Google Maps List Builder

Google Maps List Builder

A self-contained tool for scraping business listings from Google Maps. Give it a search query (e.g., "pizza restaurant") and a location (zip code, city, or coordinates), and it returns structured data for every matching business — written to CSV.

How this fits in the cold email flow

Google Maps gives you COMPANIES (name, domain, phone, address, ratings). It does NOT give you PEOPLE. To run cold email:

1. Run this skill → CSV of businesses with company_domain
2. Run /icp-prompt-builder on a sample of 50 — tune a qualification prompt to filter out bad fits before paying for downstream enrichment
3. Run /blitz-list-builder with the filtered CSV → adds owners/managers to each business
4. Run /email-waterfall → fills in missing emails
5. Run /cold-email-starter-kit's smartlead-add-leads.ts → upload to Smartlead

This skill is only the first step.

Required step: Qualify with /icp-prompt-builder

This is a required step. Do not skip it.

Google Maps will happily return 10,000 "pizza restaurants in Illinois," but most of those won't match your actual ICP (maybe you only want 50-200 seat operators, or only ones without online ordering). Before spending on enrichment, sample ~50 results and run /icp-prompt-builder:

1. Evaluate 10 results with an AI qualification prompt
2. You flag "this one should be NO, they're a chain franchise"
3. Refine, run next 10
4. Stop when 2 rounds show no corrections
5. Apply tuned prompt to filter the rest of the scrape

Why required: downstream owner-finding (via /blitz-list-builder) and email waterfall cost $0.10-$0.30 per contact. On a 10,000-business scrape, that's $1K-$3K. Qualifying upfront saves 50-80% of that spend on average.

What You Need Before Starting

1. Node.js 18+ and npm installed
2. A RapidAPI account (free tier available) with a subscription to the Maps Data API:

• Sign up at https://rapidapi.com
• Subscribe to the API: https://rapidapi.com/alexanderxbx/api/maps-data
• Copy your RapidAPI key from the dashboard (it's in the X-RapidAPI-Key header on any endpoint page)

That's it. No Google Cloud account, no OAuth, no billing setup beyond RapidAPI.

Project Setup

Create a new project directory and initialize it:

mkdir google-maps-scraper && cd google-maps-scraper
npm init -y
npm install typescript bottleneck
npm install -D @types/node tsx

Add to package.json scripts:

{
  "scripts": {
    "scrape": "tsx src/index.ts"
  }
}

Create tsconfig.json:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "ES2022",
    "module": "ESNext",
    "moduleResolution": "bundler",
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "strict": true,
    "outDir": "dist",
    "rootDir": "src",
    "skipLibCheck": true
  },
  "include": ["src"]
}

Set your API key as an environment variable:

export RAPIDAPI_KEY=your_key_here

Or create a .env file (add .env to .gitignore):

RAPIDAPI_KEY=your_key_here

File Structure

google-maps-scraper/
  data/
    us-zip-codes.csv   # 42,734 US zip codes with city, state, lat/lng, population
  src/
    index.ts           # CLI entry point
    client.ts          # RapidAPI Maps Data client with rate limiting
    types.ts           # TypeScript interfaces
    csv.ts             # CSV export
    zips.ts            # Zip code loader (filter by state, city, population)

Bundled Zip Code Database

The repo includes data/us-zip-codes.csv — a complete US zip code reference with 42,734 entries. Columns:

zip,primary_city,state,timezone,area_codes,world_region,country,latitude,longitude,irs_estimated_population

This lets you scrape an entire state or metro area without manually listing zip codes. The src/zips.ts loader provides filtering by state, city, and minimum population.

