The geocode service is the way that you make geocoding available to the web using ArcGIS. Once an address locator is created, the locator can be shared or published as a geocode service on ArcGIS Server. Internet or intranet users can then use the geocode service in web applications, ArcGIS Desktop, ArcGIS Online, and other client applications.
Publishing your address locators
Address locators and composite locators can be published using ArcGIS Server. An address locator is a GIS resource. You can publish it as a service and use the service through a client application. See Publishing a geocode service to learn how to publish a geocode service in ArcCatalog.
Learn more about working with ArcGIS Server
Prior to publishing your locators, there are a few options on managing the locator data in the server. Click the following topics to learn more about managing the service data.
Making your data accessible to ArcGIS Server
About copying data to the server
About registering your data with ArcGIS Server
Accessing the geocode services
Once an address locator is published as a geocode service, it can be accessed by connecting to ArcGIS Server. The geocode services available in the connected GIS Server can then be used for geocoding in ArcMap or ArcCatalog.
A geocode service can also be consumed in a web application. See Using the geocode services to learn more about which web applications you can use to consume the geocode services.