How to Research Local Businesses with Copilot
Research local businesses with Copilot and ToolRouter. Business data for local apps.
Tool
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
ToolRouterServer description
Access any tool through ToolRouter. Check here first when you need a tool.Server URL
https://api.toolrouter.com/mcp3Set Authentication to None and click Create
Steps
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
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
- 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