Core Files

src/types.ts

export interface SearchParams {
  query: string;       // "pizza restaurant", "dentist", "gym"
  lat?: number;        // Center latitude (optional if using "query in zipcode" format)
  lng?: number;        // Center longitude
  limit?: number;      // Max results per search (default 20, max 20)
  zoom?: number;       // Map zoom level (default 13 = neighborhood)
  country?: string;    // Country code (default "us")
}

export interface Place {
  place_id: string;
  name: string;
  address: string;
  lat: number;
  lng: number;
  rating?: number;
  reviews_count?: number;
  phone?: string;
  website?: string;
  types?: string[];
  category?: string;
}

export interface ScrapeResult {
  query: string;
  location: string;
  total_results: number;
  unique_results: number;
  places: Place[];
  duration_ms: number;
}

src/zips.ts

Loads and filters the bundled zip code CSV. Lets you target by state, city name, or minimum population.

import { readFileSync } from 'fs';
import { join, dirname } from 'path';
import { fileURLToPath } from 'url';

export interface ZipEntry {
  zip: string;
  city: string;
  state: string;
  lat: number;
  lng: number;
  population: number;
}

let cache: ZipEntry[] | null = null;

function loadAll(): ZipEntry[] {
  if (cache) return cache;
  const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
  const csvPath = join(__dirname, '..', 'data', 'us-zip-codes.csv');
  const raw = readFileSync(csvPath, 'utf-8');
  const lines = raw.trim().split('\n').slice(1); // skip header

  cache = lines.map(line => {
    // Handle quoted fields (area_codes can contain commas)
    const parts: string[] = [];
    let current = '';
    let inQuotes = false;
    for (const ch of line) {
      if (ch === '"') { inQuotes = !inQuotes; continue; }
      if (ch === ',' && !inQuotes) { parts.push(current); current = ''; continue; }
      current += ch;
    }
    parts.push(current);

    return {
      zip: parts[0]?.padStart(5, '0') || '',
      city: parts[1] || '',
      state: parts[2] || '',
      lat: parseFloat(parts[7]) || 0,
      lng: parseFloat(parts[8]) || 0,
      population: parseInt(parts[9]) || 0,
    };
  }).filter(z => z.zip.length === 5);

  return cache;
}

/** Get zips for a US state (2-letter code, e.g. "CA", "TX") */
export function getZipsByState(stateCode: string): ZipEntry[] {
  return loadAll().filter(z => z.state.toUpperCase() === stateCode.toUpperCase());
}

/** Get zips for a city name (case-insensitive, partial match) */
export function getZipsByCity(city: string, state?: string): ZipEntry[] {
  const cityLower = city.toLowerCase();
  return loadAll().filter(z => {
    const cityMatch = z.city.toLowerCase().includes(cityLower);
    const stateMatch = !state || z.state.toUpperCase() === state.toUpperCase();
    return cityMatch && stateMatch;
  });
}

/** Get zips with population above a threshold */
export function getZipsByMinPopulation(minPop: number, state?: string): ZipEntry[] {
  return loadAll().filter(z => {
    const popMatch = z.population >= minPop;
    const stateMatch = !state || z.state.toUpperCase() === state.toUpperCase();
    return popMatch && stateMatch;
  });
}

/** Get all loaded zip entries */
export function getAllZips(): ZipEntry[] {
  return loadAll();
}

src/client.ts

This is the core API client. It handles rate limiting (2 req/sec) and retries with exponential backoff.

import Bottleneck from 'bottleneck';
import type { SearchParams, Place } from './types.js';

interface RawSearchResponse {
  data?: Array;
  error?: string;
}

interface GeocodingResponse {
  latitude?: number;
  longitude?: number;
  formatted_address?: string;
  error?: string;
}

export class GoogleMapsClient {
  private limiter: Bottleneck;
  private apiKey: string;
  private host = 'maps-data.p.rapidapi.com';
  private maxRetries: number;

  constructor(opts: { apiKey: string; requestsPerSecond?: number; maxRetries?: number }) {
    this.apiKey = opts.apiKey;
    this.maxRetries = opts.maxRetries ?? 3;
    this.limiter = new Bottleneck({
      maxConcurrent: 1,
      minTime: Math.floor(1000 / (opts.requestsPerSecond ?? 2)),
    });
  }

