How to Map Multiple Locations with Google Maps

I still remember the first time I tried to map out all our sales leads for a new region. There I was, hunched over my laptop with a spreadsheet full of addresses, copy-pasting each one into Google Maps, dropping pins, and trying to make sense of the chaos. After about the 20th address, my coffee went cold, my patience wore thin, and I started wondering if there had to be a better way. Spoiler alert: there is—and it’s way more fun than playing “Where’s Waldo?” with your own data.

If you’ve ever needed to visualize dozens (or thousands) of locations—whether it’s for sales, marketing, competitor analysis, or just to see where your customers are hiding—Google Maps is your trusty sidekick. But as I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way), the real magic happens when you combine Google Maps with the right automation tools. In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to map multiple locations, why it matters for your business, and how AI-powered tools like can save you hours (and maybe your sanity).

Why Location Mapping Is a Must-Have for Modern Businesses

Let’s face it: spreadsheets are great for accountants, but when it comes to making strategic decisions—like where to expand, which leads to target, or how to outmaneuver your competitors—nothing beats seeing your data on a map.

Here’s why mapping multiple locations is a key innovation:

• Sales Lead Generation & Customer Targeting: Visualize clusters of high-potential leads, prioritize outreach, and plan local campaigns. One online retailer found that .
• Competitor Analysis: Plot competitor stores to spot market gaps and saturation. You can even pull in reviews and ratings for extra intel ().
• Territory Management: Draw sales territories, balance workloads, and make sure no area is left behind. Data-driven territory mapping has boosted sales outcomes by .
• Route Planning: Optimize travel for sales reps or deliveries. Modern mapping tools have increased sales call productivity by .
• Site Selection: Identify high-demand, low-competition areas for expansion. Mapping helps you see where your next big opportunity might be.

And if you’re wondering just how popular Google Maps is, it’s used by , with . That’s a lot of pins.

Getting Started: Mapping Multiple Locations in Google Maps

The Basics: Google My Maps

Google Maps is great for finding the nearest coffee shop, but if you want to plot a bunch of locations at once, you’ll want to use . It’s a free tool that lets you upload a spreadsheet of addresses and see them all as pins on an interactive map.

Key features:

• Bulk Import: Upload a CSV, Excel, or Google Sheet with your locations. My Maps can handle up to (with 2,000 per layer).
• Customization: Color-code pins, group by categories, add notes or images, and draw boundaries.
• Sharing: Share maps privately with your team or publicly with a link.

Limitations:

• You need to have your list of addresses ready—Google Maps won’t generate it for you.
• There’s a .
• Advanced features like route optimization for more than 10 stops or spatial queries require specialized tools.

Step-by-Step: How to Map Multiple Addresses

1. Prepare Your Data:
   • Gather addresses in a spreadsheet (CSV, Excel, or Google Sheets).
   • Use full, consistent addresses for best results.
   • Add extra columns for names, categories, or notes if you want richer info.
2. Open Google My Maps:
   • Go to and create a new map.
3. Import Your Spreadsheet:
   • Click “Import” on a layer, upload your file, and select the columns for location and labels.
4. Customize Your Map:
   • Change pin colors/icons, group by categories, add descriptions, and draw boundaries or routes.
5. Share or Export:
   • Share with your team, embed on a website, or export the data for further analysis.

For a deeper dive, check out or .

The Not-So-Fun Part: Manual Data Collection

Here’s where things get real. If you don’t already have a list of addresses, you’re stuck manually searching Google Maps, copying business names, addresses, phone numbers, and pasting them into your spreadsheet. For a handful of locations, this is fine. For hundreds? Not so much.

Manual mapping is:

• Slow: Mapping 50 locations might take hours; 200+ could take days.
• Error-Prone: Typos, missed info, and outdated data are common.
• Limited: You’ll probably only grab the basics (name, address), missing out on ratings, reviews, or categories.

If you’re thinking, “There’s got to be a better way,” you’re absolutely right.

Enter the Google Maps Scraper: Automate Your Location Mapping

This is where my inner tech nerd gets excited. Instead of spending hours on manual data entry, you can use a to automatically extract business listings, contact details, ratings, and more from Google Maps search results.

What Is a Google Maps Scraper?

