Method and Apparatus for Probabilistic User Location

A method of delivering location-based information comprises receiving a request including a location indicator from a packet-based network and translating the location indicator into a probabilistic representation of one or more possible locations of a mobile user based on historical data collected from mobile devices. By generating the probabilistic user location representation, the method can be used to deal with the inherent uncertainty in user location data, particularly in a mobile world. In some embodiments, this is done by using validation, context analysis, creation of consistent groups, and probability allocation procedures. Location-based document retrieval can be enabled using the probabilistic user location representation.