diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/agents/chat/multi_agent_chat/main_agent/system_prompt/prompts/routing.md b/surfsense_backend/app/agents/chat/multi_agent_chat/main_agent/system_prompt/prompts/routing.md
index 2dd079be5..2d69d9b0e 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/app/agents/chat/multi_agent_chat/main_agent/system_prompt/prompts/routing.md
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/agents/chat/multi_agent_chat/main_agent/system_prompt/prompts/routing.md
@@ -27,6 +27,31 @@ can retrieve — retrieve them, then answer with the facts and cite the page.
 Large results are fine: extract and return them, don't ask permission for
 bounded fan-out (≤20 sites) the user already requested.
 
+**Places go to Maps, the open web goes to Search.** Discovering physical
+businesses or venues of a type in a geography ("clinics in X", "tutoring
+centers near Y", lead lists of local businesses) is the Maps specialist's
+job — it returns structured name/address/phone/website per place, where
+web search returns only snippets that need a second pass. Use the Search
+specialist for entities without a storefront (online-only companies,
+software vendors, publications), for facts and current events, and to
+enrich places Maps already found. When a lead list needs both, run Maps
+discovery first, then scrape or search the found websites for contacts.
+
+**Requested-N lists count distinct entities that fit the ask.** When the
+user asks for N leads/items/results, every entry must be a distinct
+*entity* — multiple branches, locations, sub-programs, or pages of the
+same brand or parent organization are ONE entry, not several. A website
+domain is an ownership signal: entries whose pages live on the same parent
+domain (a government portal, a chain's site, a franchise system) share
+that parent and count as one, judged against the parent. Entries must
+also fit the user's stated segment: an item that belongs to an excluded
+category (e.g. a local branch of a large chain when the user asked for
+independents) does not qualify even if a specialist returned it — drop it,
+don't relay it. If qualifying results fall short of N, widen the discovery
+(another specialist call, adjacent geography or segment) to fill the gap
+honestly; if it still falls short, deliver the smaller list with a
+one-line note. An honest 10 beats a padded 15.
+
 **Full datasets become files, not chat.** When the user wants a complete
 large dataset (an entire roster, portfolio, or directory — or asks for a
 CSV/file), do not paste or summarize hundreds of rows: instruct the
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/agents/chat/multi_agent_chat/subagents/builtins/google_maps/system_prompt.md b/surfsense_backend/app/agents/chat/multi_agent_chat/subagents/builtins/google_maps/system_prompt.md
index e7e8e05ab..5684859ff 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/app/agents/chat/multi_agent_chat/subagents/builtins/google_maps/system_prompt.md
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/agents/chat/multi_agent_chat/subagents/builtins/google_maps/system_prompt.md
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ Answer the delegated question from live Google Maps data gathered with your verb
 - Need richer detail (opening hours, popular times, extra contact info): set `include_details=true`.
 - Reviews / sentiment on specific places: call `google_maps_reviews` with the place `urls` or `place_ids`.
 - Batch multiple queries, URLs, or place IDs into one call rather than many single-item calls.
+- Exclusion criteria are strict: when the task excludes a category or brand, drop every place whose name, website domain, or category matches it — a local branch or satellite location of an excluded chain/system is still that chain, never reinterpret it as acceptable. Fill the gap with more or wider queries instead.
+- The website domain is an ownership signal: a place whose site lives on a parent organization's domain (a government portal, a chain's site, a health-system or franchise domain) rather than its own belongs to that parent — judge include/exclude criteria against the parent, and treat multiple locations sharing one parent domain as one organization.
 <include snippet="run_reader"/>
 - Comparison requests: pull the current values, compare against prior values already in this conversation's earlier tool results, and report concrete deltas (added, removed, old -> new).
 </playbook>
diff --git a/surfsense_backend/app/agents/chat/multi_agent_chat/subagents/builtins/google_search/system_prompt.md b/surfsense_backend/app/agents/chat/multi_agent_chat/subagents/builtins/google_search/system_prompt.md
index 8626322a3..1df72cc83 100644
--- a/surfsense_backend/app/agents/chat/multi_agent_chat/subagents/builtins/google_search/system_prompt.md
+++ b/surfsense_backend/app/agents/chat/multi_agent_chat/subagents/builtins/google_search/system_prompt.md
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ Answer the delegated question from live Google Search data gathered with your ve
 - Do not read or extract a specific page's content — return the URLs for the web crawling specialist.
 - Do not generate deliverables or perform connector mutations; return findings for the supervisor to act on.
 - Google Maps places belong to the Google Maps specialist; YouTube belongs to the YouTube specialist.
+- Discovering physical businesses or venues of a type in a geography ("find X businesses in Y") is the Google Maps specialist's job — if that is the whole task, return `status=blocked` with a `next_step` pointing the supervisor to the Maps specialist instead of approximating it from search snippets.
 </out_of_scope>
 
 <safety>