Make.com Tutorial: Automated Lead Generation from Google Maps

This make com tutorial automated lead generation google maps no code guide shows you exactly how to connect a Google Maps data source to Make.com and build a workflow that runs on its own. No Python. No Chrome extensions. No developer required.

You set it up once. It runs, fills your database, and moves to the next batch automatically.

Here's what you'll build: a Make.com scenario that pulls local business data from Google Maps, filters by category and location, and writes every lead into Airtable. Fifty records per run, paginated, with status tracking.

Let's get into it.

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Why No-Code Automation Makes Sense for Lead Generation

Manual prospecting doesn't scale. You search Google Maps, copy a name, find a phone number, paste it into a spreadsheet. Repeat 200 times. That's a full day gone.

No-code tools like Make.com change the math. You build the workflow once — maybe two hours of setup — and it runs indefinitely. You're not doing the work anymore. The scenario is.

This approach works for:

• Freelancers who need a steady pipeline without hiring help
• Sales teams that want to stop doing data entry and start doing outreach
• Agencies building prospecting systems for multiple clients
• Small business owners who don't have a technical team

The barrier used to be coding. Now it's just knowing which tools to connect.

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What You Need Before You Start

Three things:

1. A Make.com account (free plan works for testing)
2. A Google Maps data source with an API — more on this below
3. An Airtable account (free tier is enough)

That's it. No servers, no Python environment, no API keys from Google (which are expensive and rate-limited).

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Choosing Your Google Maps Data Source

This is where most tutorials skip the important part. Make.com is just the automation layer — it needs data to work with. You need a Google Maps data source that has an API Make.com can call.

IBLead takes a different approach. Instead of scraping Google Maps live when you make a request, IBLead pre-indexes 50M+ businesses across 37 countries. The data is already there. You search, filter, and export — instantly. No waiting for a scrape to finish.

IBLead covers 50+ data fields per listing: business name, address, phone, email, website, Google rating, review count, social profiles, GPS coordinates, and more. It also detects 160+ web technologies per business — so you can filter for businesses running WordPress, Shopify, or Facebook Pixel before you even export.

For $52, you get 10,000 leads. That's $0.004 per contact.

The data updates weekly across all countries and categories. Everything is pre-indexed, so your export is instant.

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Understanding the Make.com + Google Maps API Workflow

Before building anything, understand the structure. A Make.com scenario for lead generation has four stages:

1. Trigger — something starts the scenario (a schedule, a webhook, or a manual run)
2. Search — call the API to get businesses matching your criteria
3. Iterate — loop through each result
4. Write — save each record to your database

That's the skeleton. Everything else is configuration.

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The Four Core API Actions You'll Use

Whether you use IBLead's API or another source, the logic is the same. Here are the four actions that matter.

1. Search

This is your main query. You pass parameters — category, location, filters — and get back a list of businesses.

Key parameters to configure:

• Results per page: typically 10, 25, or 50
• Category: the type of business (restaurant, plumber, dentist, etc.)
• Location: country, region, city, or postal code
• Filters: minimum review count, has email, has website, rating threshold

Run this module and you get back a bundle of results. Each bundle is one business with all its data fields.

2. Search Types

Before you can search, you need the correct category ID. This action lets you look up IDs for business types.

Search "bakery" → get back the ID for bakery. Use that ID in your Search module. Simple.

3. Search Locations

Same idea for locations. Instead of guessing city IDs, you query the API with a city name and get back the correct ID.

Search "Nashville" → get back the Nashville city ID → plug it into your Search module.

This matters because location IDs are not always intuitive. Using the wrong format breaks your query.

4. Enrich (Reverse Lookup)

This one is different. Instead of searching by category, you provide a domain, URL, email, or phone number — and the API returns the matching Google Maps listing.

Use case: you have a list of company websites and want to enrich them with Google Maps data (rating, review count, address, phone). Feed the domains in, get the full profiles back.

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Building the Complete Automated Prospecting System

Here's the full workflow, step by step.

Step 1: Set Up Your Variables

Start your scenario with a Set Variables module. Define two things:

• Results per page: set to 50 (the maximum per request)
• API key: your data source API key

Setting these as variables means you change them in one place, not scattered across ten modules.

Step 2: Connect Your Database (Airtable)

Create an Airtable base with two tables:

Targets table (your search queue):

• ID Category (the business type ID)
• ID Location (the city or region ID)
• Status (To Do / In Progress / Done)
• Next Cursor (for pagination)

Leads table (your output):

• Business name
• Email
• Phone
• Website
• Rating
• Review count
• Address
• Any other fields you want

The Targets table is your job queue. Each row is one search to run. The scenario picks up rows with status "To Do," runs the search, and updates the status as it goes.

Step 3: Add the Search Module

Connect to your API. Map the parameters:

• Results per page → your variable (50)
• Category ID → from the Targets table
• Location ID → from the Targets table
• Next Cursor → from the Targets table (empty on first run)
• Filters → configure based on your criteria

Add a filter after this module: only continue if total bundles ≠ 0. If the search returns nothing, skip to the next target.

