# Germany Business Email Finder — Gelbe Seiten, MX-Checked (`leadharbor/germany-business-email-finder`) Actor

NOT WORKING (14 Oct 2026): Gelbe Seiten currently blocks requests from Apify servers (HTTP 403), so runs return an error row and are not charged. Find German businesses with MX-checked emails, phone, address from public Gelbe Seiten pages. $0.004 per lead with email. Plain HTTP, no login.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/leadharbor/germany-business-email-finder.md
- **Developed by:** [Mohammed Samaan](https://apify.com/leadharbor) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $4.00 / 1,000 lead with mx-checked emails

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Germany Business Email Finder — Gelbe Seiten, MX-Checked

Give it a **category** and a **city** (for example `zahnarzt` in `berlin`). It reads the public Gelbe Seiten (gelbeseiten.de) result pages and returns one row per business: **name, address, phone, website and an email**, with the email's domain **MX-checked**.

Plain HTTP only. No browser, no proxy, no login, no accounts or cookies. Logged-out public pages only.

**Price: $0.004 per lead with an MX-checked email** (plus $0.001 per run start). Rows without an email, with an email whose domain has no MX records, repeated emails and error rows are returned but **not charged**.

### How it works

1. Opens the public Gelbe Seiten list for your category and city and pages through it, politely (about one request per second).
2. Takes the email from the list entry or from the business's detail page (the contact `mailto:` link).
3. If Gelbe Seiten has no email for a business but lists its website, it opens the homepage and the Impressum / Kontakt page and looks for an address there.
4. Checks the email's domain for MX records (MX check = asking the domain whether it can receive mail).

### What "MX-checked" means (and does not mean)

`emailStatus` is one of:

| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `mx-ok` | The email's domain has mail (MX) records. |
| `no-mx` | The domain has no MX records. |
| `none` | No email was found for this business. |

An MX check does **not** prove the mailbox exists or that a message will arrive. Treat the list like any scraped list: send in small batches and watch your own bounce rate.

### Input

| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| `category` | German category word as on gelbeseiten.de: `zahnarzt`, `rechtsanwalt`, `steuerberater`, `friseur`, `elektriker` … |
| `city` | German city: `berlin`, `hamburg`, `münchen` (or `muenchen`), `frankfurt am main` … |
| `maxResults` | Businesses per search, 1 to 500 (default 25). |
| `searches` | Optional list for several searches in one run: `[{"category":"zahnarzt","city":"berlin","maxResults":50}, ...]`. Up to 50 searches and 2,000 businesses per run. When filled, `category`/`city` are ignored. |
| `onlyWithEmail` | Drop businesses with no email (default off). |

If a category/city pair does not exist on Gelbe Seiten you get one row with an `error` field explaining it; nothing is charged.

### Example

Input: `{"category":"zahnarzt","city":"berlin","maxResults":5}`

```json
{
  "name": "Zahnarztpraxis Petra Hartmann",
  "category": "Zahnärzte",
  "email": "info@zahnaerztin-neukoelln.de",
  "emailStatus": "mx-ok",
  "emailSource": "directory-listing",
  "phone": "030 6 24 31 33",
  "address": "Friedelstr. 14, 12047 Berlin (Neukölln)",
  "website": "https://www.zahnaerztin-neukoelln.de",
  "city": "Berlin",
  "postalCode": "12047",
  "detailUrl": "https://www.gelbeseiten.de/gsbiz/5f06ccb6-068f-4b36-91a4-63113f066676",
  "searchCategory": "zahnarzt",
  "searchCity": "berlin",
  "collectedAt": "2026-10-06"
}
```

`emailSource` tells you where the address came from: `directory-listing`, `directory-detail` or `website`.

### Limits

- Not every business publishes an email. In a 65-business test (zahnarzt, Berlin) 57 had an MX-ok email; other categories and cities will differ.
- Only what Gelbe Seiten shows publicly is returned. Gelbe Seiten decides how many results a category/city search exposes.
- Gelbe Seiten may slow down or block heavy use. If it does, the run stops that search, returns an error row and keeps the rows already collected.
- Phone numbers and addresses are returned as printed in the directory.

### Data protection (GDPR)

This Actor returns business contact data that businesses published in a public directory. It is a data collection tool, not legal advice. **You are responsible for how you use the data**, including whether and how you may contact a given business under GDPR, the German UWG (unfair competition law) and any other rules that apply to your outreach. Check the rules for your own use case before you send anything.

### Related actors

UAE, UK and USA Business Email Finder, and Bulk Email Verifier, from the same publisher.

# Actor input Schema

## `searches` (type: `array`):

One entry per search. Each entry is an object like {"category": "zahnarzt", "city": "berlin", "maxResults": 50}. Category and city are written as on gelbeseiten.de (German, e.g. zahnarzt, rechtsanwalt, steuerberater; berlin, muenchen or münchen, hamburg). Use this for several searches in one run.

## `category` (type: `string`):

German business category as used on gelbeseiten.de, e.g. zahnarzt, rechtsanwalt, steuerberater, friseur, elektriker. Ignored when Searches is filled.

## `city` (type: `string`):

German city, e.g. berlin, hamburg, muenchen, köln. Ignored when Searches is filled.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

How many businesses to return per search (1 to 500). Start small: every listing without a directory email costs extra page fetches.

## `onlyWithEmail` (type: `boolean`):

Drop businesses where no email was found. You are only charged for rows with an MX-checked email either way.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searches": [
    {
      "category": "zahnarzt",
      "city": "berlin",
      "maxResults": 25
    }
  ],
  "maxResults": 25,
  "onlyWithEmail": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per business: name, address, phone, website and MX-checked email.

## `resultsUi` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searches": [
        {
            "category": "zahnarzt",
            "city": "berlin",
            "maxResults": 25
        }
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("leadharbor/germany-business-email-finder").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "searches": [{
            "category": "zahnarzt",
            "city": "berlin",
            "maxResults": 25,
        }] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("leadharbor/germany-business-email-finder").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searches": [
    {
      "category": "zahnarzt",
      "city": "berlin",
      "maxResults": 25
    }
  ]
}' |
apify call leadharbor/germany-business-email-finder --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,leadharbor/germany-business-email-finder"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/WeijDIhAbXmllmBxf/builds/gdBPd0MzGimtvT4D0/openapi.json