Google Maps Leads | Maps -> Apify -> Sheets

Google Maps Lead Generation Subworkflow Workflow Brief This workflow automates the process of generating business leads by scraping Google Maps. It functions as a reusable subworkflow that, when triggered, takes a business type (e.g., "carpenter") and a location (e.g., "San Francisco, CA") as input. It then uses the Apify web scraping platform to perform a search on Google Maps, extracts the details of the resulting business listings, and systematically saves this information into a Google Sheet. The primary value of this automation is its ability to transform a highly manual and time-consuming lead generation process into an efficient, on-demand data pipeline. It saves countless hours of manual data entry, allowing sales, marketing, or research teams to quickly build targeted prospect lists for any industry in any specified location. Technologies Used - n8n: The core automation platform coordinating the entire process. - Apify: A web scraping and automation platform used to extract data from Google Maps. - Google Sheets: Used as a simple database to store the collected lead data. - HTTP Request: The n8n node used to communicate with the Apify API. Step-by-Step Breakdown 1. Trigger - On Subworkflow Start The workflow begins when it is called by a parent workflow. It is designed to receive initial data, specifically a search term, city, state/county, and a countryCode. This modular design allows it to be easily integrated into larger automation sequences. 2. Scrape Google Maps (via Apify) This step uses n8n's HTTP Request node to make a POST call to the Apify API. It triggers a specific, pre-built Apify "Actor" designed for scraping Google Maps. - Action: It sends the search term and location data received in the trigger step to the Apify actor. - Value: This completely offloads the complex and fragile task of web scraping. Apify handles navigating Google Maps, dealing with dynamic content, and bypassing anti-scraping measures. The node is configured to synchronously run the scrape and wait for the results, returning a clean, structured JSON array of business listings found.