How to Scrape Google Maps with Apify (No Code Required)

Google Maps holds one of the most valuable business datasets on the internet. Every local business listing contains a name, phone number, address, website, rating, category, and hours of operation. If you work in lead generation, market research, or local SEO, this data is extremely valuable — but scraping it manually is slow and technically challenging.

That's exactly where Apify solves the problem. Instead of building a custom scraper from scratch, you run a pre-built cloud program — called an Actor — that handles all the complexity for you: JavaScript rendering, pagination, proxy rotation, and data export.

What is Apify?

Apify is a cloud-based web automation platform with a store of 3,000+ ready-made actors. Think of it as an app store for web scraping — you find an actor that does what you need, configure it with a simple form, click Run, and get structured data back. No servers to manage, no proxies to configure.

Step 1 — Create Your Account

Go to apify.com and create a free account. You get $5 in platform credits immediately — enough to run several hundred Google Maps listings. No credit card is needed to start.

Step 2 — Find the Google Maps Scraper

Inside the Apify Store, search for "Google Maps Scraper". The official actor maintained by Apify has over 100,000 users. Click it, then click Try for free.

Step 3 — Configure Your Search

You'll see a simple input form. Fill in the following:

• Search terms: Describe what and where to search, for example "dentists in Miami" or "software agencies in Berlin"
• Max results: How many listings to collect (start with 50–100 to test)
• Language: Leave as English unless targeting another market

No coding is involved — it's a web form like any other.

Step 4 — Run the Actor

Click Save & Run. Apify launches a cloud browser session, navigates Google Maps for your query, and collects all matching listings. A 100-result run typically finishes in 3–6 minutes.

Step 5 — Export Your Data

Once the run completes, click Export results. You can download in:

• CSV — opens directly in Excel or Google Sheets
• JSON — for developers and API integrations
• Excel (.xlsx) — ready to send to clients

Each record includes: business name, address, phone number, website URL, star rating, review count, category, GPS coordinates, and opening hours.

Real-World Use Cases

• B2B Lead Generation: Scrape all accountants, lawyers, or agencies in a city and build targeted outreach lists
• Competitor Research: Map every competitor in your niche within a geographic area
• Local SEO Audit: Analyze how businesses appear in local results for any keyword and location
• Market Research: Count and categorize businesses across regions to identify underserved markets
• Review Monitoring: Track rating changes and new reviews for a list of businesses over time

Pro Tips

• Write specific queries like "electricians in Chicago IL 60601" for more targeted results
• Stack multiple city names in the search terms to scrape across regions in one run
• Use Apify's scheduler to re-run the actor weekly or monthly and keep your data fresh
• Chain this actor with the Website Contact Scraper actor — it takes the websites from Maps output and finds contact emails. That two-step pipeline is extremely effective for lead gen

As a Python developer, I frequently combine Apify's Google Maps output with email verification APIs to build verified, high-deliverability lead lists for clients. If you want this pipeline set up for your specific use case, I'm available for projects.