Google Search Business Search API
Returns the Google Maps businesses for a keyword in a place: name, cid, place_id, address, phone, website, categories, rating, review count, coordinates and hours.
GET /v1/google/business/searchLast updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team
When to use the Google Search Business Search API
Use it to build a list of local businesses by trade and area, such as dentists in Milano, then pass a cid to business/info for the full profile.
From the API reference
Returns the Google Maps businesses for a keyword or category in a place, in Google's own order: name, cid, place_id, address, phone, website, category and additional categories, star rating and review count, coordinates, claimed status and opening hours. place.id is the cid, so any row chains into GET /v1/google/business/info?cid= or /v1/google/business/extended-reviews?cid=. place.ext adds place_id, maps_url, domain, rank, city, postal_code, region, country_code, hours and status. Give the place as location ("Milano, Italy", a country, or a full "City,Region,Country" name such as "Milan,Lombardy,Italy") or as lat + lng (with an optional zoom); sending neither, or both, is a free 400. Sponsored listings are left out. A flat 5 credits for up to 100 places; a search with no results returns an empty list and is not billed.
Searching 69 platforms in parallel
What can you do with the Business Search API?
The Business Search endpoint gives you structured Google Search data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.
Example Request
# GET /v1/google/business/search: 5 credits per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
# --max-time 54: this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
# --retry 3: retries timeouts, 429 and 5xx, honoring Retry-After.
# -o response.json keeps only the final attempt's body.
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY=$(od -An -N16 -tx1 /dev/urandom | tr -d ' \n')
curl -sS --max-time 54 --retry 3 -o response.json \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/google/business/search?query=dentista&location=Milano%2C+Italy" && cat response.json# GET /v1/google/business/search: 5 credits per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
import os
import random
import time
import uuid
import requests
API_KEY = os.environ.get("SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY")
TIMEOUT_S = 54 # this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/google/business/search"
def backoff(attempt):
# Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
return 2 ** attempt * (0.5 + random.random() / 2)
def socialcrawl(params):
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
idempotency_key = str(uuid.uuid4())
for attempt in range(MAX_RETRIES + 1):
try:
res = requests.get(
URL,
params=params,
headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY, "Idempotency-Key": idempotency_key},
timeout=TIMEOUT_S,
)
body = res.json()
except (requests.RequestException, ValueError):
# A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise
time.sleep(backoff(attempt))
continue
if body["success"]:
return body
error = body["error"]
# Branch on error["type"], never on the message text.
if error["type"] == "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND":
return None # refunded: nothing to read
retry_after = res.headers.get("Retry-After")
# SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
permanent = error["type"] == "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" and retry_after is None
if not error.get("retryable") or permanent or attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise RuntimeError(f"{error['type']}: {error['message']} (request_id {body['request_id']})")
# Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
time.sleep(float(retry_after) if retry_after else backoff(attempt))
params = {
"query": "dentista",
"location": "Milano, Italy",
}
body = socialcrawl(params)
if body is not None:
print(body["data"])// GET /v1/google/business/search: 5 credits per call. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
// Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
const API_KEY = process.env.SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY ?? "YOUR_API_KEY";
const TIMEOUT_MS = 54_000; // this endpoint's measured p99 latency x 1.5.
const MAX_RETRIES = 3;
type Page = { next_cursor: string | null; has_more: boolean };
type SocialCrawlResponse =
| { success: true; data: any; pagination?: Page; credits_used: number; request_id: string }
| { success: false; error: { type: string; message: string; retryable: boolean }; request_id: string };
const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
// Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
const backoffMs = (attempt: number) => 2 ** attempt * 1000 * (0.5 + Math.random() / 2);
async function socialcrawl(url: URL) {
// One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
const idempotencyKey = crypto.randomUUID();
for (let attempt = 0; ; attempt++) {
let res: Response;
let body: SocialCrawlResponse;
try {
res = await fetch(url, {
headers: {
"x-api-key": API_KEY,
"Idempotency-Key": idempotencyKey,
},
signal: AbortSignal.timeout(TIMEOUT_MS),
});
body = (await res.json()) as SocialCrawlResponse;
} catch (error) {
// A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if (attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) throw error;
await sleep(backoffMs(attempt));
continue;
}
if (body.success) return body;
// Branch on error.type, never on the message text.
