Performing location-aware search involves intercepting a network request targeted for an Internet-based search engine. The network request includes a location-dependent query containing a location term, and the location term cannot be used by the search engine to positively determine a target location. A location descriptor that can be used by the search engine to positively determine a target location is determined via a location database. The location database may include a location sensor such as GPS. The network request is modified to replace the location term with the location descriptor, and the modified network request is sent to the search engine.