Points of Interest

A point of interest (POI) is a discrete geographic location identified by its coordinates, name, and category that serves as a reference point for navigation, analysis, or information retrieval. POI datasets catalog millions of physical locations—retail stores, restaurants, gas stations, hotels, hospitals, parks, ATMs, and countless other venue types—each enriched with attributes such as address, brand name, business category (often using NAICS or SIC codes), hours of operation, and contact information.

POI data is compiled from a variety of sources including government business registries, commercial data aggregators (such as Dun & Bradstreet, Infogroup, and Factual), web scraping of business listings, user contributions (OpenStreetMapOpenStreetMapOpenStreetMap (OSM) is a collaborative, open-source mapping project that creates a free, editable map of the world. B..., Google Maps), GPSGPSThe Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system operated by the U.S. Space Force that prov... trace data, and proprietary field surveys. Major platform companies—Google, Apple, HERE, TomTom, and Foursquare—maintain large POI databases that power their consumer-facing mapping applications. Each source has different strengths in coverage, freshness, and attribute completeness.

Beyond basic location and name, valuable POI attributes include brand affiliation, parent company, store format or type, approximate square footage, opening date, estimated annual revenue, and customer review scores. Temporal attributes—such as opening hours and seasonal availability—support time-aware analysis. Category taxonomies allow analysts to filter and aggregate POIs by industry (e.g., all quick-service restaurants within a trade area).

POI data is essential for competitive analysis—mapping every competitor location within a market to assess density, proximity, and market saturation. Site selectionSite SelectionSite selection is the analytical process of evaluating and choosing optimal physical locations for new stores, facili... models use POI data to evaluate co-tenancy (what other businesses are nearby), traffic generators (anchor stores that drive foot traffic), and convenience clustering (gas stations near highway ramps). Store locatorStore LocatorA store locator is a web or mobile application feature that helps customers find the nearest physical location of a b... applications rely on POI databases to help customers find the nearest branch. Navigation systems use POIs as search and routing destinations.

POI data quality varies significantly across providers and geographies. Common issues include stale records (closed businesses still listed), duplicate entries, incorrect geocodingGeocodingGeocoding is the process of converting addresses or place names into geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude)...., and missing attributes. Rural and international markets often have lower coverage than urban areas in developed countries. Maintaining a current, accurate POI database requires continuous updating through automated and manual verification processes. Points of interest data is the connective tissue of location intelligence. By providing a structured, geocoded inventory of the physical world's commercial and civic infrastructure, POI datasets enable every analytical and consumer-facing application that depends on knowing what is where.