if (body.error.type === "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND") return null; // refunded: nothing to read
const retryAfter = res.headers.get("Retry-After");
// SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
const permanent = body.error.type === "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" && retryAfter === null;
if (!body.error.retryable || permanent || attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) {
throw new Error(`${body.error.type}: ${body.error.message} (request_id ${body.request_id})`);
}
// Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
await sleep(retryAfter ? Number(retryAfter) * 1000 : backoffMs(attempt));
}
}
const url = new URL("https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/google/business/search");
url.searchParams.set("query", "dentista");
url.searchParams.set("location", "Milano, Italy");
const body = await socialcrawl(url);
if (body) console.log(body.data);Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| query | Yes | What to look for, as you would type it into Google Maps: a category or trade ('dentista', 'ristorante', 'commercialista') or a business name. Use the local language for local results. |
| location | No | Where to search: 'City, Country' (e.g. 'Milano, Italy'), a country name or ISO code ('Italy', 'IT'), or a full City,Region,Country name ('Milan,Lombardy,Italy'). Required unless lat and lng are sent. |
| lat | No | Latitude of the search centre (-90 to 90). Send with lng instead of location. |
| lng | No | Longitude of the search centre (-180 to 180). Send with lat instead of location. |
| zoom | No | Google Maps zoom level around lat/lng, 3 (continent) to 21 (street). Defaults to 14, about a city district. Only with lat/lng. |
| language | No | Language code for the results ('it', 'en', 'de'). Defaults to the main language of the country in location ('it' for Italy), or 'en' for coordinates. |
| limit | No | How many places to return, 1-100 (default 20). The price is the same at any limit. |
What does the Google Search Business Search API return?
Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"platform": "target",
"endpoint": "/v1/target/stores",
"data": {
"items": [
{
"place": {
"id": "3412",
"name": "Chelsea 23rd and 8th",
"url": null,
"category": null,
"rating": {
"value": null,
"max": null
},
"reviews_count": null,
"price_level": null,
"address": "258 8th Ave, New York, NY 10011-1619",
"phone": "646-720-0024",
"latitude": null,
"longitude": null,
"verified": null,
"description": null,
"image_urls": null,
"ext": {
"distance": 0.37,
"status": "Open",
"timezone": "America/New_York",
"hours": [
{
"date": "2026-09-16",
"day_name": "Wednesday",
"is_open": true,
"opens_at": "08:00:00",
"closes_at": "23:00:00"
},
{
"date": "2026-09-17",
"day_name": "Thursday",
"is_open": true,
"opens_at": "08:00:00",
"closes_at": "23:00:00"
}
]
}
}
},
{
"place": {
"id": "3277",
"name": "Manhattan Herald Square",
"url": null,
"category": null,
"rating": {
"value": null,
"max": null
},
"reviews_count": null,
"price_level": null,
"address": "112 W 34th St, New York, NY 10120-0101",
"phone": "646-968-4739",
"latitude": null,
"longitude": null,
"verified": null,
"description": null,
"image_urls": null,
"ext": {
"distance": 0.42,
"status": "Open",
"timezone": "America/New_York",
"hours": [
{
"date": "2026-09-16",
"day_name": "Wednesday",
"is_open": true,
"opens_at": "08:00:00",
"closes_at": "23:00:00"
},
{
"date": "2026-09-17",
"day_name": "Thursday",
"is_open": true,
"opens_at": "08:00:00",
"closes_at": "23:00:00"
}
]
}
}
}
],
"total": 20,
"dropped": 0
},
"credits_used": 1,
"request_id": "req_example000000",
"cached": false,
"pagination": {
"next_cursor": null,
"has_more": false,
"page_size": 20
},
"credits_remaining": 9999,
"redacted": true
}Example captured from the Target API. Every SocialCrawl endpoint returns this same unified schema, so your Google Search Business Search response has the same fields.
How does the Google Search Business Search API work?
Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.
Method
GET
Response
JSON
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When an endpoint supports these metrics and the source provides the required inputs, the normalized record includes engagement_rate, estimated_reach, content_category, and language. Ready to use.
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import requests
response = requests.get(
'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json(){
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"data": {
"author": {
"username": "charlidamelio",
"followers": 152400000
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 12400000000,
"engagement_rate": 0.087
},
"metadata": {
"language": "en",
"content_category": "lifestyle"
}
}
}Have a question? We got answers
Find answers to frequently asked questions about SocialCrawl's API, pricing, and capabilities.
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