Comparative analysis of MCP Server deployment among Amap, Tencent, and Baidu

Written by

Caleb Hayes

Updated on:July-03rd-2025

Amap, Tencent, and Baidu Maps, the three map service providers, have already deployed MCP Servers, providing convenient interfaces for the integration of AI big models with map services. The following is a functional comparison based on the public documents of the three companies. Developers can choose the appropriate MCP Server based on their own needs, technical architecture, and existing map service integration experience.

MCP Protocol Overview

The MCP (Model Context Protocol) protocol is designed to provide a unified specification for the interaction between large AI models and external tools, allowing a tool to run in different large AI models without additional adaptation, greatly reducing development costs and promoting the practical application of AI.

Comparison of MCP Servers from three map service providers

1. Number of covered interfaces

Service Provider	Number of interfaces	Remark
Amap	12 core interfaces	Geographic information services covering all scenarios
Tencent Location Services	14 interfaces	Contains some advanced parameter interfaces
Baidu Map	8 core interfaces	The first map service provider in China compatible with the MCP protocol

2. Comparison of main functions

Functional category	Amap	Tencent Location Services	Baidu Map
Geocoding	✓	✓	✓
Reverse geocoding	✓	✓	✓
Location search/Keyword search	✓	✓	✓
Nearby Search	✓	✓	✓ (Circular area search)
Details Search	✓	✓	✓
Driving route planning	✓	✓	✓
Walking route planning	✓	✓	✓
Cycling route planning	✓	✓	✓
Bus route planning	✓	✓	✓
Distance measurement/matrix	✓	✓	✓ (Batch route calculation)
IP Location	✓	✓	✓
Weather query	✓	✓	✓
Search along the way	✗	✓ (Advanced)	✗
Intelligent sorting of waypoints	✗	✓ (Advanced parameters)	✗
Future route planning	✗	✓ (Advanced parameters)	✗

3. Features and highlights

Amap

• Covering 12 core interfaces, providing full-scenario coverage

Tencent Location Services

• Based on MCP (SSE) method, no need to deploy local services, simple configuration is enough
• Cloud-based services, continuous iterative improvements, no additional operations required by users
• The JSON results are semantically converted to make them easier to understand for large models
• Provides advanced features such as route search, intelligent sorting of waypoints, future route planning, etc.

Baidu Map

• The first map service provider in China compatible with MCP protocol
• Emphasize simple configuration to quickly access map services in large models
• Support IPv6 positioning (need to apply for advanced permissions)

Advantages of SSE Mode

The SSE (Server-Sent Events) mode supported by Tencent location services has the following advantages:

1. Real-time data push : SSE allows the server to push real-time updates to the client, which is very suitable for real-time location, traffic conditions and other data push in map services
2. Lightweight protocol : Compared with WebSocket, SSE is lighter and only requires HTTP connection, which is easy to implement.
3. Automatic reconnection mechanism : The SSE client has a built-in reconnection function, which improves the stability of the service
4. No need to deploy local services : As described in Tencent documents, based on the MCP (SSE) method, developers do not need to deploy local services and can use them with simple configuration
5. Smoother interaction with large AI models : SSE's one-way data flow mode is suitable for large AI models to obtain data from map services, reducing the complexity of interaction

Summary

Tencent location services have obvious advantages in terms of technical implementation (SSE mode) and feature richness, especially for application scenarios that require simplified deployment and real-time data. Baidu Maps emphasizes its first-mover advantage, while Amap provides comprehensive coverage of core functions.