Lead Generation MCP Server — AI Agent Lead Gen Tools

The first dedicated lead generation MCP server for AI agents. Give Claude, GPT-4, Cursor, or any Model Context Protocol client access to a complete B2B lead generation toolkit — business leads, hiring intent signals, building permits, Amazon product research, and AI brand monitoring — all from a single persistent endpoint.

Built by Sam S. (samstorm on Apify).

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Why This Exists

Lead generation is repetitive, structured work — exactly what AI agents excel at. But most agents lack direct access to lead data sources. This MCP server bridges that gap: connect once, then let your agent prospect, research, and build lists autonomously without you touching a spreadsheet.

This is not a batch scraper. It's a live MCP server that stays running on Apify's infrastructure and responds to tool calls in real time, just like calling a function.

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Key Features

• 5 lead generation tools in one endpoint — no wiring up separate actors or APIs
• Verified contacts — emails, phone numbers, and addresses from Google Maps with DNS/SMTP verification
• Hiring intent signals — surface companies actively spending on headcount as a buying trigger
• Building permit data — target active renovation properties across 6 major US cities
• Amazon product intelligence — BSR rank, price, reviews, seller count, FBA status for competitive research
• AI share-of-voice tracking — monitor brand mentions in Perplexity AI search results vs. competitors
• Flat $0.05 per tool call — no subscriptions, no seat fees, no minimums
• Works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, LangChain, LlamaIndex, and any MCP HTTP client

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How It Works

This actor runs in Apify Standby mode — a persistent HTTP server that stays alive between requests rather than spinning up per-run. Your MCP client connects once to:

POST https://YOUR-ACTOR-STANDBY-URL/mcp

Each tool call dispatches to the appropriate underlying scraper actor in the samstorm portfolio, waits up to 5 minutes for results, and returns structured data directly — no polling, no dataset IDs to look up.

Sample output (find_business_leads)

[
  {
    "name": "Chicago Family Dentistry",
    "businessType": "Dentist",
    "address": "123 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60601",
    "phone": "+13125550182",
    "email": "info@chicagofamilydentistry.com",
    "website": "https://chicagofamilydentistry.com",
    "rating": 4.8,
    "reviewCount": 214,
    "emailVerified": true
  }
]

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Available Tools

find_business_leads

Find local businesses from Google Maps with verified emails, phone numbers, and addresses. Ideal for outreach campaigns targeting specific niches in specific markets.

Parameter	Type	Description
businessType	string	One of: Dentist, Restaurant, Contractor, Lawyer, Real Estate Agent, Auto Dealer, Wedding Vendor, Financial Advisor
location	string	City and state, e.g. "Austin, TX"
maxResults	number	Max leads to return (default: 10)

Example: { "businessType": "Dentist", "location": "Chicago, IL", "maxResults": 20 }

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find_hiring_companies

Find companies actively posting jobs for a specific role. Job postings are a strong buying signal — companies spending on headcount are primed for software, services, and vendor outreach.

Parameter	Type	Description
jobTitle	string	Role to search for, e.g. "VP of Marketing"
location	string	City and state, e.g. "San Francisco, CA"
maxResults	number	Max companies to return (default: 10)

Example: { "jobTitle": "Sales Development Representative", "location": "New York, NY", "maxResults": 15 }

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find_building_permits

Pull recent building permits from city open-data portals. Contractors and home-service businesses can use this to target properties with active renovations before anyone else does.

Parameter	Type	Description
city	string	One of: chicago, los_angeles, nyc, austin, seattle, san_francisco
permitType	string	One of: all, roofing, hvac, plumbing, electrical, remodel, new_construction
maxResults	number	Max permits to return (default: 20)

Example: { "city": "austin", "permitType": "roofing", "maxResults": 25 }

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research_amazon_products

Look up Amazon products by ASIN. Returns BSR rank, price, review count, average rating, seller count, and FBA status. Use it to identify market gaps, benchmark competitors, or validate product opportunities.

Parameter	Type	Description
asins	string[]	List of Amazon ASINs to research
marketplace	string	Amazon domain (default: amazon.com)

Example: { "asins": ["B08N5WRWNW", "B07ZPKN6YR"], "marketplace": "amazon.com" }

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monitor_brand_in_ai

Check how often a brand appears in Perplexity AI search results across a set of queries. Track share-of-voice against competitors and surface which prompts your brand is winning or losing.

