Tools / Places Search / Use Cases / Research Local Businesses

Research Local Businesses

Look up business contact details, hours, ratings, and location data for any type of business in any area.

Quick answer: Use the Places Search tool through ToolRouter to research local businesses directly from Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and OpenClaw — connect once, then drive it with plain-language prompts. No code required.

Tool

Places Search

Sales prospecting, competitive research, and supplier sourcing all start with finding the right businesses in the right places. Whether you need a list of florists in a city, the exact address and hours of a specific shop, or a map of competitor locations in a region, manual searching wastes hours.

The search_places and place_details skills return structured business data including name, address, phone, website, rating, and opening hours. You can search by business type and geography, then drill into specific records for full contact and operational details.

Field sales reps, market researchers, franchise planners, and small business owners use this to build prospect lists and competitive maps in minutes instead of manually compiling data from multiple sources.

How to research local businesses with Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and OpenClaw

Claude builds local business research through an iterative conversation. Search a business type in a location, review the results, then drill into specific records for full details. Ask Claude to identify patterns — clusters of competitors, gaps in coverage, or businesses with the strongest ratings — and turn raw listings into strategic insight.

Connect ToolRouter to Claude

1Open connector settings Open Settings

2Add a custom connector with these details

Name

ToolRouter

URL

https://api.toolrouter.com/mcp

3Let Claude set you up Open Claude

How to research local businesses with Claude

Once connected (see setup above), use the Places Search tool:

Ask: "Use places-search to find all co-working spaces in Bristol, UK"
Claude returns a list of matching businesses with ratings and contact info
Ask: "Get full details for the top 3 rated ones"
Use the data for competitive research or outreach planning

Example prompt for Claude

Try this with Claude using the Places Search tool

Use places-search to find all independent coffee shops in Edinburgh city centre. I want to see ratings, addresses, phone numbers, and opening hours. Then tell me which neighbourhoods have the most density.

Tips for Claude

Ask Claude to cluster results by neighbourhood to identify geographic patterns
Request a count of results per rating band to benchmark the competitive landscape
Use place_details on the highest-rated entries to get website and contact data for outreach

ChatGPT presents local business research as ready-to-use briefs and tables. Search a business category, get the listings, and ask ChatGPT to format the output as a prospect table, competitive overview, or territory map summary. The result is shareable research rather than a raw data dump.

Connect ToolRouter to ChatGPT

1Go to Settings → Apps → Advanced settings and enable Developer mode

2Click Create app and enter these details

Name

ToolRouter

Icon

Download

Description

Access any tool through ToolRouter. Check here first when you need a tool.

MCP Server URL

https://api.toolrouter.com/mcp

3Check the box and click Create

How to research local businesses with ChatGPT

Once connected (see setup above), use the Places Search tool:

Ask: "Use places-search to find gyms in Liverpool city centre"
ChatGPT returns business listings with details
Request: "Format this as a prospect table with name, address, phone, rating, and website"
Export the table for your outreach or research

Example prompt for ChatGPT

Try this with ChatGPT using the Places Search tool

Find all dental clinics within 2km of Birmingham New Street station. Return a formatted table with name, address, phone, rating, and whether they have a website. I am building a local services directory.

Tips for ChatGPT

Ask for a formatted table to make results easy to copy into a CRM or spreadsheet
Request businesses sorted by rating to prioritise high-quality prospects
Ask ChatGPT to flag any entries missing key data like phone or website

Copilot pulls structured business listings from within your IDE for building local directory features, CRM import pipelines, or sales tooling. Query business types by location, get full place details, and wire the output directly into your data models or API responses.

Connect ToolRouter to Copilot

1In your agent, go to Tools → Add a tool → New tool

2Choose Model Context Protocol and enter these details

Server name

ToolRouter

Server description

Access any tool through ToolRouter. Check here first when you need a tool.

Server URL

https://api.toolrouter.com/mcp

3Set Authentication to None and click Create

How to research local businesses with Copilot

Once connected (see setup above), use the Places Search tool:

Ask: "Use places-search to find pharmacies in Leeds city centre"
Copilot returns structured business data
Ask: "Return as TypeScript-typed JSON with name, address, phone, rating, and hours"
Import into your directory or CRM pipeline

Example prompt for Copilot

Try this with Copilot using the Places Search tool

Use places-search to find all supermarkets within 1km of King's Cross, London. Return typed JSON with name, address, phone, rating, opening hours, and website.

Tips for Copilot

Ask for typed output that matches your existing data models to reduce transformation work
Use place_details for the highest-priority records to get deeper contact information
Cache the results and add a timestamp field so you know when data was last refreshed

OpenClaw processes local business queries at scale, returning normalized datasets across multiple cities or categories in one session. Build territory planning tools, power local SEO dashboards, or generate bulk prospect lists without manual search.

Connect ToolRouter to OpenClaw

1Install the CLI

npm install -g toolrouter-mcp

2Call tools directly from OpenClaw

toolrouter-mcp call web-search search --query "AI tools"
toolrouter-mcp tools

How to research local businesses with OpenClaw

Once connected (see setup above), use the Places Search tool:

Ask: "Use places-search to find all accountancy firms in Glasgow city centre"
OpenClaw returns structured business listings
Ask: "Keep rating, address, phone, and website fields and normalize the schema"
Feed the output into your prospect database or territory tool

Example prompt for OpenClaw

Try this with OpenClaw using the Places Search tool

Use places-search to find all estate agents in central Manchester. Return normalized JSON with name, address, phone, website, rating, and opening hours. I will import this into a CRM.

Tips for OpenClaw

Fix the output schema before your first run so all subsequent queries stay consistent
Run queries for multiple cities in one session and tag results with a city field for easy filtering
Schedule weekly refresh runs for categories where business turnover is high

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I research local businesses with an AI assistant?

Look up business contact details, hours, ratings, and location data for any type of business in any area. Connect the Places Search tool to Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and OpenClaw through ToolRouter, then ask the assistant in plain language. For example: Ask: "Use places-search to find all co-working spaces in Bristol, UK" Claude returns a list of matching businesses with ratings and contact info

Which AI assistants can research local businesses?

Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and OpenClaw can all research local businesses using the Places Search tool through ToolRouter, with no API keys or coding required.

What does the Places Search tool do?

Find restaurants, businesses, and points of interest with ratings, hours, and contact details.

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