How credit-based pricing works for lead generation

TL;DR

Credit-based pricing charges you per search query — defined as one location paired with one search term — not per lead returned. The cost of a search is locations × search terms, and each credit can return up to roughly 500 business results. That means a tightly scoped search can return hundreds of leads for a single credit, and you can estimate the total cost of a large run before you start it.

What is credit-based lead pricing?

Credit-based lead pricing is a model where you spend a unit — a credit — for each search query you run, rather than paying for each individual lead. One credit covers one location combined with one search term, and that single query can return up to about 500 business results. The leads themselves are not metered; the queries are.

How the locations × search terms formula works

The cost of a search comes down to one calculation: locations × search terms = credits. Every combination of a place and a category you search counts as one credit, because each combination is a distinct query against Google Maps.

A few worked examples make the shape of it clear:

• One city, one category — searching “plumbers” in “Austin” is a single location paired with a single search term, so it costs 1 credit.
• One city, three categories — searching “plumbers,” “electricians,” and “HVAC contractors” in “Austin” is one location across three terms: 1 × 3 = 3 credits.
• Five cities, three categories — running those same three categories across five cities is 5 × 3 = 15 credits.
• Twenty cities, one category — covering a single category across twenty metro areas is 20 × 1 = 20 credits.

The formula scales predictably, which is the point. Because cost is tied to the number of queries and not the volume of leads, broadening your coverage (more cities, more categories) is what drives credit usage — not how many businesses happen to exist in each place. A query that returns 40 results and a query that returns 400 both cost the same single credit.

How to estimate the cost of a large search before you run it

Because the formula is just multiplication, you can budget any search up front. Count the distinct locations you want to cover, count the distinct search terms (categories) you want to pull for each, and multiply.

Suppose you want every home-services category — say six of them — across the twelve cities in your sales territory. That is 12 locations × 6 search terms = 72 credits. If you want to add three more categories, the new total is 12 × 9 = 108 credits, an increase you can see before committing to it.

This predictability is useful in both directions:

• Scoping down. If a planned search exceeds the credits you have, the formula tells you exactly which lever to pull. Dropping from twelve cities to eight at six categories takes the cost from 72 to 48 credits. Trimming two categories instead takes it from 72 to 48 as well. You choose which dimension matters more for your campaign.
• Scoping up deliberately. When you want maximum coverage, you can calculate the full run, confirm you have the credits, and execute it in one pass rather than discovering the cost partway through.

A practical habit: list your locations and your search terms as two columns before you start, multiply the counts, and you have your credit estimate. New accounts get 20 free credits with no card required, which is enough to run real searches and see how the formula behaves on your own categories and cities before you pick a plan.

Monthly credits versus one-time credit packs

There are two ways credits reach your account, and they serve different needs.

Monthly plan credits come with your subscription and refresh each billing cycle. They suit steady, recurring work — an agency pulling fresh prospect lists every month, a sales team refreshing territory coverage, a local service business tracking its market on a cadence. The plans are Starter ($35/mo), Pro ($75/mo), and Business ($150/mo), and the right one depends on how many queries your normal month requires. Because you can estimate any search with the locations × search terms formula, you can size a plan against the searches you actually intend to run.

One-time credit packs are an add-on for the months when a single project needs more queries than your plan includes — a large one-off territory sweep, a seasonal campaign, or a new vertical you want to map all at once. They top up your balance without changing your subscription tier. One-time packs require an active subscription; they are an extension of a plan, not a substitute for one, so free accounts and unsubscribed accounts cannot purchase them on their own.

The way to think about the two together: the monthly plan covers your baseline, repeatable search volume, and credit packs absorb the occasional spike. If you find yourself buying packs every single month, that is usually a signal to compare the math against the next plan up on the pricing page.

How to get the most leads per credit

Since each credit can return up to roughly 500 business results, the goal is to make every query as productive as it can be. A few principles help:

• Match the location to the data. A single credit returns up to ~500 results, so a query that genuinely has hundreds of matching businesses uses that credit fully. Searching a dense metropolitan area for a common category extracts far more leads per credit than searching a tiny town where only a handful of businesses exist.
• Choose categories with real depth. Broad, well-populated categories (restaurants, contractors, salons, auto repair) tend to fill more of that ~500-result ceiling than ultra-narrow ones. With 3,900+ categories available, you can pick the level of specificity that still returns a healthy result set.
• Don’t over-fragment your locations. Splitting one large city into many tiny sub-areas multiplies your credit cost without necessarily returning more unique businesses. Search at the level that captures the market in as few queries as the data allows.
• Lean on your coverage map. Because every business record carries up to 11 fields — name, full address, phone, website, Google rating, review count, category, GPS coordinates, business hours, price level, and a Google Maps link — a single well-scoped query produces a rich, filterable dataset. You get more value from one full query than from several thin ones.

The throughline is that credit-based pricing rewards thoughtful scoping. The model does not penalize you for finding a lot of leads; it asks you to be deliberate about how many distinct queries you run. Spent well, a modest number of credits can map an entire local market.

A note on responsible use: collecting and storing business and contact data carries obligations that vary by jurisdiction — including GDPR and similar regimes — and by the terms of the platforms involved. Review the laws and platform terms that apply to your use case, and consult counsel where appropriate. We give no legal verdict here.

How credits fit into gtme.business

gtme.business turns Google Maps into exportable local-business lead lists. You choose locations and search terms, run a search at a cost of locations × search terms in credits, and take the results as a CSV or — on the Pro and Business plans — sync them into your own Supabase database. Each credit can return up to roughly 500 business results, each with up to 11 fields. See how it works for the search-and-export flow, the pricing page for what each plan includes, and the use cases for who builds with it.

New accounts get 20 free credits with no card required, so you can run real searches and watch the formula in action before committing. Create an account to try it.

Frequently asked questions

How is one credit defined?

One credit is one search query — a single location paired with a single search term. Searching one category in one city costs one credit, regardless of how many businesses come back. The cost of a search is the number of locations multiplied by the number of search terms.

How many leads can one credit return?

Up to roughly 500 business results per credit. The actual number depends on how many matching businesses exist in that location for that category — a dense market with a common category fills more of that ceiling than a small town or a narrow niche.

How do I estimate the cost of a large search?

Count your distinct locations, count your distinct search terms, and multiply. Twelve cities across six categories is 12 × 6 = 72 credits. Because the formula is simple multiplication, you can budget any run before you start it and adjust by trimming cities or categories.

What is the difference between monthly credits and one-time credit packs?

Monthly credits come with your subscription and refresh each billing cycle — they cover your regular, repeatable search volume. One-time credit packs are an add-on that tops up your balance for an unusually large project, without changing your plan. Packs require an active subscription.

Do leftover patterns mean I am wasting credits?

Not necessarily — but over-fragmenting locations is the most common way to spend more than you need. Splitting one city into many small sub-areas multiplies credits without always returning more unique businesses. Searching at the level the market actually warrants, in as few queries as the data allows, is how you get the most leads per credit.

Can I try the credit model before subscribing?

Yes. New accounts get 20 free credits with no card required, which is enough to run several real searches and see exactly how the locations × search terms formula plays out on your own cities and categories. You can create an account and start there.