Parameter	Type	Description
brands	string[]	Brand names to track. Use "BrandName (domain.com)" format for citation detection.
prompts	string[]	Search queries to run, e.g. "best CRM software for small business"

Example: { "brands": ["HubSpot (hubspot.com)", "Salesforce (salesforce.com)"], "prompts": ["best CRM for startups", "top sales tools 2026"] }

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Connecting to Claude Desktop

Add to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "lead-gen": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://YOUR-ACTOR-STANDBY-URL/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_API_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

To get your standby URL:

1. Open this actor in Apify Console
2. Go to the Standby tab
3. Copy the base URL and append /mcp

After restarting Claude Desktop, all 5 tools are immediately available. Try: "Find 10 dentist leads in Dallas, TX" — Claude will call the tool and return structured results.

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Connecting Other MCP Clients

This server uses the MCP Streamable HTTP transport. Send POST requests to:

https://YOUR-ACTOR-STANDBY-URL/mcp
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_API_TOKEN
Content-Type: application/json

Compatible clients:

• Cursor — add a remote MCP server under Settings > MCP
• Windsurf — configure via mcp_config.json
• LangChain / LlamaIndex — use any MCP adapter supporting Streamable HTTP
• Custom agents — call the endpoint directly with standard MCP JSON-RPC

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Example Agent Workflows

Once connected, your AI agent can handle complex lead generation tasks autonomously:

• "Find 20 contractor leads in Seattle who might need HVAC work. Pull their emails and phone numbers."
• "Which companies in Austin are hiring sales reps right now? Get me decision-maker contacts."
• "Find all roofing permits filed in Chicago in the last 30 days and build me a prospect list."
• "Look up these ASINs and tell me which product has the best BSR rank: B08N5WRWNW, B07ZPKN6YR."
• "Check whether our brand appears in Perplexity results for 'best email marketing tool' vs. Mailchimp and Klaviyo."
• "Build me a list of 50 dentist leads across Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix — format as CSV."

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Use Cases

Sales teams — Automate prospecting by having your AI agent build targeted lead lists by niche, location, and size directly in your CRM workflow.

Marketing agencies — Run account-based marketing campaigns with fresh, verified contact data pulled on demand.

Contractors and home services — Monitor building permits in real time and reach property owners before competitors.

SaaS founders — Track hiring intent to identify companies in your ICP that are scaling and ready to buy.

E-commerce sellers — Research competitor products on Amazon to find gaps and opportunities before entering a niche.

Brand managers — Monitor AI search share-of-voice and optimize content strategy based on where your brand appears (or doesn't) in AI-generated answers.

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Pricing

$0.05 per tool call.

Each successful tool invocation is billed at a flat $0.05 regardless of result count. No monthly minimums, no subscriptions — pay only for what your agent uses.

The underlying lead-scraper actors that this server orchestrates run on your Apify account and are billed separately at their own per-result rates. See each individual actor's page for details.

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FAQ

Do I need an Apify account? Yes. You need an Apify API token to authenticate requests. The token is passed via the Authorization: Bearer header from your MCP client.

What Apify plan do I need? Orchestrating the underlying actors requires an Apify Starter plan ($39/mo) or higher. The Creator Plan ($1/mo) blocks actor-to-actor calls.

Can I call this as a regular REST API? No. This actor only accepts MCP JSON-RPC requests from MCP-compatible clients. It is not a REST API.

How long do tool calls take? Typically 30–120 seconds depending on result count and the underlying actor. The server waits up to 5 minutes per call.

Which cities are supported for building permits? Chicago, Los Angeles, NYC, Austin, Seattle, and San Francisco. Additional cities may be added in future updates.

Is there a trial? Apify provides $5 in free credits to new users, which covers ~100 tool calls.

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Limitations

• Requires MCP-compatible client — only works with clients that support MCP Streamable HTTP transport.
• Inherits limits of underlying actors — rate limits, anti-bot measures, and data coverage of the samstorm scraper portfolio apply.
• Building permit coverage — limited to 6 US cities.
• Apify token required — runs fail without a valid token in the Authorization header.
• Starter plan required — Creator Plan ($1/mo) cannot run other actors.

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Related Actors

This server orchestrates the samstorm scraper portfolio:

• Dentist Lead Scraper
• Restaurant Lead Scraper
• Contractor Lead Scraper
• Lawyer Lead Scraper
• Real Estate Lead Scraper
• Auto Dealer Lead Scraper
• Wedding Vendor Lead Scraper
• Financial Advisor Lead Scraper
• Hiring Intent Lead Scraper
• Building Permit Lead Scraper