  /** Search Google Maps for businesses */
  async search(params: SearchParams): Promise {
    const response = await this.request('searchmaps.php', {
      query: params.query,
      limit: String(params.limit ?? 20),
      country: params.country ?? 'us',
      ...(params.lat != null && { lat: String(params.lat) }),
      ...(params.lng != null && { lng: String(params.lng) }),
      ...(params.zoom != null && { zoom: String(params.zoom) }),
    });

    if (response.error) throw new Error(`Search failed: ${response.error}`);
    return this.transform(response.data || []);
  }

  /** Geocode a zip code or address to lat/lng */
  async geocode(query: string, country = 'us'): Promise {
    const response = await this.request('geocoding.php', {
      query: `${query}, ${country.toUpperCase()}`,
    });
    if (!response.latitude || !response.longitude) {
      throw new Error(`Could not geocode: ${query}`);
    }
    return { lat: response.latitude, lng: response.longitude };
  }

  private async request(endpoint: string, params: Record): Promise {
    return this.limiter.schedule(() => this.requestWithRetry(endpoint, params));
  }

  private async requestWithRetry(
    endpoint: string,
    params: Record,
    attempt = 0
  ): Promise {
    const url = new URL(`https://${this.host}/${endpoint}`);
    for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(params)) {
      if (v != null) url.searchParams.set(k, v);
    }

    try {
      const res = await fetch(url.toString(), {
        headers: {
          'X-RapidAPI-Key': this.apiKey,
          'X-RapidAPI-Host': this.host,
        },
      });

      if (!res.ok) {
        const err: any = new Error(`API ${res.status}: ${res.statusText}`);
        err.statusCode = res.status;
        throw err;
      }

      return (await res.json()) as T;
    } catch (err: any) {
      const retryable =
        attempt = 500 ||
         err.code === 'ECONNRESET' || err.code === 'ETIMEDOUT');

      if (retryable) {
        const delay = 1000 * Math.pow(2, attempt);
        console.log(`  Retry ${attempt + 1}/${this.maxRetries} in ${delay}ms...`);
        await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, delay));
        return this.requestWithRetry(endpoint, params, attempt + 1);
      }
      throw err;
    }
  }

  private transform(data: NonNullable): Place[] {
    return data.map(item => ({
      place_id: item.place_id || '',
      name: item.title || item.name || '',
      address: item.address || '',
      lat: item.latitude || 0,
      lng: item.longitude || 0,
      rating: item.rating,
      reviews_count: item.reviews,
      phone: item.phone,
      website: item.website,
      types: item.types || (item.type ? [item.type] : []),
      category: item.category || item.type,
    }));
  }
}

src/csv.ts

import { writeFile, mkdir } from 'fs/promises';
import { dirname } from 'path';
import type { Place } from './types.js';

const HEADERS = [
  'place_id', 'name', 'address', 'phone', 'website',
  'rating', 'reviews_count', 'lat', 'lng', 'category',
];

function escape(val: string | number | undefined | null): string {
  if (val == null) return '';
  const s = String(val);
  return s.includes(',') || s.includes('"') || s.includes('\n')
    ? `"${s.replace(/"/g, '""')}"`
    : s;
}

export async function exportCSV(places: Place[], outputPath: string): Promise {
  await mkdir(dirname(outputPath), { recursive: true });
  const lines = [
    HEADERS.join(','),
    ...places.map(p =>
      HEADERS.map(h => escape(p[h as keyof Place])).join(',')
    ),
  ];
  await writeFile(outputPath, lines.join('\n') + '\n', 'utf-8');
}

src/index.ts

import { GoogleMapsClient } from './client.js';
import { exportCSV } from './csv.js';
import { getZipsByState, getZipsByCity, getZipsByMinPopulation } from './zips.js';
import type { Place } from './types.js';

function dedup(places: Place[]): Place[] {
  const seen = new Set();
  return places.filter(p => {
    if (seen.has(p.place_id)) return false;
    seen.add(p.place_id);
    return true;
  });
}

function getArg(args: string[], prefix: string): string | undefined {
  const match = args.find(a => a.startsWith(prefix));
  return match ? match.split('=').slice(1).join('=') : undefined;
}

async function main() {
  const args = process.argv.slice(2);

  const query = getArg(args, '--query=');
  const zips = getArg(args, '--zips=');
  const cities = getArg(args, '--cities=');
  const state = getArg(args, '--state=');
  const minPop = getArg(args, '--min-pop=');
  const limit = parseInt(getArg(args, '--limit=') || '20', 10);
  const output = getArg(args, '--output=') || './output/results.csv';

  if (!query || (!zips && !cities && !state)) {
    console.log(`
Google Maps Scraper

