# 📍 Google Maps Listing Monitor - NAP & Hours Changes (`that_red_bird/maps-listing-monitor`) Actor

⚡ ~$0.002/listing. Catch the day a listing changes: address, phone, website, name, category, hours or permanently-closed. ✅ Built for local SEO agencies and multi-location brands. ✅ Review-count churn ignored so alerts stay meaningful.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/that\_red\_bird/maps-listing-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [mohamed alaya](https://apify.com/that_red_bird) (community)
- **Categories:** SEO tools, Marketing, Business
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Google Maps Listing Change Monitor

Catch it when a business listing changes: address, phone, website, name, category, opening hours,
or a flip to **permanently closed**.

Anyone can scrape a listing once. The expensive problem is *noticing the day it changes* across
20, 200 or 2,000 locations — which is what local-SEO agencies and multi-location brands pay people
to do by hand today.

### Two data sources

| `provider` | How it works | Needs |
|---|---|---|
| `apify` (default) | calls an existing Maps scraper Actor and reads its result | nothing — billed as a normal Actor run |
| `places` | calls the official Google Places API | your own `googleApiKey` |

### Watched fields

`title` · `address` · `phone` · `website` · `categoryName` · `openingHours` ·
`permanentlyClosed` · `temporarilyClosed` · `plusCode`

Changes to `address`, `phone`, `website`, `title` or `permanentlyClosed` are flagged **critical** —
those are the ones that break citations and cost rankings.

**Rating and review count are ignored by default** (`ignoreReviewCount: true`). They tick constantly;
watching them would turn every run into a false alarm. Turn it off only if you want review velocity.

### Input

```json
{
  "places": [
    "https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJ…",
    { "search": "Joe's Coffee, Manchester", "label": "branch-04" }
  ],
  "provider": "apify",
  "webhookUrl": "https://hooks.slack.com/services/XXX"
}
```

### Output

`fieldChanges` — an explicit `[{field, from, to}]` list — plus `critical`, `listing` (the full
current record) and `status`.

### Who uses it

Local SEO agencies managing client listings · franchise and multi-location brands ·
citation-management services · anyone whose rankings depend on NAP consistency ·
competitor watchers tracking a rival's new locations and hours.

# Actor input Schema

## `places` (type: `array`):

Google Maps URLs, place IDs, or search strings. Objects allowed: {"placeUrl":"https://…","label":"branch-01"}.

## `provider` (type: `string`):

apify calls an existing Maps scraper Actor and bills you for that run. places calls Google's official API with your own key.

## `mapsActorId` (type: `string`):

Which Maps scraper to call. Only used by the apify provider.

## `googleApiKey` (type: `string`):

Required only when the data source is set to Google Places API. Stored encrypted.

## `watchFields` (type: `array`):

Only these fields count as a change. Leave empty to watch them all. Options: title, address, phone, website, categoryName, openingHours, permanentlyClosed, temporarilyClosed, plusCode.

## `criticalFields` (type: `array`):

Changes to these are flagged critical — the ones that break citations and cost rankings.

## `ignoreReviewCount` (type: `boolean`):

Strongly recommended: review counts tick constantly and would make every run look like a change.

## `onlyChanges` (type: `boolean`):

Push only listings that changed (plus repeatedly failing ones). Recommended when managing many locations.

## `alertOnErrorAfter` (type: `integer`):

Flags a place that keeps failing to resolve — often the listing itself was removed. 0 disables it.

## `resetBaseline` (type: `boolean`):

Forget stored listing data and start fresh.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Hard cap on dataset rows per run. 0 = no cap.

## `language` (type: `string`):

Language code used when reading the listing, e.g. en, de, fr.

## `concurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many listings to check in parallel.

## `webhookUrl` (type: `string`):

POSTed when a listing changes. Slack/Discord/Zapier compatible.

## `stateStoreName` (type: `string`):

Named key-value store holding the last seen listing data. Use different names per client.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "places": [
    "https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJN1t_tDeuEmsRUsoyG83frY4"
  ],
  "provider": "apify",
  "mapsActorId": "compass/crawler-google-places",
  "criticalFields": [
    "address",
    "phone",
    "website",
    "title",
    "permanentlyClosed"
  ],
  "ignoreReviewCount": true,
  "onlyChanges": false,
  "alertOnErrorAfter": 3,
  "resetBaseline": false,
  "maxItems": 0,
  "language": "en",
  "concurrency": 3,
  "stateStoreName": "maps-listing-monitor-state"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `listingChanges` (type: `string`):

No description

## `downloadCsv` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (type: `string`):

No description

## `listingsChecked` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "places": [
        "https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJN1t_tDeuEmsRUsoyG83frY4"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("that_red_bird/maps-listing-monitor").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "places": ["https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJN1t_tDeuEmsRUsoyG83frY4"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("that_red_bird/maps-listing-monitor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "places": [
    "https://www.google.com/maps/place/?q=place_id:ChIJN1t_tDeuEmsRUsoyG83frY4"
  ]
}' |
apify call that_red_bird/maps-listing-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,that_red_bird/maps-listing-monitor"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/7M0aTbKEDQwLVqdjl/builds/aUTUfuihJj23fuC9I/openapi.json