Google Maps Business Data API for Lead Gen

A Google Maps business data API has become essential for developers and growth hackers looking to automate B2B prospecting. Instead of manually exporting CSV files from a web interface, a REST API lets you integrate enriched data directly into your tech stack: CRM, prospecting tools, custom dashboards, or enrichment pipelines.

In this article, we explore the IBLead API — its endpoints, concrete use cases, and why it represents a more complete and cost-effective alternative to the official Google Places API.

Why an API instead of a CSV export?

A CSV export works for one-off tasks. But as soon as you need to automate, synchronize, or refresh your data, CSV shows its limits:

No live data: you're working with a static file that ages the moment it's generated
No integration: importing a CSV into a CRM requires manual mapping every time
No dynamic filtering: you download everything, then sort client-side
No scalability: 10 exports per day = 10 manual operations

An API solves all of these. A single HTTP call returns exactly the data you need, in JSON format, ready to be injected into any system. It's the difference between craft and industrialization.

In practice, with an API you can: run a search every Monday at 8am, automatically enrich new results, inject them into your CRM, then trigger an email sequence — all without touching a keyboard. Try doing that with a CSV file.

What the IBLead API offers

The IBLead API exposes three main endpoints covering the entire prospecting cycle:

1. GET /api/v1/businesses — Search by category and geographic area

The core endpoint. Specify a business category (restaurant, plumber, lawyer…) and a geographic zone, and the API returns all matching businesses.

Filters by category, city, postal code, rating, review count, and email, phone or website presence
Built-in pagination for large volumes
No 120-result limit — unlike the Google Places API, IBLead returns all results thanks to its geographic quadtree system

2. GET /api/v1/businesses/{id} — One business by ID

Returns one business by its IBLead ID, at 0 credits. Contact fields stay hidden until you unlock the record with POST /api/v1/unlock (1 credit, 2 with SIRET data). After that, the same call returns:

Full contact info: address, phone, website, GPS coordinates
Google Maps reviews and rating
Up to 5 emails extracted from the website
Social media profiles (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, YouTube)
SIRET, owner name, APE code, legal form (France)
Technologies detected on the website (CMS, analytics, chat…)

3. POST /api/v1/lookup/bulk — Up to 100 places in one request

Send up to 100 Google Maps place IDs, CIDs or URLs in one request and get the matching IBLead records back (0 credits; contacts hidden unless you already unlocked them). Useful for:

Matching a list you already have against the IBLead database
Syncing a CRM with the latest data
Collecting IBLead IDs before you unlock or export

All three endpoints return structured JSON with normalized fields. No need to parse HTML or handle inconsistent formats.

Another key point: the API uses the same credits as the dashboard. Searching, counting and previewing cost 0 credits; exporting or unlocking a record costs 1 credit (2 with SIRET data). There is no separate API fee. This is a different model from the Google Places API, which charges for each individual request.

Use case 1: Enrich your CRM automatically

The most immediate use case. You have a CRM (HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce, or a custom one) and you want to feed it qualified leads without manual work.

Typical flow

A cron job calls GET /api/v1/businesses every Monday to fetch new businesses in a category and area
The new businesses are exported with POST /api/v1/export, which returns the full records (emails, SIRET, social media)
A script maps IBLead fields to your CRM fields and creates contacts via the CRM API
Existing leads are updated if new information is available

Real-world example

A digital marketing agency targets restaurants in Lyon with fewer than 50 Google reviews (a signal they're not yet investing in digital). Every week:

GET /api/v1/businesses with filters category=restaurant, cities=Lyon, max_reviews=50
POST /api/v1/export to get the full records with emails and social data
Automatic injection into Pipedrive with the owner's name (via SIRET) for personalized first contact

Result: a fresh lead pipeline every week, with zero manual effort. Sales reps open their CRM on Monday morning and find prospects ready to contact.

Use case 2: Custom prospecting dashboard

For sales teams with specific needs, a custom prospecting dashboard offers flexibility that standard CRMs don't.

Typical architecture

Frontend: React/Next.js with an interactive map (Leaflet or Mapbox)
Backend: Node.js or Python orchestrating IBLead API calls
Database: PostgreSQL to store leads and track interactions
IBLead API: enriched data source

Possible features

Visual search: draw a zone on the map, the API returns all businesses within the perimeter
Custom scoring: combine Google rating, review count, web presence, and detected technologies to score each lead
Status tracking: mark leads as "to contact", "in progress", "client", "not interested"
Alerts: get notified when new businesses appear in your target area
Filtered exports: generate targeted lists for your email or phone campaigns

The advantage of a custom dashboard: you design exactly the tool your team needs, instead of adapting to the constraints of a generic tool.

