The Google Maps API can be used to geocode locations in Python, which involves retrieving the latitude and longitude coordinates from a database that contains incomplete location data. This is achieved by using the Geocoding API, which has an excellent tutorial available on RapidAPI.com. The process involves querying a local MySQL database to pull a list of location records needing latitude or longitude, constructing an API call for each record, calling the Google Maps Geocoding API to retrieve the coordinates, and updating the database records with the new information. This can be done using a Python script that interacts with the database and communicates with the geocoding API. The process is useful for businesses that want to manage their locations by name and address, without having to ask clients if they know any geolocations.