A Placekey is a universal identifier for any physical place, structured as What@Where. The 'What' part identifies a specific point of interest, while the 'Where' part encodes the geographic location. It matters because different systems describe the same place differently. Placekey gives them a common language for matching, sharing, and deduplicating location data.

Placekey's API performs address normalization, comparing your input against authoritative data sources. Even if a customer types '1600 Amphitheater Pkwy' instead of '1600 Amphitheatre Parkway,' the API resolves it to the correct Placekey. The agent leverages this normalization to return accurate results from imperfect input.

The API works best with complete address components, but it can handle subsets. For example, providing just latitude and longitude returns the 'where' Placekey. For address-based lookups, including at least street_address with city and region produces the most accurate results. The agent guides users to provide the right details.

No. Tars sends addresses to Placekey's API in real time and returns results within the conversation. The geocodes, Placekeys, and address components are not cached or stored separately by Tars. Each lookup is performed fresh during the active conversation session.

Placekey supports addresses in the United States and Canada. The API accepts an iso_country_code parameter (US or CA) to specify which country the address belongs to. International expansion is ongoing. For unsupported countries, the agent can still generate a 'where' Placekey from coordinates.

Placekey offers up to 10,000 free queries per day for verified accounts and 1,000 for unverified accounts. For higher volume, paid plans are available. The agent operates within your account's daily limit. If the limit is approached, the agent can be configured to notify your team.

Google Geocoding returns coordinates. Placekey returns a universal identifier that enables matching across datasets. Two different addresses for the same Starbucks produce the same Placekey, but different geocodes might vary slightly. Placekey solves the data-joining problem that geocoding alone cannot address.

Yes. The agent generates Placekeys for both addresses through separate API calls. If both return identical Placekey strings, the locations are the same place regardless of how the addresses were formatted. This is the core use case for deduplication, and it works even when addresses use different abbreviations or formats.