Build a business database from live Google Maps
Most business database files were compiled months ago. CrustAPI builds yours the moment you ask: every record is scraped live from Google Maps, with phone, website, rating, review count, and hours.
One request, one real record
I ran this exact query while writing this page. It came back in about a second. Here is the request and one of the businesses it returned, trimmed to the highlights (phone digits masked for the page, unmasked in the API).
Set limit up to 100 businesses per search. Responses land in about 1 second. Add stars=true for each business's 1-to-5 review histogram.
The full record, every time
No field tiers and no upcharges for the good columns. Every business in your database comes complete:
One gap to know about: Google Maps listings do not carry email addresses, so maps records here do not either. When you need a person and a verified email, that comes from a different endpoint, covered below.
Live scrape vs static file
Static list vendors compile a big file, then refresh it on a cycle. Between refreshes, businesses close, move, change phones, and gain or lose reviews. A live scrape reads the source at the moment you ask.
| Static list vendors | CrustAPI (live Google Maps) | |
|---|---|---|
| Data age | Compiled in the past, refreshed on a cycle | Scraped at query time |
| Closed businesses | Sit in the file until the next refresh | permanentlyClosed flag, current as of your query |
| Ratings + review counts | Frozen at compile time when included | Live rating and review count on every record |
| What you pay for | The whole file, dead rows included | 1 credit per business returned; empty searches free |
| Email addresses | Often included, from other compiled sources | None on maps records; verified emails come from our LinkedIn people endpoints |
| Setup | Download a file, done | One HTTP call, or the playground with no code |
The freshness gap shows up fastest in the fields buyers act on. A phone number that rings, hours that are true today, and a rating from this week are the difference between a list you trust and a list you double-check.
One query, or a whole metro
A single search returns up to 100 businesses, which covers most lead lists. For a full metro database, run a sweep: CrustAPI sweeps the whole metro and returns every business, deduplicated for you, past Google's ~100-per-search cap. In a dense industry a metro sweep passes 1,000 businesses per city.
You only pay for unique value: results come back deduplicated for you, and credits were only spent on businesses that actually came back. If you want a whole metro or a multi-city dataset without writing the sweep yourself, email support@crustapi.com with the industry and cities. I'm Dawson, I run CrustAPI, and prebuilt datasets come from this same engine.
One credit per business
Prepaid packs, and credits never expire: 25k for $49 · 100k for $149 · 500k for $549 · 2.5M for $1,999. All self-serve, ex-tax. A search that returns 40 businesses costs 40 credits; a search that returns none costs nothing. The free tier is 3,000 credits a month with no card, enough for a real city-sized list before you spend a dollar.
Adding emails to your database
Maps gives you the company: phone, website, address. It never gives you a person's email, because Google Maps listings do not carry one. For that, CrustAPI has LinkedIn public-profile endpoints: search people by role and company, and people results carry a verified email where one can be found. So the flow is maps for the companies, LinkedIn for the humans.
Full detail on that endpoint lives on the LinkedIn people search API page. And if you want the review text behind each business's rating, type=reviews pulls the actual Google reviews in about 0.3 seconds per call.
Related: Google Maps scraper API · Google Reviews API · Google Places API alternative · LinkedIn scraper API
When a static business database is the better pick: you need every company in the country in one download today, you want emails and firmographics already attached from many compiled sources, or nobody on your team wants to run queries at all. A good static file is instant, and for a one-time nationwide pull that speed is a real advantage. Live data earns its keep when the list has to be right, on the day you use it.
Common questions
Clay
Build it on your own city
3,000 free credits covers a real business database for one metro. Run one search and look at the JSON that comes back.
Get 3,000 free credits