places_search
Find points of interest, businesses, or landmarks near a coordinate. Search by category keyword or name, results sorted by distance.
Instructions
Find points of interest, businesses, and landmarks near a geographic coordinate.
Returns: array of { name, lat, lon, categories: [string], address, distance_m }.
QUERY: Use category keywords (restaurant, pharmacy, hospital, supermarket, ATM, petrol station, parking) or specific names ("Starbucks", "IKEA"). RADIUS: Default 1000m (1km). Increase for rural areas, decrease for dense urban. Max ~50000m. RESULT ORDER: Sorted by distance from the search center, nearest first.
USE FOR: "Find nearest X", store locators, POI search, route stop suggestions. DO NOT USE: For address lookups — use geocode instead. For administrative boundaries — use point_in_polygon.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| q | Yes | Category or name to search for. | |
| lat | Yes | Search center latitude. Range: -90 to 90. | |
| lon | Yes | Search center longitude. Range: -180 to 180. | |
| radius | No | Search radius in metres. Default: 1000. Increase for rural areas. Max ~50000. | |
| limit | No | Max results to return. Default 10, max 20. | |
| countries | No | Optional ISO country codes to restrict search. Example: "DE,AT". |