Google Maps Similar Places Scraper

Find businesses that Google Maps labels as similar or related to a selected place. Each result is a visible recommendation from a Maps page, connected to the place where it appeared. The Actor reports Google’s recommendations and does not calculate its own similarity score.

How to use

Provide a public Maps place URL in startUrls, or search for a source place with queries. A search URL is used to find a source place; it does not turn every search result into a recommendation.

{
  "startUrls": [
    { "url": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/Example+Grand+Hotel/" }
  ],
  "maxItems": 25,
  "includeMedia": true,
  "includeDetails": false
}

To filter and sort recommendations:

{
  "queries": ["coffee shops"],
  "locationQuery": "Brooklyn, New York",
  "minRating": 4.5,
  "minReviews": 100,
  "categoryFilter": "coffee",
  "sortBy": "rating_desc",
  "maxItems": 10
}

Input

Input	Description	Default
startUrls	Public Google Maps place or search URLs. urls is an alias.	—
queries	Search phrases used to find source places. Aliases include searchStringsArray, searchKeywords, searchQuery, and similarTo.	—
locationQuery	Location appended to generated searches.	—
page / maxPages	Starting position and number of source URLs/searches to inspect (up to 25). These do not paginate a Maps results feed.	1 / 3
maxItems	Maximum recommendation records across the run. maxCrawledPlacesPerSearch is a compatibility alias.	25
deduplicate	Remove repeated recommendations by place identity or name.	true
minRating / minReviews	Optional filters using visible card ratings and review counts.	—
categoryFilter	Optional category text filter.	—
sortBy	Keep recommended order or sort by rating, review count, or name.	recommended
includeMedia	Include visible public Maps photo URLs.	true
includeDetails	Visit selected recommendation panels for additional public business details.	false
maxDetailItems	Maximum recommendation profiles to inspect across the run (up to 10).	3, or the selected result limit if lower
locale	Language/locale for Maps. language is an alias.	en
proxyConfiguration	Optional Apify Proxy configuration for public Maps pages.	—

The Input tab also includes bounded page timing and retry settings.

Output

Each dataset row represents a recommended business and requires title, recommendationLabel, and relatedTo. The relatedTo object identifies the source place where Maps showed the recommendation.

When visible, a recommendation can include:

• Recommendation context: section label, order, comparison text, card summary, and distance from the source place.
• Business details: title, category, rating, review count, price, and Maps URL or identifiers.
• Optional profile details: address, phone, website, hours, services, attributes, aggregate review distribution, and public photos when includeDetails is enabled.
• Source place: the relatedTo profile, with its name and other public details when available.

Example dataset item:

{
  "title": "Example Boutique Hotel",
  "recommendationLabel": "Similar hotels nearby",
  "recommendationPosition": 1,
  "categoryName": "Boutique hotel",
  "totalScore": 4.6,
  "reviewsCount": 321,
  "priceText": "$240 per night",
  "distanceText": "0.2 km away",
  "comparisonText": "Also a boutique hotel",
  "canonicalUrl": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/Example+Boutique+Hotel/",
  "relatedTo": {
    "title": "Example Grand Hotel",
    "canonicalUrl": "https://www.google.com/maps/place/Example+Grand+Hotel/"
  }
}

Optional values depend on what Maps displays. Ratings and review counts are aggregate business information; individual reviews are not collected. The Actor records public email and social links only when shown on the place panel.

The Output tab shows the available result fields. Run summary information is available with the run output in Apify.

Limits and responsible use

Recommendations, labels, ordering, and profile details vary by place and region. Optional profile visits can increase run time. Google Maps may limit page access; the Actor does not sign in or bypass access checks.

Use public business information responsibly and follow applicable privacy requirements and Google Maps terms. This Actor is not affiliated with Google.