Chicago Business Licenses Lookup

This Apify actor provides comprehensive access to Chicago business license data from the official City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection database.

Features

• 🔍 Multiple Search Options: Search by business name, license number, account number, license type, address, or ZIP code
• 📊 Rich Data: Returns complete license information including business details, addresses, license status, dates, and geographic data
• 🆓 Free Data Source: Uses Chicago's official Open Data API (no API key required)
• 📈 Updated Daily: Data is refreshed daily from the official source
• 🎯 Perfect for: Lead generation, compliance checking, competitive research, and market analysis

Input Parameters

• businessName: Search by business name (legal name or DBA). Supports partial matches
• licenseNumber: Direct lookup by exact license number
• accountNumber: Direct lookup by business account number
• licenseType: Filter by license type (e.g., "Limited Business License", "Retail Food Establishment")
• zipCode: Filter results by exact ZIP code
• address: Search by street address (supports partial matches)
• maxResults: Maximum number of results to return (default: 50, max: 1000)
• delayMs: Delay between requests in milliseconds (default: 500ms)

Output Data

Each business license record includes:

Basic Information

• Legal name and DBA name
• License number and ID
• Account number and site number
• License type and description
• Business activity details
• License status

Important Dates

• Application created date
• Application requirements complete date
• Payment date
• License start and expiration dates
• Date issued
• License approved date

Address & Location

• Street address, city, state, ZIP
• Ward, precinct, police district
• Community area and neighborhood
• Latitude/longitude coordinates
• SSA (Special Service Area) info

Additional Details

• Conditional approval status
• Data source and last updated timestamp

Use Cases

Lead Generation

• Find businesses by industry type or license category
• Discover new businesses by recent license issuance
• Target specific geographic areas or ZIP codes

Compliance & Research

• Verify business license status
• Check license expiration dates
• Research competitors in specific areas

Market Analysis

• Analyze business density by area
• Track new business formations
• Study licensing trends over time

Example Searches

Find Coffee Shops

{
  "businessName": "coffee",
  "maxResults": 20
}

Restaurants in Downtown Chicago

{
  "licenseType": "Retail Food Establishment",
  "zipCode": "60601",
  "maxResults": 50
}

Look Up Specific License

{
  "licenseNumber": "3073881"
}

Businesses on Michigan Avenue

{
  "address": "Michigan Ave",
  "maxResults": 100
}

Data Source

This actor uses the official Chicago Open Data portal:

• Dataset: Business Licenses (r5kz-chrr)
• Source: Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection
• Update Frequency: Daily
• Time Period: January 1, 2002 to present
• API: Socrata Open Data API (no authentication required)

Rate Limiting

The actor includes configurable delays between requests to be respectful of the Chicago Open Data API. Default is 500ms between requests.

License Status Codes

• AAI: License was issued
• AAC: License was cancelled during its term
• REV: License was revoked
• REA: License revocation has been appealed

Application Types

• ISSUE: Initial license application
• RENEW: Renewal record
• C_LOC: Change of location
• C_CAPA: Change of capacity
• C_EXPA: Expansion (liquor licenses)
• C_SBA: Change of business activity

Technical Details

• Built with Apify SDK v3
• Uses node-fetch for HTTP requests
• Error handling and retry logic included
• Structured data output optimized for analysis

Support

For questions or issues, please refer to the Chicago Open Data portal documentation or contact the actor maintainer.

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Disclaimer: This actor accesses publicly available data from the City of Chicago. Users should verify critical information with official sources and comply with all applicable terms of use.