IP geolocation API

What it checks

You send an IP address, usually the one a form or order was submitted from. Provero returns the estimated location associated with that connection: country, region, city, postcode area and coordinates.

Add the address or postcode the customer gave you and enable geoMatch, and the response also says whether the IP's city and country match that address and how far apart the two locations are. Use it to spot submissions that come from somewhere unexpected, such as a lead form completed from another country, so they can be reviewed.

The location is an estimate for the connection, not the position of a person or device. Mobile networks, corporate networks and VPNs can route traffic through a location some distance from the user. IP geolocation does not check whether a postal address exists. For that, use UK address validation (PAF) or UK address lookup (PAF).

What it returns

• Estimated location

  Country, region, city and postcode area associated with the IP address.

• Coordinates

  Latitude and longitude for the estimated location.

• Country and city match

  With an address and geoMatch enabled, whether the IP's country and city match those of the supplied address.

• Distance

  With an address and geoMatch enabled, the distance between the IP's estimated location and the supplied address, in kilometres and miles.

Distance and match results are returned only when an address is supplied with geoMatch enabled. When they are missing, the comparison was not made, which is not the same as a mismatch.

When to use it

• Lead quality review

  Flag leads submitted from a country or region you do not expect, without automatically rejecting them.

• Checkout and sign-up

  Compare the connection's estimated location with the billing or delivery address and route large differences to review.

• Fraud screening

  Add location context to a risk review alongside IP fraud detection and your own signals.

• Historical analysis

  Upload a file of IP addresses to see where past submissions were estimated to come from.

How to read the result

A match is consistency between two pieces of information. Use it as one input to your rules or review, not as confirmation of the customer or of a precise location.

API & bulk usage

Call the API at the point of submission with the IP the request came from, or upload a file of IP addresses through the bulk uploader to review existing records.

• ip is required.
• To compare locations, send address (an address or postcode) and set geoMatch to true. An address that cannot be resolved returns a validation error rather than a mismatch.
• To run IP geolocation with other checks in one call, use Multi-validation with a geoip block.

Example request and response

POST https://api.provero.io/api/fraud-check/geoip

{
  "ip": "198.51.100.7",
  "address": "LS1 4AP",
  "geoMatch": true
}

{
  "country": "United Kingdom",
  "regionName": "England",
  "city": "Manchester",
  "zip": "M1",
  "lat": "53.4808",
  "lon": "-2.2426",
  "ip": "198.51.100.7",
  "distance": {
    "km": 58.2,
    "mi": 36.2
  },
  "geoMatch": {
    "country": true,
    "city": false
  }
}

Illustrative example using a documentation IP address and an example Leeds postcode. The values are not a real result. Here the country matches and the city does not, with the estimated location around 58 km away: a difference to weigh, not a failure.

Pricing

IP geolocation starts at £0.008 per request and reduces to £0.0015 at volume.

Paid from a prepaid balance that you can spend across any check. See current rates.

Need volume pricing? Email pricing@provero.io.

Related checks

No single check settles whether a record can be trusted. These are the ones people usually run alongside IP geolocation, each answering a different question about the same record.

• IP fraud detection Identify VPN, proxy and Tor connections, so you know when an IP location is unlikely to describe the user.
• UK address validation (PAF) Validate the postal address itself against Royal Mail PAF. IP geolocation does not check addresses.