How we count the businesses in your area

A list is only as good as what it leaves out. This page explains how Leadraft decides which businesses belong in your results, why it finds more of them than a plain Google Maps search, and the limits of that.

What does "in your area" mean?#

You choose a place before you search: a city, county or postcode, a polygon you draw, a radius, or a KML file. Every business we find is measured against that shape:

• Inside the area: distance 0.
• Nearby: outside, with its distance from the edge in kilometres.
• Wrong country: dropped outright, along with businesses whose country we can't tell.

You also choose a scope before you pay:

Businesses outside your scope are still shown to you, labeled with their distance, so you can see what's around. They are never charged and never exported.

What does "on topic" mean?#

A search for "dentist" also turns up dental labs, pharmacies and the café next door. We check each business's Google category code. It's the same code in every language, so "Klempner", "plombier" and "plumber" are one trade. A business whose category doesn't match the trade you searched for is kept for you to see, but never charged or exported.

Why do we find more businesses than a plain search?#

A single Google Maps search stops after a couple of hundred results, and it ranks by relevance to where the searcher is. Big areas get cut off. Leadraft splits your area into tiles, each small enough that Google returns everything in it. It splits busy tiles again until each one is exhausted, then merges the results and removes duplicates by Google's own place ID.

For named places, we also ask the question two ways: the trade on its own over the map view, and "trade in town". Google answers them from different paths through its index, and neither result contains the other.

Measured runs#

These are single measured runs, not guarantees. Results depend on the trade, the place and how well businesses keep their listings up to date.

Duplicates and repeat charges#

Every business has one Google place ID, and that's what we use to match records, never name and address text. If two searches in your organization find the same business, it's one record and one credit, once, ever.

Limits#

• We can only find businesses that are listed on Google Maps.
• A business with a vague or wrong listing may be placed outside your area or under the wrong trade.
• Completeness depends on your keywords. Our keyword packs and suggestions help, but a trade nobody searches for can still be missed.