A method for switching a mode by a terminal in a Location Based Service (LBS) system based on Visible Light Communication (VLC). The method includes determining whether a visible light signal is received, and if so, determining whether the visible light signal is received from a transmission device; if the visible light signal is received, receiving data using the visible light signal; acquiring identification information of the transmission device from the received data; comparing location information corresponding to the identification information of the transmission device with pre-stored map information; and displaying map data corresponding to the location information.