A Google Maps scraper is a tool that:

• Searches Google Maps for your query (e.g., “restaurants in Austin”)
• Extracts all the visible business listings, including name, address, phone, website, ratings, and more
• Outputs the data in a structured format (spreadsheet/table) ready to import into Google My Maps or any other tool

Why Use a Scraper?

• Speed: Gather 100+ listings in minutes, not hours.
• Rich Data: Get more than just addresses—pull in ratings, categories, phone numbers, and even reviews.
• Accuracy: Data is pulled directly from Google’s live listings, reducing typos and outdated info.
• Scalability: Mapping 1,000+ locations becomes practical.

Thunderbit: The Easiest Way to Scrape and Map Google Maps Data

As the co-founder of , I’m a little biased, but I built this tool because I was tired of the old way. Thunderbit is an designed for business users who want to automate location mapping, lead generation, and competitor analysis—without writing a single line of code.

What Makes Thunderbit Different?

• Pre-built Google Maps Scraper: No setup required. Just open Google Maps, search for your target (e.g., “HVAC contractors near me”), and let Thunderbit do the rest.
• AI-Powered Field Suggestions: Thunderbit’s AI reads the page and suggests which fields to extract—business name, address, phone, website, ratings, and more.
• Subpage Scraping: Need more details? Thunderbit can visit each business’s profile page and pull additional info.
• Scheduled Scraping: Set it and forget it—Thunderbit can run scrapes on a schedule to keep your data fresh.
• Instant Export: Export your data to Excel, Google Sheets, Airtable, or Notion in one click. No paywall for exports.
• Free Tier: Scrape up to 10 pages for free to try it out.

Thunderbit in Action: Step-by-Step

Let me walk you through how I use Thunderbit to map multiple locations from Google Maps:

1. Install Thunderbit:
   • Download the .
2. Search on Google Maps:
   • Enter your target query (e.g., “coffee shops in Seattle”).
3. Activate Thunderbit:
   • Click the Thunderbit icon, select the Google Maps Scraper template.
4. AI Suggest Fields:
   • Thunderbit’s AI will suggest which data to extract (name, address, phone, website, ratings, etc.). You can customize if needed.
5. Scrape the Data:
   • Click “Scrape.” Thunderbit will process up to 120 results in about 3 minutes. For more, just run again or adjust your search area.
6. Export:
   • Export your results to Excel, Google Sheets, Airtable, or Notion. Now you have a clean, structured list ready to import into Google My Maps or any other tool.
7. Map Your Data:
   • Import your exported spreadsheet into Google My Maps, and voilà—all your locations are pinned and ready for analysis.

Thunderbit vs. Manual Mapping: A Quick Comparison

Best Practices for Efficient Location Mapping

Whether you’re mapping by hand or using automation, a few habits will make your maps more useful and your workflow smoother:

1. Define Your Purpose: Know what you want to see—sales hotspots, competitor gaps, route planning, etc.
2. Clean Your Data: Remove duplicates, use full addresses, and check for typos.
3. Organize with Layers and Colors: Use layers for categories (e.g., customers vs. prospects) and colors/icons for clarity.
4. Update Regularly: Use scheduled scraping or set a calendar reminder to refresh your data.
5. Collaborate: Share maps with your team, ask for feedback, and keep everyone on the same page.
6. Integrate with Other Tools: Export data to your CRM, marketing platform, or BI tool for deeper analysis.
7. Keep It Simple: Don’t overload your map—focus on what matters most for your goal.

Common Challenges (and How to Fix Them)

Even with the best tools, mapping multiple locations isn’t always smooth sailing. Here are some common headaches and how I tackle them:

• Addresses Won’t Map: Usually a formatting issue. Use full, formal addresses or grab the address as listed on Google Maps (Thunderbit does this automatically).
• Duplicate or Overlapping Pins: De-duplicate your spreadsheet before importing. Thunderbit’s structured data helps here, but always double-check.
• Map Looks Cluttered: Use layers, filters, and color coding. Don’t try to show everything at once.
• Keeping Data Fresh: Schedule regular scrapes with Thunderbit, or link your map to a Google Sheet that gets updated.
• Integrating with Other Tools: Export from Thunderbit to Excel, Sheets, Airtable, or Notion. From there, you can connect to CRMs, BI dashboards, or marketing platforms.

