Cold outreach usually fails because it's obviously generic. AI-powered prospecting platforms like Apollo.io or Clay charge $99-300+/month to fix that, bundling a contact database you may not even need. This n8n workflow isolates the part that actually matters: give it a niche (e.g. "plumber", "real estate agent") and a city, and it finds real local businesses, pulls their actual rating and review count, and has AI draft a short outreach message that references specifics from their real profile.

What it does: takes niche + city as input via a simple form, searches for matching local businesses and pulls name/rating/review count/website, drafts a personalized 3-4 sentence outreach opener for each grounded in their real rating/reviews, and saves every lead + drafted message to a Google Sheet ready for you to review and send manually.

What's included: full n8n workflow file (.json), setup notes inline in the workflow, an editable AI prompt already tuned to avoid generic filler and invented statistics, and a Google Sheets lead template structure.

Requirements: a running n8n instance, a Google Maps Platform API key with Places API enabled (Google gives a free monthly credit), a free Groq API account, and a Google account for the lead sheet. No coding needed.

Best for freelancers and agencies doing outbound lead generation who want a faster first draft, not full automation of sending — this tool is human-in-the-loop by design, it drafts, you review and send.