What is a geocoding API?

A geocoding API is a digital tool that relates addresses or place names with geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude). Geocoding APIs can also provide property information for a given address or location, often tied to the parcel of land, its hazard risk profile, or Census demographics. Because geocoding APIs are accessible through cloud-based services, they provide scalable, real-time solutions that can easily be integrated into existing workflows and software platforms.

By linking descriptive location data to precise map coordinates, organizations can integrate real-world spatial context into their systems and applications without hosting or maintaining a large address database. This capability enables a wide range of use cases, from validating customer addresses to property risk assessment to routing and other location-based analyses. 

Different industries apply geocoding APIs in ways that directly support their core missions. For instance, property and casualty (P&C) insurance carriers use geocoding to accurately locate insured assets, assess exposure to risks like floods or wildfires, and streamline underwriting processes. Similarly, telecommunications providers rely on geocoding to identify broadband serviceable locations (BSLs), map customer addresses to service coverage areas, and optimize network infrastructure placement. Geocoding is also used by the public sector, as government agencies leverage geospatial address data for emergency response coordination, public service delivery, and election operations, ensuring resources are directed efficiently. In each case, geocoding APIs make it possible to efficiently and accurately link address and location information for critical context.

Types of geocoding APIs

As geocoding is one of the most foundational geospatial operations, underpinning consumer-facing applications and industry-specific workflows alike, a variety of APIs exist for users to choose from. 

When selecting an API, users must determine a few main objectives: 

• What format should the data returned by the API be in? (i.e., JSON, XML, etc.)
  
  
• Is batch API processing required?
  
  
• What information they need (i.e., should API calls return more than geographic coordinates, such as building footprints, flood risk scores, unique identifiers for entities, etc.?)
  
  
• The level of precision required (i.e., should addresses be associated with buildings, parcels, streets, etc.?)

Levels of precision in geocoding APIs

Linking address strings to geographic coordinates is not as simple as it may seem. This complexity leads some geocoders to only plot address points on a street segment or parcel centroid rather than on a property structure itself. While lower accuracy geocodes may be sufficient for some applications, it’s important to select a geocoding API that best aligns to the level of precision needed for a specific use case.

Not sure where to start? This guide compares the accuracy and precision of different geocoding methods.

Ecopia’s Building-Based Geocoding solution provides a suite of APIs to choose from based on the information needed for each address or location. These APIs are powered by our database of 270M+ primary and secondary addresses and 178M+ building footprints, enabling addresses to be accurately geocoded to property structures 97% of the time (the industry standard for geocoding accuracy is 58%). 

Our unique building-based approach to geocoding, also known as rooftop geocoding, is made possible by our creation of the first and only complete map of buildings in the US. Leveraging our AI map engine, Ecopia extracts building footprint data from the latest geospatial imagery with 97.5% geometric accuracy. Ecopia’s extensive network of global imagery providers ensures building footprints are kept up-to-date to reflect real-world change. These building footprints are appended to best-in-class address data that has been cleaned and standardized with rooftop-level accuracy. 

Ecopia also appends building footprint geometry, parcel information, change detection insights, Census block groups, and more for even deeper property insights. Our comprehensive network of unique identifiers for addresses, building footprints, and parcels makes it easy to understand complex property relationships and facilitate stronger master data management. 

Ecopia’s Building-Based Geocoding solution is comprised of five APIs so users can select which one is best for their particular application. Batch processing is available, and while data is by default returned as JSON, other data formats can be requested. Learn more about each API below.

Geocoding API

Ecopia’s Geocoding API is a traditional ‘forward geocoding’ solution that allows users to query a location by address string and receive information about its latitude and longitude coordinates and associated building footprint(s).

Data fields returned through the Geocoding API include:

• Latitude and longitude coordinates of the address
• Cleaned and standardized, formatted address
• Parsed address fields
• Residential or business address classification
• County FIPS code and name
• Unique and persistent IDs for the address, each associated building footprint, and associated parcel
• Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN) for the associated parcel
• Total number of building footprints located within the parcel
• Total square footage of building footprints located within the parcel
• Building footprint and parcel geometry (in WKT format)
• Confidence score, interpolation information, and approximation information

The functionality of the Geocoding API is one of the most common workflows in the geospatial industry. In fact, geocoding can be found in many popular consumer-facing mapping applications or navigation systems, enabling users to locate places on a map by searching an address.

