Geolocation QR Code Generator

Geolocation QR codes: from a scan to a map pin

A geolocation QR code encodes a pair of coordinates — latitude and longitude — so that scanning it opens the device's default map app with a pin dropped at that exact spot. The user gets instant directions, walking time and driving options, without typing an address or even knowing the venue's name. For tourism boards, real-estate signs, event parking, emergency signage and any location where "find us" is a recurring question, the QR pin turns paper directions into one tap.

The standard encoding is the geo: URI scheme defined by RFC 5870 (2010). It is short, generic and routable to whichever map app the user has set as default — Google Maps on Android, Apple Maps on iOS, Waze, OsmAnd, Organic Maps. A typical payload looks like this:

geo:-23.5505,-46.6333

Those coordinates put a pin in the Sé Cathedral square in central São Paulo. With altitude appended (rarely needed for surface destinations), the syntax becomes geo:lat,lng,altitude, and an optional accuracy parameter is allowed: geo:-23.5505,-46.6333?u=10 means "this point is accurate to 10 metres".

geo: URI versus Google Maps URL

There are two production-ready ways to encode a location in a QR. Each has trade-offs.

geo: (RFC 5870)

The standards-compliant choice. The phone routes the URI to whatever map app the user has installed. Native on iOS 11+ and Android 4.0+. Trade-off: a few older or specialised scanners do not recognise geo: and fall back to plain text.

Google Maps URL

Universal compatibility because every scanner knows what to do with an HTTP URL. The downside is it locks the user into Google Maps even if they prefer Apple Maps or Waze:

https://maps.google.com/?q=-23.5505,-46.6333

For Apple-only audiences (museum in central San Francisco, US luxury hotel) the Apple Maps URL is the symmetric option:

https://maps.apple.com/?ll=-23.5505,-46.6333

OpenStreetMap covers the privacy-conscious or self-hosted use case: https://osm.org/?mlat=-23.5505&mlon=-46.6333.

What3Words: a wordy alternative

What3Words (W3W) encodes any 3×3 metre square on the planet as three dictionary words — ///filled.count.soap for example. The format is proprietary and requires the W3W app or website to resolve, but emergency services around the world adopted it because dictating three words over a noisy phone line is more reliable than reading off six decimal places. Brazilian SAMU and several PMs have started using W3W coordinates in rescue dispatch. For a tourist QR pointing to a landmark, geo: is simpler; for a backcountry rescue marker, W3W is the better choice.

GPS accuracy and decimal precision

Outdoor GPS on a modern smartphone hits 5–10 metres of horizontal accuracy under open sky, degrading to 20–50 metres in urban canyons and into "we have no idea" indoors. Coordinate precision in the QR itself comes from how many decimal places you include:

• 2 decimal places (~1.1 km): country region.
• 4 decimal places (~11 m): a city block.
• 5 decimal places (~1.1 m): a doorway.
• 6 decimal places (~11 cm): overkill — finer than civilian GPS resolves.
• 7 decimal places (~1 cm): pure noise unless surveyed.

Four to six decimal places covers every practical use. Round trailing zeros if you have to — they consume QR bytes for no information.

Use cases

• Tourism — museum and landmark plaques with a scan-to-navigate QR (Pinacoteca SP, Cristo Redentor RJ access trails).
• Real estate — For Sale sign with a QR to the property pin.
• Event venues — parking entrance, accessible drop-off, festival stages.
• Emergency signage — rural property gate displays the coordinates for SAMU dispatch.
• Bus stops and transit — scan for stop location plus next-bus info.
• Delivery instructions — restaurant sign with coordinates of the back-door pickup for couriers.
• Hiking trailheads — printed coordinates of the trail register and trailhead parking.

Mobile support details

The geo: URI scheme is natively handled by iOS 11 and above (Camera app or Safari pass it to Apple Maps) and by Android 4.0 and above (the system intent picker offers all installed map apps). Older iOS devices will not honour geo: and need the Google or Apple Maps URL fallback; that population is now small enough to ignore for most campaigns. The QR generator on this page lets you choose between the geo: URI and a Google Maps URL.

FAQ

How accurate is the pin after scanning?

Pin position is exactly the coordinates you encoded. The phone's location accuracy (5–10 m outdoors) only matters when the user starts navigation from their current position.

Does iOS support the geo: URI?

Yes, since iOS 11 (2017). The Camera and Safari hand geo: to Apple Maps.

Apple Maps or Google Maps will open?

Whichever the user has set as the default map app. The geo: URI is generic; an HTTPS Google Maps URL locks it to Google.

How many decimal places should I use?

Four to six. Four nails a city block, six is centimetre precision and overshoots civilian GPS.

Will the QR work without internet?

Scanning and opening the map app works offline. Loading the basemap tiles and starting navigation needs a connection unless the user has cached offline maps.