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Fix the "Cannot determine address at this location" error

2 min read Last Updated: October 20, 2026
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GeoDirectory shows “Cannot determine address at this location.” on the add listing form when you set or drag the map pin and the map service sends back no address for that spot. The map works, but the address lookup (geocoding) found nothing it could use.

Why it happens

When the pin moves, GeoDirectory asks the active map service, Google or OpenStreetMap, to turn the pin’s coordinates into a street, city, region and country. Rural addresses, new roads and addresses written in a local format are often missing, and coverage differs between the two services, so an address Google finds can be unknown to OpenStreetMap and the other way round.

Check your map settings

  1. Go to GeoDirectory > Settings > General and look at Maps API in the map settings. It is an advanced setting, so click Show Advanced if you can’t see it.
  2. If you use Google, check that the Google Maps API key is valid and that the Geocoding API is enabled for it in your Google Cloud project. If the key is restricted by HTTP referrer, add a second key in Google Geocoding API Key, because address lookups need their own key in that case.
  3. Try the address again. Searching for the nearest town first and then dragging the pin to the exact spot often works better than typing a full rural address.

More help: Get a Google API key, Maps have stopped working on my site and Use Google for geocoding and OpenStreetMap for map displays.

Let users type the address themselves

If the map services don’t know your addresses at all, you can stop the pin from rewriting the address fields. With the Location Manager add-on, go to GeoDirectory > Settings > Locations and, in the add listing settings, turn on:

  • Disable set address on map from changing address fields
  • Disable move map pin from changing address fields

Users then fill in the address fields by hand and drag the pin to where the place really is. The address is no longer checked against the map, so only use these on directories where the lookup keeps failing. You can also turn on Disable address autocomplete? in the same place if the suggestions keep jumping to the wrong town.

Let users enter GPS coordinates

For vineyards, farms and other places without a street number, coordinates are often easier. Go to Places > Settings > Custom Fields (or the same page for your other post types), open the Address field and turn on Show latitude and longitude. The latitude and longitude boxes then show on the add listing form and users can type the coordinates in directly.

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