# What is Google Place ID? Definition and examples · Leadraft

URL: https://leadraft.co/glossary/google-place-id
Summary: A Google Place ID is a text identifier that uniquely identifies a place in Google's Places database, used to dedupe and look up listings.

Glossary · Google Maps & local data · Last updated October 31, 2026

# Google Place ID

A Google Place ID is a text identifier that uniquely identifies a place in Google's Places database, used to dedupe and look up listings.

**Also called:** Place ID, place\_id.

Google describes a Place ID as "a textual identifier that uniquely identifies a place." Every business listing on Google Maps has one, and the Places API accepts it to fetch details about that place.

For lead lists, the Place ID is the right key for deduplication. Names and addresses are typed inconsistently ("Joe's Plumbing" vs "Joe's Plumbing LLC"), but the same listing found by two different searches has the same Place ID. Deduping on it is far more reliable than fuzzy-matching names.

Place IDs aren't permanent. Google says they may change over time and can become obsolete if a business closes or moves, and recommends refreshing Place IDs that are more than 12 months old. Place IDs are exempt from the caching restrictions in the Maps Platform terms, so you can store them.

Don't confuse a Place ID with the CID, a numeric ID that appears in some Maps URLs. They identify the same listing in different ways; Place ID is the one the official API uses.

## Example

A search for "plumber" and a search for "drain cleaning" in Austin both return `ChIJ...` for the same business. The second copy is dropped as a duplicate.

## In Leadraft

Leadraft dedupes on the Google Place ID and charges once per business per organization, ever. Exports include `google_place_id` and the Maps URL.

## Sources

1.  1.[Google for Developers, Place IDs](https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/place-id)

## Related terms

-   [DeduplicationDeduplication is finding and merging records that describe the same business or person, so each appears once in a list.](https://leadraft.co/glossary/deduplication)
-   [Google Places APIThe Google Places API is Google's official, paid API for searching places and getting details like name, address, phone, website, hours and ratings.](https://leadraft.co/glossary/google-places-api)
-   [Google Business ProfileA Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows a business on Google Search and Maps, with its categories, hours, phone, website and reviews.](https://leadraft.co/glossary/google-business-profile)
-   [Data decayData decay is the steady loss of accuracy in a lead list as people change jobs, businesses close or move, and email addresses stop working.](https://leadraft.co/glossary/data-decay)

## Further reading

-   [Google Maps lead generation playbook](https://leadraft.co/blog/google-maps-lead-generation)
-   [Discovery in Leadraft](https://leadraft.co/product/discovery)

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Last built: 2026-11-09