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Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Businesses

US Businesses

Add records from Data Axle to GIS software:

  1. In Data Axle, use the Advanced Search to query businesses. When you are finished, click View Results.
  2. Click Download and select Comma Delimited.
  3. In Step Two, select Custom and select Latitude and Longitude in addition to any other fields you want. Click Download Records.
  4. Add the data in ArcGIS Pro or in QGIS. The coordinate system is WGS84.

 

Query US businesses in ArcGIS Pro:

  1. If you anticipate retrieving records for more than 5000 businesses, set the data source to the local database, USA_ESRI_2022. If you don't see the database, navigate to D:\UserData3\BusinessAnalyst.
  2. Use the Business and Facilities Search to query businesses.

 

Businesses outside the US

Add Records from Orbis to GIS software:

  1. Query companies in Orbis using the available criteria. Click View Results when you are finished.
  2. Click Add/Remove columns and add Latitude and Longitude in addition to any others you want. Some locations outside of the US do not have latitude and longitude available. Click Apply.
  3. Click the Excel option and Export. There is a limit on the file size you can download, so the number of records will depend on the overall size of your files based on the number of columns you have added. You can generally download a several thousand records per file. If your file exceeds the limit you will be able to download in batches.
  4. Keep Orbis open until your file downloads. This may take some time if the file is large.
  5. Open the file and remove any formatting or special characters (such as parentheses, periods, etc.) from the column headers. If you will be using QGIS, save the file as a .csv.
  6. Add the data in ArcGIS Pro or in QGIS. The coordinate system is WGS84.

 

Query businesses outside the US in ArcGIS Pro:

  1. Set the data source to your country of interest by selecting it from the portal options in the Data Source window.
  2. Use the Business and Facilities Search to query businesses.

Additional Business Data