# BBB Scraper — Fast & Enterprise Grade (`thirdwatch/bbb-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Better Business Bureau business profiles and search results — ratings, accreditation, complaints counts, categories. Built for research, diligence, and market intelligence. No login, cookies, or API keys — clean JSON output and pay-per-result pricing.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/thirdwatch/bbb-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Thirdwatch](https://apify.com/thirdwatch) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Lead generation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

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

## BBB Scraper

> **Thirdwatch portfolio:** 5K+ users across 140+ public Actors, 2M+ records delivered, and >99% run success. [Explore all Thirdwatch Actors](https://apify.com/thirdwatch).

> Look up U.S. businesses on BBB — ratings, accreditation, complaint counts, and business details.

### What you get

Look up U.S. businesses on BBB — ratings, accreditation, complaint counts, and business details.

### Why use this BBB scraper

- **Trust signals** — BBB rating, accreditation status, years in business, complaint totals.
- **Search-card fields** — name, location, category, rating, and profile URL per business.
- **Due-diligence ready** — one row per business for vendor screening pipelines.

### Scrape BBB data in minutes

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "iphone 15"
  ],
  "maxResults": 10
}
```

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "running shoes"
  ],
  "maxResults": 10
}
```

### Input parameters

| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---:|---|
| `queries` | Yes | Business categories or names to search, e.g. 'plumber'. |
| `location` | No | City/State filter, e.g. 'Austin, TX'. Default: \`\`. |
| `maxResults` | No | Cap results per search. Default: `10`. |

### Output fields

- `name`
- `profileUrl`
- `query`
- `location`
- `rating`
- `snippet`

#### Example result

```json
{
  "name": "Premier Kitchen & Bath Remodeling",
  "profileUrl": "https://www.bbb.org/us/il/harwood-heights/profile/general-contractor/premier-kitchen-bath-remodeling--0654-90014292/addressId/459601",
  "query": "plumber",
  "location": "chicago",
  "rating": "B",
  "snippet": "Premier Kitchen & Bath Remodeling General Contractor, Painting Contractors, Handyman ..."
}
```

### Common use cases

- Screen US vendors and contractors
- Enrich lead lists with trust ratings
- Monitor complaint counts on partners
- Build local-business reputation datasets

### Compared to alternatives

- **vs other BBB scrapers on the Store** — pay-per-result billing means empty or failed searches cost nothing; you are not charged for a run that returns zero rows.
- **vs building your own** — no proxy management, markup-change maintenance, or infrastructure to run; paste inputs and consume the dataset.

### Limitations

- BBB covers primarily US/Canada businesses.

- Complaint detail text requires the profile page; cards carry summary counts.

- Not all small businesses have BBB profiles.

- Use public data lawfully and respect applicable privacy and platform rules.

### FAQ

**Do I need an account or cookies?**

No — the Actor reads public data only. There is no login to configure and no account to risk.

**What happens when a search returns nothing?**

The run completes with zero (or an explicit error) rows. Per-result billing means you are not charged for empty output.

**Can I run it on a schedule?**

Yes — attach an Apify schedule or use the saved tasks to re-run the same inputs daily or weekly.

### Related guides and Actors

- [Bbb Business Data Pipeline](https://thirdwatch.dev/blog/bbb-business-data-pipeline)
- [Compare Bbb Business Side By Side](https://thirdwatch.dev/blog/compare-bbb-business-side-by-side)
- [Export Bbb Business To Csv](https://thirdwatch.dev/blog/export-bbb-business-to-csv)
- [Yelp Business Scraper](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/yelp-business-scraper?fpr=9m2cd6)
- [Clutch Companies Scraper](https://apify.com/thirdwatch/clutch-companies-scraper?fpr=9m2cd6)

Last verified: 2026-09

More scrapers at [thirdwatch.dev](https://thirdwatch.dev).

# Actor input Schema

## `queries` (type: `array`):

Business categories or names to search, e.g. 'plumber'

## `location` (type: `string`):

City/State filter, e.g. 'Austin, TX'

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

Cap results per search

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "plumber"
  ],
  "location": "",
  "maxResults": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (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 = {
    "queries": [
        "plumber"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("thirdwatch/bbb-scraper").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 = { "queries": ["plumber"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("thirdwatch/bbb-scraper").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 '{
  "queries": [
    "plumber"
  ]
}' |
apify call thirdwatch/bbb-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,thirdwatch/bbb-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

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/Xbn3oc3Fi0XZZ2loq/builds/OjPDiWnXCg9LTmzwn/openapi.json