Step 4: Iterate and Write Leads

Add an Iterator module to loop through each result. Then add an Airtable "Create Record" module mapped to your Leads table.

Map the fields:

• Name → business name from the API response
• Email → email field
• Phone → phone field
• Website → website field
• Rating → Google rating
• Reviews → review count

If you get 50 results, this loop runs 50 times and creates 50 records.

Step 5: Handle Pagination with Next Cursor

This is the part most tutorials skip. Google Maps often has more results than one page returns. You need pagination.

After the iterator finishes, add a condition:

• If bundle position = total results AND total results = 50: update the Target record with status "In Progress" and save the Next Cursor value
• If total results < 50: update the Target record with status "Done" — no more pages

On the next scenario run, the Search module picks up the Next Cursor and fetches page two. This continues until the status flips to "Done."

Step 6: Schedule the Scenario

Set the scenario to run on a schedule — every hour, every day, whatever fits your volume. Each run processes one target, fetches 50 leads, and either queues the next page or marks it complete.

Add new rows to your Targets table whenever you want to search a new city or category. The scenario handles the rest.

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Make.com vs Other Automation Tools

Not all automation platforms handle Google Maps workflows equally.

Feature	Make.com	Zapier	n8n
Visual workflow builder	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Native Google Maps API modules	✅ Yes	❌ Limited	✅ With setup
Pricing (entry level)	$9/mo	$29/mo	Free (self-hosted)
Pagination support	✅ Built-in	❌ Workarounds	✅ Built-in
Learning curve	Moderate	Easy	Steep

Make.com wins on price and flexibility for this use case. Zapier is simpler but costs more and handles complex loops poorly. n8n is free but requires self-hosting.

For most sales teams and freelancers, Make.com is the right call.

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Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Using city names instead of city IDs. The API expects an ID, not a string. Run the Search Locations module first to get the correct ID.

Skipping the Next Cursor. If you don't implement pagination, you get 50 leads and stop. A city like New York has thousands of restaurants. You're leaving most of them on the table.

Not filtering before exporting. Pull everything, then filter in Airtable? Wasteful. Set your filters in the API call — minimum 10 reviews, has email, main category only. You get cleaner data and use fewer credits.

Running the scenario too fast. If your API has rate limits, add a Sleep module between iterations. A 1-second pause prevents errors.

Forgetting to update status. If your Target rows stay at "To Do" forever, the scenario re-runs the same search endlessly. The status update is what makes the queue work.

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What to Do With Your Leads After Export

Make.com gets the data into Airtable. From there, you have options.

Export the Airtable table as a CSV. Import that CSV into your cold email tool — Lemlist, Instantly, Smartlead. Set up your sequence and launch.

Or connect Make.com directly to your CRM. Add an extra module that creates a HubSpot contact or a Salesforce lead for each record. No CSV needed.

IBLead exports directly to CSV as well. If you want to skip the Airtable step entirely, export from IBLead, import into your outreach tool, and you're done in under five minutes.

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IBLead as Your Google Maps Data Source

If you want to skip the API setup entirely, IBLead is worth looking at. The database is pre-indexed — 50M+ businesses across 37 countries, updated weekly. You search by city, postal code, region, or entire country. Filter by category, rating, review count, technology stack. Export to CSV instantly.

No waiting for a scrape. No pagination to manage. No rate limits to worry about.

You can also filter by the 160+ technologies IBLead detects per listing. Want businesses running Shopify but not yet using Klaviyo? Filter for it. Want WordPress sites without Google Analytics? Filter for that too.

For teams that want to automate via API, IBLead has a REST API available on all plans. Connect it to Make.com the same way you'd connect any other data source.

Try it free with 200 credits included.

Start free — 200 credits, no card required

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need coding skills to build this Make.com workflow?

No. Make.com is a visual, no-code platform. You drag modules, connect them, and configure parameters through forms. The most technical part is understanding pagination — and this guide covers that step by step.

How many leads can I generate per month with this system?

It depends on your data source plan and Make.com plan. With 50 results per run and Make.com's basic plan (1,000 operations/month), you can process roughly 20 runs — 1,000 leads. Scale up with higher-tier plans on either side.

Is it legal to collect Google Maps business data this way?

Business data on Google Maps is publicly listed by the businesses themselves. Collecting publicly available business contact information for B2B outreach is generally legal in most jurisdictions. That said, always check local regulations (GDPR in Europe, CASL in Canada) and make sure your outreach complies with applicable rules.

What's the difference between using IBLead vs scraping live?

Live scraping fetches data from Google Maps at the moment you request it — which means you wait, and results vary based on what Google shows at that instant. IBLead pre-indexes everything. The data is already there, updated weekly, and your export is instant. You also get consistent results across runs.

Can I use this workflow to target businesses in multiple countries?

Yes. Add one row per country/category combination to your Targets table. The scenario processes each row in sequence. You can run searches across 37 countries without changing your workflow — just update the location ID and country code per row.