Collectors · Lead generation

BBB Scraper API in Python

Businesses from a Better Business Bureau search — name, phone, full address. One POST from Python with query and location, rows back as JSON with 20 fields, $0.002 per delivered business. No proxies or parsers to maintain.

Get an API key See the collector

A Python requests snippet that posts { — A Python requests call to the bbb_businesses collector returns one dict per business, at $0.002 each.

First call

Install, call, read the rows.

pip install requests

The only dependency.

import os, requests

r = requests.post(
    "https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/collectors/bbb_businesses/run",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['QD_API_KEY']}"},
    json={
        "query": "plumber",
        "location": "Chicago, IL",
        "max_results": 60,
    },
    timeout=120,
)
r.raise_for_status()
run = r.json()["payload"]
print(run["count"], "rows,", run["cost"]["usd"], "USD")
for row in run["results"]:
    print(row.get("id"), row.get("name"), row.get("phone"), row.get("street"))

Python: one BBB businesses run (Idraulici a Chicago), printing id, name, phone, street

The key comes from an environment variable, never from the code. The run answers in the same request when it finishes in time; payload.results holds the rows and payload.cost what they cost.

Request parameters

What the collector takes.

Input of the BBB businesses collector
Parameter	Type	Required	Meaning
`query`	string	yes	What to search for, e.g. "plumber" or "roofing".
`location`	string	yes	US city and state, e.g. "Chicago, IL".
`country`	string	no	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code — proxy exit geo and Google locale (gl). Omit for the default pool.
`max_results`	integer	no (default 30)	How many businesses to deliver at most (1–200). You pay only for delivered businesses.

Response fields

20 fields per business.

Fields of each row (business)
Field	Type	What it holds
`rank`	integer	1-based position across pages, after duplicates are removed.
`id`	string, nullable	BBB business id. The same company can appear as both a main profile and a per-location entry — these share an id and are delivered once.
`name`	string	Business name.
`phone`	string, nullable	Phone number as published.
`street`	string, nullable	Street address.
`city`	string, nullable	City.
`state`	string, nullable	State code.
`postal_code`	string, nullable	ZIP code.
`country`	string, nullable	Country code.
`url`	string, nullable	BBB profile URL.
`rating`	string, nullable	BBB letter grade (A+ to F). "NR" when the BBB has not rated the business.
`accredited`	boolean, nullable	True when the business is BBB Accredited.
`phones`	string[], nullable	Every phone number the BBB lists for the business; `phone` is the first.
`category`	string, nullable	Primary type of business as the BBB files it ("Plumber", "General Contractor").
`categories`	string[], nullable	All BBB categories the business is filed under.
`latitude`	number, nullable	Map point latitude as the BBB publishes it.
`longitude`	number, nullable	Map point longitude.
`bureau`	string, nullable	The local BBB that maintains the profile.
`service_areas`	string[], nullable	Areas served (ZIP codes or towns), up to 25.
`out_of_business`	boolean	True when the BBB marks the business as out of business.

Add ?format=csv to the runs endpoint to get the same rows as CSV.

Long runs

Run in the background, then poll.

A run that needs more time can go to the background: send "async": true, get 202 with the run id, and poll the runs endpoint until the status is done. Reading a run is free.

import os, time, requests

H = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['QD_API_KEY']}"}
r = requests.post("https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/collectors/bbb_businesses/run", headers=H,
                  json={**{"query":"plumber","location":"Chicago, IL","max_results":60}, "async": True}, timeout=30)
run_id = r.json()["payload"]["run_id"]
while True:
    run = requests.get(f"https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/collectors/runs/{run_id}", headers=H, timeout=30).json()["payload"]
    if run["status"] in ("done", "failed"):
        break
    time.sleep(5)
print(run["status"], run["count"])

Python: background run and polling

Errors

What can come back, and what is billed.

Collector run errors
Status	Meaning	Billed
`400`	The input does not match the collector (`payload.errors`)	No
`401`	Missing or wrong API key	No
`402`	Balance and free credit do not cover the run: top up	No
`422`	The input can never resolve; retrying the same input cannot help	No
`424`	The run failed at the source (blocked, timed out, layout changed); safe to retry	No
`429`	Rate limit or a per-account brake; wait for `Retry-After`	No

Only delivered rows are billed: a run that delivers nothing costs nothing.

Price

$0.002 per delivered business.

What BBB businesses rows cost at list price
Rows	Cost
1	$0.002
1,000	$2.00
10,000	$20.00

Up to 200 businesses per run; split larger jobs into several runs. The $2 free credit every month covers about 1,000 businesses. No subscription; paid tiers lower the unit price. All collector prices: collector pricing.

Before you run it

Questions developers ask

Is there a free BBB businesses API?

Every account gets $2 of free usage each month, about 1,000 businesses of this collector at $0.002 each, with no card.

Do I have to handle proxies, retries or blocks?

No. The collector runs on our network and handles them; a run blocked at the source returns 424 and is not billed.

How many rows can one run return?

Up to 200 businesses per run (the max_results input, where the collector has one).

Can an AI agent run it?

Yes: the MCP server exposes it as the run_collector tool, with the same input and price. See the MCP server.

Run it on the free credit.

Create an API key, export it as QD_API_KEY and run the example. $0.002 per delivered business, no subscription.

Get an API key BBB Scraper API