Local Business Change & Event API

Normalize fragmented local public records into one recurring business-change feed. This Actor reads public business-license, building-permit, registration, and compatible JSON/Socrata sources and returns consistent machine-readable events instead of forcing every sales system, data pipeline, or automation to understand each jurisdiction's schema.

What this local business API does

The Actor normalizes records into stable event types such as BUSINESS_LICENSE_ISSUED, TEMPORARY_LICENSE_ISSUED, PROJECT_PERMIT_ISSUED, explicit BUSINESS_CLOSURE events when the source actually says closed, and PUBLIC_RECORD_EVENT as a cautious fallback. A license is never automatically mislabeled as a grand opening.

Who uses it

• B2B sales and lead-generation teams watching new local business signals.
• Agencies and local service providers building prospect lists.
• Market researchers tracking business changes by place or category.
• Developers and automation teams unifying multiple public-record feeds.
• AI-agent workflows that need normalized local business events instead of raw jurisdiction-specific records.

Recurring monitoring

Use a stable stateKey for each independent watchlist. The Actor fingerprints prior records and suppresses unchanged items after the first run. Choose baseline_only when you want to establish state without returning the current backlog, then schedule future runs to receive only meaningful changes.

Filters and cost control

Filter by business/project keywords and location terms. sourceUrls accepts compatible public JSON/Socrata sources; the defaults include Chicago business-license and permit feeds. maxSourceRows caps source pagination, while maxEvents caps emitted dataset rows and therefore limits chargeable results. The SUMMARY record reports source counts, truncation, events found, and events emitted.

Output and integrations

Output includes change type, event type, entity ID/name, project or business address, city/state/ZIP, coordinates when supplied by the source, category, description, status, event date, source type, source URL, confidence, and detection time. Consume the dataset through Apify API, exports, webhooks, schedules, CRM automations, or AI workflows. Public-record events are prospecting signals, not guarantees; verify important records before acting on them.