mo | 2,000 to 5,000 records | Small agencies, regular prospecting |
| Scale | $149/mo | 10,000+ records | High-volume lead generation workflows |
| Enterprise | Custom | Unlimited | Large teams, custom integrations |
Pricing estimates reflect Apify’s standard credit tiers and may vary. Review current pricing at apify.com before committing to a plan.
The apify google maps scraper free tier is genuinely useful for evaluation purposes. You can run a real scrape, see real output, and make an informed decision before spending anything. That’s not typical in this category.
Alternatives to Apify: A Honest Comparison
The google maps scraper tool market has a few other players worth knowing. Here’s how they stack up:
| Tool | No-Code? | Free Tier? | Email Scraping? | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apify Google Maps Scraper | Yes | Yes ($5 credits) | Yes (listed emails) | Flexible, scalable, developer-friendly |
| Outscraper | Yes | Limited | Yes | Simpler UI, flat credit packs |
| PhantomBuster | Yes | Limited trial | Partial | Multi-platform automation workflows |
| Bright Data | No (mostly) | No | Yes | Enterprise data, large-scale pipelines |
| Chrome Extensions | Yes | Often free | Rarely | Small one-off pulls, low volume |
Outscraper is probably the closest outscraper alternative comparison people run. It has a cleaner UI for absolute beginners and sells credits in smaller packs without a subscription, which works well for occasional use. Apify is more flexible and has a broader ecosystem if you want to chain scraping workflows together. PhantomBuster is better suited for multi-platform automation (LinkedIn, Twitter, and so on) rather than pure Google Maps extraction. Bright Data is enterprise-grade and priced accordingly, which makes it overkill for most small business use cases.
If you’re on the hunt for a google maps scraper chrome extension, those exist too, but they’re limited to whatever your browser session can access and typically cap out at a few hundred results before timing out or throttling. They’re fine for small, one-off lists. For anything at scale, a cloud-based tool like Apify is significantly more reliable.
Limitations and Legal Considerations: Let’s Be Direct
No guide on scraping is complete without this section, and I’m not going to bury it at the bottom in a footnote. Here’s what you need to know.
Google’s Terms of Service
Google’s Terms of Service prohibit automated scraping of its platforms. That’s the honest answer. Apify and similar tools operate in a gray zone: the data being scraped (business names, phone numbers, addresses) is publicly accessible, businesses list it intentionally for people to find, and no private user data is involved. Many legal analysts draw a distinction between scraping publicly accessible business data and violating personal privacy. That said, this is not legal advice, and if you’re running large-scale commercial operations with this data, it’s worth a conversation with your attorney.
Data Accuracy
Google Maps data is only as accurate as the business listings themselves. Closed businesses sometimes remain listed for months. Phone numbers go out of date. Emails listed on profiles aren’t always monitored. Any list you build will need some degree of validation before you run a serious outreach campaign. Tools like NeverBounce or ZeroBounce can help with email validation.
Rate Limits and Anti-Scraping Measures
Google actively works to detect automated access. Apify’s infrastructure handles much of this, but it’s not infallible. Very large runs can encounter CAPTCHAs, throttling, or incomplete results. Building in manual review of your output before using it for outreach is good practice regardless.
Responsible Use
Scraped data, like any contact list, is subject to applicable regulations. In the US, CAN-SPAM governs commercial email. GDPR applies if any of the businesses you’re contacting are in the EU. Use the data to reach out professionally, include clear opt-out options in your communications, and don’t sell or redistribute scraped lists without understanding the legal landscape.
Want the Research Done for You?
We work with small businesses every day on exactly this kind of problem: you need a list of local prospects, you need to know where you stand relative to competitors, and you need a lead generation strategy that doesn’t require you to become a data engineer to execute it.
At Lorphic, we handle the research and strategy layer so you can focus on the outreach. Whether that’s building a targeted local prospect list, running a competitor mapping analysis, or setting up an automated lead generation workflow that pulls and qualifies leads on a schedule, we’ve done it across dozens of industries and markets. We’re a digital marketing agency built specifically for small and mid-size businesses, which means we don’t bring enterprise pricing or enterprise complexity. We bring the tools and the thinking that actually move the needle for businesses your size.
