Answers to common questions about ArcGIS Places are provided. To find answers to questions related to ArcGIS Data and Esri Demographics, see the Frequently asked questions for ArcGIS Data.
General
ArcGIS Places data details
- How often does Esri update ArcGIS Places data?
- How often does Esri update ArcGIS Places data for Business Analyst?
- Where do I find information about licensing restrictions related to ArcGIS Places?
- Why am I limited to adding 5,000 locations to a map?
- Why does my sales volume value seem different than the expected value?
- Why don't some businesses have employee counts or sales volumes in Data Axle?
- Why is Esri moving away from SIC codes?
- I found a mistake in the ArcGIS Places data—for example, a location's coordinates are inaccurate. How do I report it?
- Why is a location missing or a closed location listed in an ArcGIS Places dataset?
- Why is contact information missing from ArcGIS Places datasets?
- What ArcGIS Places data is available for my area and what's the difference between the data sources?
- For which countries does Esri offer global ArcGIS Places data?
General
Places, also known as points of interest or POIs, are businesses and geographic locations that you can discover around the world. The level of detail available for a place can vary by place type, region, and the data source that supplied the place details.
Places or points of interest are typically destinations, such as shopping centers, hotels, banks and ATMs, gas stations, beaches, parks, and more. The kind of data you can get about the place typically includes the name, location address, business category information, and related public details. Different data sources provide different levels of detail.
Not all places have comparable levels of detail available. For example, a place may not include a postal code if it is in a country that does not use postal codes. An address may be missing if the source of the information didn't provide the address. In other cases, a feature may not be associated with a street address—examples include natural features, such as a pond or a forest; built features, such as bridges or statues; or nonpermanent places, such as weekend street markets.
Esri creates the ArcGIS Places datasets based on place and point of interest data supplied by a variety of trusted location data providers. See the ArcGIS Places data sources topic for a list of these data source providers by region.
See Introduction to ArcGIS Places for information about using ArcGIS Places in various ArcGIS products.
ArcGIS Places data details
Esri updates ArcGIS Places datasets as frequently as three times per year and as infrequently as every few years, depending on the data source and dataset. See Data sources, vintages, and update frequency in the Introduction to ArcGIS Places topic for a list of all datasets, locations, and data sources.
Esri updates ArcGIS Places datasets three times per year for ArcGIS Business Analyst Web App and once a year for ArcGIS Pro with a Business Analyst license and ArcGIS Business Analyst Enterprise. International distributor updates can vary. See Data sources, vintages, and update frequency in the Introduction to ArcGIS Places topic for more information.
Refer to your organization's signed agreement with Esri or see the Esri E204 Legal Master Agreement Products and Services document. Section 3 specifically addresses data and associated use restrictions.
Certain ArcGIS Places data source providers limit the number of locations a user can export or download to 5,000 points per request. This helps protect the vendors' intellectual property. Further, user requests that exceed 5,000 locations or points of interest could impact system performance. Therefore, this cap has been generally implemented to fulfill contractual obligations and maintain optimal system speeds.
- To access larger numbers of locations or points of interest in an ArcGIS project, ArcGIS Business Analyst Bundles are available for ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Enterprise. This includes ArcGIS Demographic and Business data that does not have a cap on the number of records that can be used. This dataset is only available for Canadian or United States customers. Contact your Esri account team representative for more information about ArcGIS Business Analyst Bundles.
- If you are a developer with an Esri Developer Bundle subscription, you can use the ArcGIS Places service on ArcGIS Location Platform. Users of the ArcGIS Places service have access to location information from more than 170 countries, with no limit to how many business locations can be visualized. Contact your Esri account team representative to discuss the Esri Developer Bundle options.
The location sales volume attribute is a value generated based on a proprietary sales model developed by Data Axle. Esri does not have direct access to this propriety methodology for generating sales volume estimates, so cannot provide information about specific values at a location. This value can fluctuate over Esri's three annual location data release cycles.
If you have questions, use the feedback form at the lower right in the applicable Esri app, map, or help topic. If you can't find a feedback form link, use the Contact us page.
Businesses with a single owner and operator and no employees may not have an employee count. Some businesses—such as school district offices, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies—do not have sales volumes. Kiosks (such as ATMs) do not have sales volumes or employee counts. The data may not contain enough information about a business to create an estimate for these attributes.
I found a mistake in the ArcGIS Places data—for example, a location's coordinates are inaccurate. How do I report it?
You can use the feedback form in the Esri app, map, or help topic where you found the problem to report errors. The feedback form link is usually at the lower right. If you can't find a feedback form link, use the Contact us page. Provide specific information about the application, dataset, and function where you observed the error to help solve the problem.
There is no substitute for local knowledge when it comes to locations opening and closing. Esri data sources work at a national or even global scale, which can be slower than a local scale. New businesses may be identified by social media signals, registration with local governments, utility activations, and so on, but getting this into a global dataset takes time. Closures can be even more difficult to identify because a business may close a location but not deactivate their business license.
There may also be a delay between the time it takes for a vendor to update location data and the change to appear in an Esri update. You can report incorrect location information to help improve data accuracy. Opening or closure information provided by customers is shared with the relevant data vendors.
What ArcGIS Places data is available for my area and what's the difference between the data sources?
Data sources typically specialize in data content for a country or smaller region. The Data sources topic lists each data source provider and the countries they specialize in; the Attribute comparison table in Introduction to ArcGIS Places provides a general overview of the types of attributes the data source focuses on. One data source, Foursquare, provides open source, global ArcGIS Places content for approximately 170 countries. In the U.S. and Canada, there are three data source providers: Data Axle, SafeGraph, and Foursquare. Data Axle specializes in business information, such as employees and sales, while the other providers feature locations that include both business and nonbusiness POI (such as hiking trails). Refer to the Attribute comparison table to decide which data source is better for your use case.
Esri offers global Open-Source ArcGIS Places data for approximately 170 countries or regions:
- Africa—Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Réunion, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
- Asia—Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Georgia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Macao, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam
- Europe—Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus (Greek part), Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova (without Transnistria), Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, Ukraine, United Kingdom
- North America—Anguilla, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Greenland, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States, U.S. Virgin Islands
- Oceania—Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea
- South America—Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela