1. A computer-implemented method for processing a query for points of interest (POIs) using a hierarchical grid structure representing a geographic area, the method comprising: receiving a query for POIs from a user workstation; defining a query footprint for the query based on a location corresponding to the query and the hierarchical grid structure, wherein the query footprint comprises query spatial identifiers over one or more of a plurality of levels of the hierarchical grid structure; matching the query spatial identifiers with one or more POI spatial identifiers in a plurality of indexes for the hierarchical grid structure; calculating scores based on the results of matching; and providing a list representing one or more POIs to the user workstation based on the scores.