USAGE:
  npm run scrape -- --query="pizza restaurant" --zips=10014,10013,10012
  npm run scrape -- --query="dentist" --state=TX
  npm run scrape -- --query="dentist" --state=TX --min-pop=10000
  npm run scrape -- --query="gym" --cities="Austin TX,Dallas TX"

OPTIONS:
  --query=QUERY      Business type to search for (required)
  --zips=ZIP,ZIP     Comma-separated zip codes to search
  --cities=CITY,CITY Comma-separated cities to search
  --state=XX         Search all zip codes in a US state (2-letter code)
  --min-pop=N        Filter zips to those with population >= N (use with --state)
  --limit=N          Max results per location (default 20, max 20)
  --output=PATH      Output CSV path (default ./output/results.csv)

ENVIRONMENT:
  RAPIDAPI_KEY       Your RapidAPI key (required)
                     Get one at: https://rapidapi.com/alexanderxbx/api/maps-data

EXAMPLES:
  # All pizza places in California (zips with pop >= 5000)
  npm run scrape -- --query="pizza restaurant" --state=CA --min-pop=5000

  # Dentists in specific NYC zip codes
  npm run scrape -- --query="dentist" --zips=10014,10013,10012

  # Gyms across Texas cities
  npm run scrape -- --query="gym" --cities="Austin TX,Dallas TX,Houston TX"
`);
    process.exit(1);
  }

  const apiKey = process.env.RAPIDAPI_KEY;
  if (!apiKey) {
    console.error('Error: RAPIDAPI_KEY environment variable is required');
    console.error('Get your key at: https://rapidapi.com/alexanderxbx/api/maps-data');
    process.exit(1);
  }

  // Build location list from all sources
  const locations: string[] = [];

  if (zips) {
    locations.push(...zips.split(',').map(s => s.trim()));
  }
  if (cities) {
    locations.push(...cities.split(',').map(s => s.trim()));
  }
  if (state) {
    const minPopNum = minPop ? parseInt(minPop, 10) : 0;
    const stateZips = minPopNum > 0
      ? getZipsByMinPopulation(minPopNum, state)
      : getZipsByState(state);
    locations.push(...stateZips.map(z => z.zip));
    console.log(`Loaded ${stateZips.length} zip codes for ${state.toUpperCase()}${minPopNum > 0 ? ` (pop >= ${minPopNum.toLocaleString()})` : ''}`);
  }

  if (locations.length === 0) {
    console.error('No locations to search. Provide --zips, --cities, or --state.');
    process.exit(1);
  }

  console.log(`Scraping "${query}" across ${locations.length} location(s)...\n`);

  const client = new GoogleMapsClient({ apiKey, requestsPerSecond: 2 });
  const allPlaces: Place[] = [];
  const start = Date.now();

  for (let i = 0; i  0) {
    console.log('\nSample result:');
    const sample = unique[0];
    console.log(`  ${sample.name}`);
    console.log(`  ${sample.address}`);
    if (sample.phone) console.log(`  ${sample.phone}`);
    if (sample.website) console.log(`  ${sample.website}`);
    if (sample.rating) console.log(`  ${sample.rating} stars (${sample.reviews_count} reviews)`);
  }
}

main().catch(err => {
  console.error('Fatal:', err.message);
  process.exit(1);
});

Running It

Local CLI

# Search pizza places in 3 NYC zip codes
npm run scrape -- --query="pizza restaurant" --zips=10014,10013,10012

# Search ALL dentists in Texas (zips with populat

…

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [growthenginenowoslawski](https://github.com/growthenginenowoslawski)
- **Source:** [growthenginenowoslawski/coldoutboundskills](https://github.com/growthenginenowoslawski/coldoutboundskills)
- **License:** MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.