Geocoding Typeahead API

Ecopia’s Geocoding Typeahead API provides users with the same information as the forward geocoder, but also prompts users with possible addresses as they start to type in their search.

Data fields returned through the Geocoding Typeahead API include:

• Latitude and longitude coordinates of the address
• Cleaned and standardized, formatted address
• Parsed address fields
• Residential or business address classification
• County FIPS code and name
• Unique and persistent IDs for the address, each associated building footprint, and associated parcel
• Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN) for the associated parcel
• Total number of building footprints located within the parcel
• Total square footage of building footprints located within the parcel
• Building footprint and parcel geometry (in WKT format)
• Confidence score, interpolation information, and approximation information

The Geocoding Typeahead API is often used to power map search functionality as it provides a smoother user experience for those searching for an address. For instance, a user looking to see if their property is serviceable by a telecommunications provider can see possible matches for their address as they type, allowing them to select one and move through their search process more quickly.

Reverse Geocoding API

For users who want to search for an address using the geographic coordinates of either a specific point or an entire region, Ecopia has a Reverse Geocoding API. 

Data fields returned through the Reverse Geocoding API include:

• Cleaned and standardized, formatted address(es)
• Parsed address fields
• Latitude and longitude coordinates for each associated address
• Residential or business address classification(s)
• County FIPS code(s) and name(s)
• Unique and persistent IDs for each associated address, building footprint, and parcel
• Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN) for the associated parcel
• Total number of building footprints located within the parcel
• Total square footage of building footprints located within the parcel
• Building footprint and parcel geometry (in WKT format)
• Confidence score, interpolation information, and approximation information

Reverse geocoding is helpful when geographic information is available, but not address data. As an example, the Reverse Geocoding API can be used to identify all of the addresses that fall within the coordinates of a fire hazard severity zone, helping insurance providers and public safety organizations alike communicate fire prevention strategies to property owners.

Parcel Footprints API

Parcel geometry can be queried using Ecopia’s Parcel Footprints API to provide the geocoded address points and building footprints found on that parcel. The Parcel Footprints API also returns contextual information about the property, such as change detection insights for buildings and FEMA flood zone classifications.

Data fields returned through the Parcel Footprints API include:

• Unique and persistent ID for the parcel
• Latitude and longitude coordinates of each associated address
• Total number of building footprints located within the parcel
• Building footprint geometry (in WKT format)
• Change detection status
• FEMA flood zone classification

Querying data by parcel is important when understanding a property’s entire profile, especially when multiple structures or addresses are located on that parcel. This is common when a P&C insurance carrier is pricing a renewal policy. Conducting an analysis by parcel enables the carrier to identify how many buildings are located on that property, and if there have been any changes since the policy was previously quoted that may impact the renewal price.

Parcel Details API

Users who would like to search by parcel and also receive full address information can leverage Ecopia’s Parcel Details API. Searching by Ecopia parcel ID, users can receive all of Ecopia’s property data for a parcel, including building footprints, geocoded address points, Census information, and more.

Data fields returned through the Parcel Details API include:

• Unique and persistent IDs for the parcel and each associated address and building footprint
• Cleaned and standardized, formatted address(es)
• Parsed address fields
• Latitude and longitude coordinates
• Residential or business address classification(s)
• County FIPS code(s) and name(s)
• Total number of building footprints located within the parcel
• Total square footage of building footprints located within the parcel
• Building footprint geometry (in WKT format)
• Change detection status
• FEMA flood zone classification
• US Census block and block group
• Confidence score, interpolation information, and approximation information

The context provided by the Parcel Details API enables users to understand everything there is to know about a specific property. For example, P&C carriers developing risk profiles across their book of business can efficiently quantify flood risk across multiple properties without having to overlay flood hazard data themselves.

Getting started with Building-Based Geocoding

Ecopia’s Building-Based Geocoding APIs are currently leveraged by P&C insurance carriers, telecommunications providers, government agencies, and technology companies for a variety of geospatial workflows. If your organization requires additional data for geocoding, let us know - we’re happy to discuss opportunities for custom solutions. 

To learn more and test out some sample API calls, get in touch with our team.