Integrating Location Data with Your Business Tools

The real value of mapping comes when you connect your location data to the rest of your business stack:

• Spreadsheets & Databases: Analyze, filter, and combine with sales or marketing data.
• CRM: Assign leads by territory, plan visits, and track outreach.
• Marketing Tools: Target ads by region, plan local events, or do geo-conquesting.
• Airtable & Notion: Build collaborative dashboards or living databases with map views.
• BI Platforms: Visualize performance by region, spot trends, and make data-driven decisions.
• Route Planning: Optimize delivery or sales routes with exported address lists.

Thunderbit makes this easy by exporting directly to the tools you already use.

Bringing It All Together: Actionable Steps for Beginners

Ready to ditch the manual grind and get smarter about location mapping? Here’s my recommended playbook:

1. Start Small: Try mapping a handful of locations manually in Google My Maps to get a feel for the process.
2. Automate Data Collection: Use to gather a larger list of leads, competitors, or locations.
3. Import and Visualize: Upload your data to Google My Maps, customize your map, and share with your team.
4. Integrate and Analyze: Export your data to Excel, Sheets, Airtable, or Notion for deeper analysis and integration with your CRM or marketing tools.
5. Maintain and Iterate: Set up scheduled scrapes, keep your maps updated, and refine your approach based on feedback and new goals.

Why Thunderbit Is My Go-To for Google Maps Scraping

As someone who’s spent years in SaaS, automation, and AI, I built Thunderbit because I wanted a tool that was:

• Simple enough for anyone to use
• Powerful enough for real business needs
• Flexible enough to integrate with the tools teams already rely on

Thunderbit’s is perfect for lead generation, competitor analysis, and territory planning. With features like AI-powered field suggestions, subpage scraping, scheduled runs, and instant exports, it’s designed to make location mapping fast, accurate, and scalable.

And yes, you can try it for free—no credit card required. Just install the , run your first scrape, and see how much time you save.

Final Thoughts: Map Smarter, Not Harder

Location mapping isn’t just about pretty pins—it’s about making smarter decisions, faster. Whether you’re a sales manager dividing territories, a marketer planning campaigns, or an ops lead optimizing routes, seeing your data on a map changes the game.

With Google Maps and Thunderbit, you can go from zero to a fully mapped, data-rich view of your business landscape in minutes—not days. And as your needs grow, automation scales with you.

So, next time you’re staring at a spreadsheet full of addresses, remember: there’s a better way. Map it, automate it, and let your data tell the story.

Curious to see what Thunderbit can do for your team? and let me know how it goes. Your coffee (and your sanity) will thank you.

FAQs

1. Why is location mapping important for modern businesses?

Location mapping allows businesses to visualize customer distribution, sales leads, and competitor presence on a map, enabling smarter decisions in sales, marketing, territory management, and site selection. It helps uncover trends, optimize routes, and identify growth opportunities that are hard to see in spreadsheets.

2. What is Google My Maps and how does it help with mapping multiple locations?

Google My Maps is a free tool that lets users upload spreadsheets containing addresses and see them displayed as pins on a custom map. It supports features like bulk import, pin customization, and sharing, making it ideal for visualizing business data across multiple locations.

3. What are the limitations of manual location mapping?

Manual mapping is time-consuming, error-prone, and not scalable for large datasets. It often leads to inconsistent formatting, missing data, and outdated information. Mapping more than a few dozen locations manually can be inefficient and frustrating.

4. How does Thunderbit simplify the process of mapping locations from Google Maps?

Thunderbit is an AI-powered Chrome extension that automates the scraping of business listings from Google Maps. It extracts detailed information like addresses, ratings, and contact info, allowing users to export the data directly into tools like Excel, Google Sheets, Airtable, or Notion for easy mapping.

5. What are the best practices for effective and efficient location mapping?

Key practices include clearly defining your mapping goal, cleaning and organizing your data, using layers and colors for clarity, regularly updating the map, and integrating the data with business tools like CRMs and marketing platforms. Automation tools like Thunderbit can further streamline the entire workflow.

Further Reading: