Find Local Businesses Tool | ORCFLO Documentation

Overview

The Find Local Businesses tool searches Google Maps the same way you would type into its search box, for example "dentists in Austin, TX", and gives your AI step a clean list of matching businesses with their contact details, ratings, and recent reviews. It can return up to 60 businesses per search.

Real listings, not guesses

Every business comes straight from Google Maps, so your AI step can rely on the names, phone numbers, and ratings instead of making them up.

What You Get

Detail	What you learn
Name	The business name as it appears on Google Maps.
Address	Full street address.
Website	The business website, plus a cleaned-up domain (for example joespizza.com) that is easy to compare or pass to Website Audit.
Phone	The listed phone number.
Rating and reviews	Average star rating and how many reviews it has.
Recent reviews	Up to 5 recent reviews, each with its rating, a short excerpt, when it was posted, and who wrote it (name and Google profile link).
Business status	Whether the business is open, temporarily closed, or permanently closed.
Category	Google's category for the business, such as dentist or gym.
Location	Latitude and longitude, and a link to it on Google Maps.

Missing details

If Google has no website or phone number for a business, that detail is left empty. A business with no website can be a useful lead on its own.

Searching Near a Place

The simplest way to search an area is to include it in the search itself, such as "plumbers in Denver, CO" or "coffee shops near Union Square". The AI can also aim the search at an exact spot on the map with a distance of up to 50 km, and it can focus on one kind of business, such as restaurants or gyms. Results near that spot are preferred, but Google may still include a few from farther away.

Example

Add Find Local Businesses to an AI step, then ask the AI what to look for:

Example Prompt

Find 20 dentists in Austin, TX.
List the ones rated below 4 stars or with fewer than 50 reviews,
with their phone number and website.

Each business in the result looks like this:

json

{
  "name": "Lakeside Family Dental",
  "address": "1200 Main St, Austin, TX 78701, USA",
  "website": "https://www.lakesidedental.com/",
  "website_domain": "lakesidedental.com",
  "phone": "(512) 555-0142",
  "rating": 3.8,
  "review_count": 41,
  "business_status": "OPERATIONAL",
  "primary_type": "dentist",
  "google_maps_url": "https://maps.google.com/?cid=1234567890",
  "reviews": [
    {
      "rating": 2,
      "text": "Hard to get an appointment...",
      "author_name": "Pat Q.",
      "author_uri": "https://www.google.com/maps/contrib/1234567890",
      "relative_time": "3 weeks ago"
    }
  ]
}

Pair it with Website Audit

Find businesses first, then run Website Audit on each website to see which ones have no online booking, no secure site, or no mobile-friendly design.

Cost

Google charges for each block of up to 20 results, so the cost depends on how many businesses you ask for. Each block of 20 costs about 12 credits, and the largest search (60 businesses) costs about 37 credits. Searches that fail are not charged.

Google Maps Attribution

Results come from Google Maps, and Google requires that you credit it when you show them to other people. If you publish or share the results, for example in a report, email, or web page, include "Google Maps" as the source. Every result includes this credit so your AI step can add it for you. When you quote a review, also show the name of the person who wrote it, which is included with every review.

Google's terms apply

Google Maps data is provided under Google's terms of service. Use it to research and contact businesses, and do not copy it into a separate business directory or database of your own.

When a Search Fails

If Google cannot answer, the tool says so instead of failing your workflow. The result has no businesses and a short reason, such as Google being busy, the search taking too long, or the search being incomplete. Your AI step can try again or continue with the businesses it already has.

Best Practices

Include a city or neighborhood in the search, for example "gyms in Tampa, FL"
Ask for only as many businesses as you need, since each block of 20 is charged
Use several narrow searches rather than one broad one to cover a large area
Credit Google Maps whenever you share the results