BBB Scraper

Extract business profiles from Better Business Bureau (BBB.org) — the trust and accountability platform with 5.4 million registered businesses across the United States and Canada. Get BBB ratings, accreditation status, complaint history, customer reviews, owner info, license numbers and full contact details.

Why use BBB Scraper?

BBB data combines three things no other source provides together: accreditation status (paid and selective — signals business credibility), verified complaint history (harder to fake than Google reviews), and A+ to F composite ratings based on 13 factors. This makes BBB data essential for due diligence, vendor vetting and competitive intelligence.

What data can you extract from BBB?

Search mode (default — no detail pages needed)

From the search results page: business name, BBB profile URL, BBB ID, BBB rating (A+ through F), accreditation status, city/state, phone number, business categories, and search metadata.

Detail mode (enable scrapeDetails)

Fetch each profile page for: years in business, business start date, business type (LLC, Corporation, etc.), number of employees, owner/principal name, license numbers, email (auto-decoded from Cloudflare protection), website URL, complaint counts (total, last 3 years, last 12 months, resolved), customer review count and average rating, accreditation start date, service areas, social media links (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram), government actions, and full business description.

How much does BBB Scraper cost?

Mode	Speed	Approximate cost
Search only	~20 results/page	~$2 per 1,000 businesses
With details	+1 request per business	~$6 per 1,000 businesses

Example output

Search mode

{
  "businessName": "Priority Roofing of Dallas",
  "profileUrl": "https://www.bbb.org/us/tx/dallas/profile/roofing-contractors/priority-roofing-of-dallas-0875-90719612",
  "bbbId": "90719612",
  "bbbRating": "A+",
  "isAccredited": true,
  "city": "Dallas",
  "state": "TX",
  "phone": "(214) 555-0198",
  "categories": ["Roofing Contractors"]
}

With detail scraping

{
  "accreditationSince": "03/15/2018",
  "email": "info@priorityroofing.com",
  "website": "https://www.priorityroofing.com",
  "yearsInBusiness": 12,
  "businessType": "LLC",
  "ownerName": "John Martinez",
  "licenseNumbers": ["TX-ROC-456789"],
  "complaintsTotal": 3,
  "complaintsLast3Yrs": 1,
  "complaintsResolved": 3,
  "reviewCount": 47,
  "averageReviewRating": 4.8,
  "socialMedia": {
    "facebook": "https://facebook.com/priorityroofing",
    "linkedin": "https://linkedin.com/company/priority-roofing"
  }
}

Input parameters

Quick start

{
  "keyword": "roofing contractor",
  "location": "Texas",
  "maxResults": 50
}

Full input reference

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
searchUrls	array	[]	Direct BBB search URLs — overrides keyword/location
keyword	string	""	Search term: "roofing contractor", "HVAC", "plumber"
location	string	""	City/state or ZIP: "Dallas, TX", "Texas", "75201"
country	string	USA	USA or CAN
accreditedOnly	boolean	false	Only BBB-accredited businesses
sort	string	Relevance	Relevance, Rating, Distance, Name
scrapeDetails	boolean	false	Fetch profile pages for complaints, reviews, owner info
maxResults	integer	100	Total business cap. 0 = unlimited
maxPages	integer	10	Pages per search (~20 results/page)
requestDelay	integer	1500	Delay between requests (ms)
maxConcurrency	integer	1	Parallel requests (keep at 1)

Search examples

By trade and state:

{ "keyword": "HVAC contractor", "location": "California" }

By trade and city:

{ "keyword": "electrician", "location": "Chicago, IL" }

Accredited only, sorted by rating:

{ "keyword": "home builder", "location": "Florida", "accreditedOnly": true, "sort": "Rating" }

Direct URL with category:

{
  "searchUrls": ["https://www.bbb.org/search?find_text=Home+Builders&find_loc=Los+Angeles,+CA&find_country=USA"]
}

How to scrape BBB business profiles

1. Click Try for free to open BBB Scraper in Apify Console
2. Enter a search keyword (e.g. "roofing contractor") and location (e.g. "Texas")
3. Enable scrapeDetails for complaints, reviews, owner info and license numbers
4. Click Start and download results as JSON, CSV or Excel

Run programmatically via Apify API, schedule recurring runs, or integrate with Zapier, Make, Google Sheets and 100+ platforms.

Important: Rate limiting and proxy requirements

BBB.org uses Cloudflare protection. To get reliable results:

• Residential proxies are required — the default input uses Apify residential proxies
• Keep requestDelay at 1500ms or higher — lower values trigger blocks
• Keep maxConcurrency at 1 — parallel requests trigger rate limiting
• The scraper retries automatically — 403/429 responses are retried up to 3 times
• Cloudflare email protection is handled — encoded emails are decoded automatically

Use cases for BBB data

Contractor due diligence — Cross-reference state license records (Virginia DPOR, Minnesota DLI) with BBB complaint history. A contractor may have an active license but a pattern of unresolved complaints — BBB reveals what license databases don't.

Vendor vetting — Procurement teams check BBB ratings, complaint resolution rates and accreditation before awarding contracts.

Insurance underwriting — Carriers use BBB complaint history and rating to assess risk when writing contractor policies. High complaint-to-revenue ratios signal claims risk.

B2B sales intelligence — BBB-accredited businesses signal financial stability and professional standards. A+ rated firms have higher close rates for B2B sales.

Competitive intelligence — Monitor competitors' BBB profiles for new complaints, rating changes and government actions.

Franchise screening — Evaluate franchise candidates' business history through BBB records. Unresolved complaints at a previous business are a red flag.

Reputation monitoring — Track your own BBB profile and competitors' profiles with scheduled runs to catch new complaints early.

Legal research — Complaint pattern analysis for class action research, regulatory investigations and investigative journalism.

Output fields reference

Field	Source	Description
businessName	Search	Company name
profileUrl	Search	BBB profile URL
bbbId	Search	BBB business identifier
bbbRating	Search	A+ through F rating
isAccredited	Search	BBB accreditation status
accreditationSince	Detail	Accreditation start date
address, city, state, zipCode	Both	Location
phone	Search	Business phone
email	Detail	Contact email (Cloudflare decoded)
website	Detail	Business website
categories	Search	Business categories
yearsInBusiness	Detail	Operating years
businessType	Detail	LLC, Corporation, etc.
ownerName	Detail	Owner/principal name
licenseNumbers	Detail	Professional license numbers
complaintsTotal	Detail	All-time complaints
complaintsLast3Yrs	Detail	Complaints in 3 years
complaintsLast12Mo	Detail	Complaints in 12 months
complaintsResolved	Detail	Resolved complaints
reviewCount	Detail	Customer review count
averageReviewRating	Detail	Average review (1-5)
socialMedia	Detail	Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram
serviceAreas	Detail	Service coverage areas

Integrations

BBB Scraper works with the full Apify ecosystem: API access from Python/Node.js/PHP, webhooks, Google Sheets export, Zapier/Make automation, and Slack/email notifications.

Limitations

• USA and Canada only (BBB.org coverage)
• Residential proxies required — Cloudflare blocks datacenter IPs
• Complaints, reviews and owner info require scrapeDetails: true
• Some emails are Cloudflare-protected — auto-decoded but not available on all profiles
• Rate limiting may slow large scrapes — use higher request delays for 500+ results