If you want to explore what a local lead generation strategy looks like for your specific market, get in touch with the Lorphic team at lorphic.com/contact and we’ll walk you through it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Apify’s Google Maps Scraper free?
Apify offers a free tier with $5 in monthly credits, which is enough to pull 200 to 400 business records depending on the complexity of your search. For larger or recurring scrapes, paid plans start at $49 per month. The free tier is genuinely usable for testing and small one-off projects.
What is the best Google Maps scraper tool for small businesses?
Apify’s Google Maps Scraper is one of the top options for small businesses because it requires no coding, runs in the cloud, and offers a free tier to get started. Outscraper is another solid choice if you prefer a simpler interface and pay-as-you-go credits without a monthly subscription.
Can the Apify Google Maps Scraper extract emails?
Yes, but with an important caveat. The google maps email scraper functionality pulls emails that businesses have publicly listed on their Google Maps profile. Not every business lists an email there. For those that don’t, you’d need to supplement with a website scraper that pulls contact info directly from the business’s website.
How do I scrape Google Maps without coding?
Create a free Apify account, navigate to the Google Maps Scraper actor, enter your search query and location, set a max result count, and hit run. The entire process is done through a web form with no code required. Your output is available as a downloadable CSV when the run completes.
Is scraping Google Maps legal?
This is a nuanced area. Google’s Terms of Service prohibit automated scraping, but the data being extracted (publicly listed business information) is intentionally made public by businesses themselves. Many operators distinguish between scraping public business data and violating personal privacy. If you’re running large-scale commercial operations with scraped data, consult a legal professional to understand your specific situation.
How accurate is Google Maps data for lead generation?
Google Maps business data is generally quite reliable for active businesses in populated areas, but listings can be outdated. Closed businesses sometimes remain listed for months, phone numbers change, and not all emails are current. Always validate emails before launching outreach campaigns, and expect to clean about 10 to 20 percent of records from any scraped list.
What is a good alternative to Outscraper for Google Maps data?
Apify’s Google Maps Scraper is the most direct Outscraper alternative for cloud-based, no-code Google Maps extraction. It offers more flexibility in workflow automation and a broader ecosystem of related scrapers if your needs grow beyond basic business data. PhantomBuster is worth considering if you need multi-platform automation across LinkedIn, Instagram, and other channels in addition to Google Maps.
How many leads can I scrape from Google Maps per run?
There’s no hard technical ceiling, but practical limits apply. Google Maps typically surfaces 400 to 500 results per search query before results start to repeat or degrade in relevance. For larger lists, run multiple searches with different queries or locations and combine the outputs. Apify’s free tier comfortably handles 200 to 300 records per run.
Can I use scraped Google Maps data for cold email outreach?
You can, but make sure your outreach complies with applicable regulations. CAN-SPAM in the US requires a clear physical address, an opt-out mechanism, and accurate sender information in every commercial email. GDPR applies to recipients in the EU. Use the data responsibly, send relevant outreach, and don’t spam.
What is no-code web scraping and how does Apify fit in?
No-code web scraping refers to data extraction tools that don’t require writing code. Instead of building a custom scraper in Python, you configure a pre-built tool through a web interface. Apify is one of the leading platforms for no-code web scraping, offering a library of pre-built actors (including the Google Maps Scraper) that anyone can run through a browser without technical expertise.
Final Thoughts
Manual Google Maps research is a time sink that most small businesses and marketing teams can’t afford. Spending three hours copying business information into a spreadsheet when a tool can do it in five minutes isn’t a workflow, it’s a habit worth breaking.
The Apify Google Maps Scraper is one of the most practical AI lead generation tools available for local business data because it’s specific, it’s accurate, and it requires no technical skill to use. The free tier means there’s no reason not to try it on your next prospecting project. Run a small batch, review the output, and you’ll understand within 30 minutes why this is how most serious marketers handle google maps lead generation at scale.
If you run into walls with the setup, want a more sophisticated strategy behind the data, or simply don’t want to manage the process yourself, that’s what we’re here for.
Pricing estimates in this article reflect general market ranges and will vary by plan tier, usage volume, and Apify’s current credit structure. Always review current pricing at apify.com before committing to a subscription.
Curated by Lorphic
Digital intelligence. Clarity. Truth.
