Filter by geo radius

Filter search results to only include documents within a specified distance from a geographic point.

The _geoRadius filter returns documents located within a circular area defined by a center point and a radius. This is the most common geo filter, useful for “find nearby” features like store locators, restaurant finders, or service area lookups.

Syntax

_geoRadius(lat, lng, distanceInMeters)

Parameter	Type	Description
lat	Float	Latitude of the center point
lng	Float	Longitude of the center point
distanceInMeters	Integer	Radius of the search area in meters

The distance is always expressed in meters. For example, use 2000 for a 2 km radius or 500 for 500 meters.

Filter by radius

The following example searches for restaurants within 2 km of central Milan (latitude 45.472735, longitude 9.184019):

cURL

curl \
  -X POST 'MEILISEARCH_URL/indexes/restaurants/search' \
  -H 'Content-type:application/json' \
  --data-binary '{ "filter": "_geoRadius(45.472735, 9.184019, 2000)" }'

Meilisearch returns all documents with a _geo location inside the specified circle:

{
  "hits": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "Nàpiz' Milano",
      "address": "Viale Vittorio Veneto, 30, 20124, Milan, Italy",
      "type": "pizza",
      "rating": 9,
      "_geo": {
        "lat": 45.4777599,
        "lng": 9.1967508
      },
      "_geoDistance": 1532
    },
    {
      "id": 3,
      "name": "Artico Gelateria Tradizionale",
      "address": "Via Dogana, 1, 20123 Milan, Italy",
      "type": "ice cream",
      "rating": 10,
      "_geo": {
        "lat": 45.4632046,
        "lng": 9.1719421
      },
      "_geoDistance": 1343
    }
  ]
}

Understanding _geoDistance

When you use _geoRadius, Meilisearch automatically includes a _geoDistance field in each result. This value represents the distance in meters between the document’s location and the center point of your radius filter.

_geoDistance is a computed field that only appears in search results. It is not stored in your documents and cannot be used as a filter.

Combine with other filters

You can combine _geoRadius with any other filter using AND and OR operators. The following example finds only pizzerias within 2 km of central Milan:

cURL

curl \
  -X POST 'MEILISEARCH_URL/indexes/restaurants/search' \
  -H 'Content-type:application/json' \
  --data-binary '{ "filter": "_geoRadius(45.472735, 9.184019, 2000) AND type = pizza" }'

{
  "hits": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "Nàpiz' Milano",
      "address": "Viale Vittorio Veneto, 30, 20124, Milan, Italy",
      "type": "pizza",
      "rating": 9,
      "_geo": {
        "lat": 45.4777599,
        "lng": 9.1967508
      },
      "_geoDistance": 1532
    }
  ]
}

Common radius values

Use case	Radius
Walking distance	1000 (1 km)
Short drive	5000 (5 km)
City-wide	15000 (15 km)
Regional	50000 (50 km)

Geo search overview

Learn about all geo search capabilities in Meilisearch.

Search API reference

Full reference for the search endpoint and filter parameter.