How to Get All Businesses in a City in 2 Clicks

You have a service to sell — alarm installation, web agency, management software. Your potential clients? All the shops and small businesses in a given area. It doesn't matter what sector they're in.

The problem: Google Maps contains 4,274 categories. Extracting "restaurants", then "hair salons", then "real estate agencies", then "dental offices"... that's 4,274 different searches. You lose days.

Until recently, there was no solution to extract all the businesses in a city at once, without manually selecting each category. This article shows how to do it — and why this approach changes everything for local prospecting.

The Real Problem: The 4,274 Google Maps Categories

Google Maps classifies each business into one or more categories: restaurant, hair salon, real estate agency, dental office, plumber, electrician, etc.

Exactly 4,274 categories.

For a typical B2B prospect, this is a nightmare. Let's take Michel, an alarm system installer. His ideal clients aren't just "security businesses" — it's every physical business: restaurants, hotels, salons, agencies, offices, shops.

Before, Michel had to:

1. Open Google Maps
2. Search for "restaurants" in Toulouse → export
3. Search for "hotels" in Toulouse → export
4. Search for "hair salons" in Toulouse → export
5. Repeat 4,270 times

Or use a tool that forces the selection of a category. The result: a fragmented, incomplete list, and hours of manual work.

What he really wanted: a single query. No category filter. Just: "Give me all the businesses in Toulouse with an email address."

It was impossible. Until now.

Why This Approach Revolutionizes Prospecting

Local prospecting relies on the catchment area — the geographical perimeter where your clients are concentrated. Not on the type of activity.

A B2B marketing consultant sells to SMEs, regardless of the sector. A supplier of office equipment sells to agencies, firms, startups. A commercial cleaning service sells to all commercial buildings.

The area matters. The category, not really.

Extracting by category is like searching for a needle in 4,274 haystacks. Extracting all the businesses in an area is like taking the whole haystack and sorting afterward — with your own criteria.

It's faster. It's more complete. It's smarter.

How Extraction Without Category Works

Extraction without category selection uses a different approach: instead of asking Google Maps "show me all the restaurants", you ask "show me all the businesses" in a given area.

Technically, it's more demanding for the system — it has to scan millions of listings. But the result is incomparable: you get a complete database of an area, not a limited subset to one category.

Concrete Example: Toulouse

Searching for "restaurants" in Toulouse → about 400-500 results. Searching for "all businesses" in Toulouse → 12,000+ results.

These 12,000 include restaurants, but also hotels, agencies, firms, shops, offices — everything that has a Google Maps listing.

For Michel, that's 24x more potential prospects in the same area.

Practical Steps: How to Extract All Businesses

If you are using a compatible platform, here’s the workflow:

Step 1: Access the Search

Log in to your dashboard and go to the "Search" or "Create a new extraction" section.

Step 2: Select the Location

Choose your area: - City (Toulouse, Lyon, Bordeaux) - Region (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Île-de-France) - Postal code (75001, 69000) - Entire country (France, Spain, Italy)

You can also be more specific: a specific neighborhood, a district.

Step 3: DO NOT select a category

This is the key. Leave the "Category" field empty or search for "All types of activities". This tells the system: "I want everything."

Step 4: Apply Filters (Optional)

You can refine without losing prospects:

• Email: only businesses with visible email
• Minimum rating: only 3+ stars or 4+ stars
• Minimum number of reviews: 10+ reviews (more credibility)
• Open status: only open businesses
• Phone: only those with visible number
• Social media: only those with Facebook/Instagram
• Main activity only: exclude secondary activities

Example: "All businesses in Toulouse, with email, rating 3+, 10+ reviews, open now."

Step 5: Launch the Search

Click on "Search" or "Preview". The system shows how many results match your query.

Toulouse + all filters = 3,200 businesses, for example.

Step 6: Export

Click on "Export" or "Download". Name your export ("Toulouse_Prospects_Q1_2025").

The system processes the request — it takes a few seconds to a few minutes depending on the size.

Step 7: Retrieve Your File

You receive a CSV/Excel file with: - Business name - Full address - Phone - Email - Website - Google rating - Number of reviews - Opening hours - GPS coordinates - Social media

Total time: 2-3 minutes. Result: 3,000+ qualified prospects.

Data Included in Each Export

When you extract all the businesses in a city, you get much more than just the name and address.

Contact Information

• Full name of the business
• Address (street, postal code, city)
• Main phone
• Email (enriched from the website)
• Website (URL)

Google Maps Data

• Average rating (number of stars)
• Total number of reviews
• Status: claimed listing or not
• Complete opening hours
• Number of photos on the listing
• GPS coordinates (latitude/longitude)

Social Media and Web

• Facebook link (if present)
• Instagram link (if present)
• Twitter/LinkedIn link (if present)
• Associated Google Maps categories

Advanced Data (Depending on the Platform)

• Google Place ID and CID (unique identifiers)
• Complete Google reviews (text, rating, date, author)
• Detected technologies (WordPress, Shopify, Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, etc.)
• SIRET/SIREN (in France)

This dataset transforms a simple contact list into a actionable prospect database — you know who they are, how to reach them, and how they are perceived online.

Why This Approach is Better Than Category Search

1. Completeness

Category search: you capture 400-800 prospects per category. Extraction without category: you capture 3,000-12,000+ prospects in a single query.

Even if you only needed one category, you discover prospects you hadn't considered.

2. Speed

Category search: 4,274 queries = days of work. Extraction without category: 1 query = 2-3 minutes.

