A positioning method includes: collecting and analyzing wireless messages sent by at least one wireless device in a current space to obtain a first characteristic pattern associated with the current space; performing a matching process to match the first characteristic pattern to at least one of a plurality of preset characteristic patterns, each of the plurality of preset characteristic patterns being associated with one of a plurality of spaces; obtaining, if the preset characteristic patterns comprise a second characteristic pattern that matches the first characteristic pattern, space information corresponding to the second characteristic pattern; and determining a position of the current space by using the space information corresponding to the second characteristic pattern. Moreover, each characteristic pattern comprises a correspondence between an identifier of each wireless device in a corresponding space and a signal quality of the wireless device.