Use case 3: Automatic enrichment pipeline

For growth hackers and data teams, the IBLead API fits into a broader enrichment pipeline.

The concept

You already have a prospect list (from LinkedIn, a directory, an event) but you're missing key data: email, phone, SIRET, or physical address. The IBLead API can enrich these leads using their name and location.

Typical pipeline

Step	Tool	Data added
1. Source	LinkedIn / event / directory	Name, city
2. Matching	IBLead API GET /businesses or POST /lookup/bulk	Full Google Maps profile
3. Enrichment	IBLead API POST /unlock, then GET /businesses/{id}	Emails, SIRET, social media, technologies
4. Scoring	Custom script	Lead quality score
5. Injection	CRM API	Complete lead in sales pipeline

What this pipeline gives you

SIRET data lets you identify the business owner and personalize messages: "Hello Mr. Dupont, owner of [company]…" — a major conversion lever for B2B cold email
Detected technologies reveal whether a prospect already uses a competing tool, has a WordPress site (= target for a web agency), or has no analytics (= non-digitized prospect)
Social data helps you choose the optimal contact channel: professional email, LinkedIn message, or Instagram DM

Comparison with the official Google Places API

Google offers its own API (Places API) to access Google Maps data. Here's an honest comparison:

Criteria	Google Places API	IBLead API
Results per search	60 max (20 × 3 pages)	Unlimited (pre-indexed database)
Price	$32 / 1,000 Nearby Search Pro requests (checked 19 Oct 2026)	0 credits to search; 1 credit per exported record (Starter: 44 EUR for 10,000)
Emails	Not available	Up to 5 emails per business
SIRET / owner	Not available	Yes (France)
Social media	Not available	FB, IG, LI, X, YouTube
Technologies	Not available	~160 technologies detected
Terms of use	Cannot store data > 30 days	No restrictions
Free tier	Monthly free cap per SKU (e.g. 5,000 Nearby Search Pro requests)	200 free credits at signup

The cost calculation

Let's take a concrete case: you want to extract data for 10,000 businesses with full details.

Google Places API: 500 Nearby Search Pro requests (up to 20 results each) + 10,000 Place Details Pro requests = ~$85 after the free caps (Google prices checked 19 Oct 2026). And you won't get emails, SIRET, or social media. You'll need an additional tool to enrich.
IBLead API: 10,000 exported records with the Starter plan, 44 EUR/month. Data already enriched.

At 10,000 businesses per month, the Google Places API costs more than IBLead — and provides less data. For B2B prospecting, the choice is clear.

How to get started with the IBLead API

Integration takes 3 steps:

1. Create your account

Sign up on IBLead to get 200 free credits, then choose a plan when you need more (from 44 EUR/month). The API is included at no extra cost; API access needs a credit balance or a plan.

2. Generate your API key

From your dashboard, go to the "API Keys" section to generate your key. Use this key in the Authorization header of every request.

3. Make your first call

Step 1, preview the matching businesses:

curl "https://app.iblead.com/api/v1/businesses?category=restaurant&cities=Paris&country=FR&limit=50" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Step 2, export the full records:

curl -X POST https://app.iblead.com/api/v1/export \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{"category":"restaurant","country":"FR","cities":["Paris"],"limit":100,"format":"json"}'

GET /businesses returns previews (contacts hidden, 0 credits). POST /export returns the full records, including emails, phones and SIRET where available, at 1 credit per record (2 with SIRET).

The API works with any language: Python (requests), JavaScript (fetch), PHP (curl), Go, Ruby… If your language can make an HTTP call, it can use the IBLead API.

You can also connect https://mcp.iblead.com/mcp to Claude or ChatGPT and run the same search in plain language. Set up the API and MCP server.

Integration best practices

Cache results on your side and store business IDs so you only fetch what changed.
Use POST /api/v1/export instead of looping GET /api/v1/businesses/{id} calls — one request returns hundreds of full records
Store Google Maps identifiers in your database for incremental updates instead of full re-scans
Handle errors with exponential backoff — like any REST API, occasional timeouts are possible

Conclusion

The IBLead Google Maps business data API is built for developers and growth hackers who want to go beyond CSV exports. Whether you're building automatic CRM enrichment, a custom prospecting dashboard, or a full data pipeline, the API gives you access to comprehensive, enriched data through simple REST calls.

Compared to the official Google Places API, it's cheaper, more complete (emails, SIRET, social media, technologies) and has no Google Maps display limit (~120 results per search). API calls use the same credits as the dashboard, with no separate API fee.

Create your IBLead account and make your first API call in under 5 minutes. Your leads are waiting for your code.