3. Intelligence

You filter afterward, not before. This means: - You discover unexpected opportunities - You can adjust your criteria without restarting the query - You see the true size of your market

4. Cost

Fewer queries = fewer credits used. A well-designed platform charges per export, not per search.

Real Use Cases: Who Benefits Most

Installers and Service Providers

Alarms, electricity, plumbing, cleaning, maintenance. Your clients = "all commercial buildings".

Gain: go from 500 fragmented prospects to 5,000 complete prospects in one extraction.

Agencies and Consultants

Marketing, web, HR, finance. Your clients = "SMEs and micro-enterprises of all sizes".

Gain: a unified database by geographical area, ready for an ABM campaign.

B2B Suppliers

Equipment, software, services. Your clients = "businesses with specific criteria".

Gain: filter by rating (credibility), by web presence (tech-savvy), by size.

Real Estate Agencies and Syndics

You are looking for commercial premises, offices, tenants. Your prospects = "all businesses on a street or in a neighborhood".

Gain: an overview of your local market in minutes.

Prospectors and Sales Managers

You have an area to cover. You don't know where to start.

Gain: a starting database in 2 clicks, then you sort according to your strategy.

Advanced Filters: Refine After Extraction

Once you have all the prospects, you can refine them without restarting a search.

Performance Filters

• Minimum rating: only 4+ stars (more qualified)
• Number of reviews: 50+ reviews (established businesses)
• Recent reviews: reviews less than 3 months old (current activity)

Contact Filters

• Visible email: no "contact us via form"
• Visible phone: direct number accessible
• Website: confirmed web presence

Status Filters

• Claimed listing: owner has claimed the listing
• Open now: no permanent closures
• Regular hours: no weird variations

Size/Ambition Filters

• Photos: 10+ photos = business investing in presentation
• Social media: Facebook/Instagram presence = modern business
• Recent website: detected technology = ability to invest

Sector Filters (If You Need Them)

Even without selecting a category, you can filter afterward: - All restaurants with 4+ stars - All hair salons with visible email - All medical offices with website

Limitations and Realities to Know

1. Google Maps is Not Exhaustive

Google Maps contains most businesses, but not all. Businesses without an online presence, micro-enterprises, freelancers without a listing — they are not there.

Reality: you capture 70-85% of the local market, not 100%.

2. Data is Not 100% Up to Date

Google Maps is updated by listing owners and by Google. If a business has changed its email or number but hasn't updated its listing, you will have the old info.

Solution: verify the data before contacting, especially emails.

3. Query Limits Depending on the Platform

Some tools limit the number of results per extraction (e.g., 1,000 or 5,000). Others allow 10,000+.

To check: what is the limit of your tool for a single extraction.

4. No Quality Guarantee

You get all the prospects in an area, but not all are relevant. A bakery may not be a prospect for a law firm.

Solution: use your filters to refine, then sort manually afterward.

5. Respect for Terms of Use

Google Maps has terms of use. Scraping must be legal and respectful.

To know: extracting public data for commercial use is legal in most jurisdictions, but check your local context.

IBLead: A Different Approach

IBLead offers a complementary solution to this workflow. Instead of scraping Google Maps in real-time, IBLead maintains a pre-indexed database of 50M+ businesses in 37 countries, updated monthly.

Advantages of This Approach

No scraping every time. The data is already there, already organized, ready to export.

Advanced filters included. From the Starter plan (€44/month), you access: - Filtering by Google rating - Filtering by number of reviews - Detection of 160+ technologies (WordPress, Shopify, Google Analytics, etc.) - Complete Google reviews (exclusive) - SIRET/SIREN in France (exclusive)

Predictable cost. You pay by credit (1 credit = 1 business exported). No surprises.

Complete export. You retrieve name, address, email, phone, website, rating, reviews, technologies, social media — all in a single query.

Concrete Example

You want all the restaurants in Toulouse with 4+ stars and Google Analytics.

With IBLead: 1. Location: Toulouse 2. Category: Restaurants 3. Filters: Rating 4+, Google Analytics detected 4. Export: 340 qualified restaurants

Cost: 340 credits (about €12 on the Starter plan).

Time: 2 minutes.

Free plan — 200 credits included to test.

Integration with Your Existing Tools

Whether you use a scraping platform, IBLead, or Google Maps directly, your data needs to integrate with your tools.

Standard Export

All tools export in CSV (compatible with Excel, Google Sheets, any CRM).

Direct Integrations

The best platforms integrate with: - HubSpot: automatically import contacts - Salesforce: synchronize leads - Lemlist: launch cold email campaigns - Instantly: automate outreach - Make.com: create custom workflows

Data Enrichment

You have a raw list. You can enrich it with: - Additional emails (LinkedIn, other sources) - Company data (employee count, revenue, sector) - Decision-making data (decision-makers, managers)

Comparison: Scraping vs Pre-Indexed Database

Aspect	Real-Time Scraping	Pre-Indexed Database
Speed	2-5 minutes	Immediate
Server Load	High (each query scrapes)	Low (data already ready)
Freshness	Very recent	Monthly update
Cost per Extraction	Variable (depends on volume)	Fixed (per credit)
Advanced Filters	Limited	Complete (160+ technologies)
Google Reviews	Rarely included	Included (full text)
Reliability	Depends on the scraper	Guaranteed

Conclusion: scraping is fresher, the pre-indexed database is faster and more reliable.

Steps to Launch Your First Extraction

Preparation (5 min)

1. Define your area: city, region, or country?
2. List your criteria: minimum rating, email, phone, social media?
3. Identify your use case: prospecting, market research, competitive analysis?

Execution (5 min)

1. Acc