# Local Business Leads (Overture Maps Open Data) (`velveteen_driver/local-business-leads`) Actor

Get lists of local businesses by category and city, county or state: name, website, phone, email, address and coordinates. Built on Overture Maps open data, so it's fast, cheap and licensed for commercial use. US, UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/velveteen_driver/local-business-leads.md
- **Developed by:** [Elliott](https://apify.com/velveteen_driver) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Business
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$2.00 / 1,000 business returneds

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

## Local Business Leads (Overture Maps Open Data)

Get a clean list of local businesses for any trade and area in a few clicks: **name, website, phone, email, full address, coordinates and category**. Search by city, county or whole state in the **US, UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand** (or any map box worldwide).

It's built on **Overture Maps open data**, queried directly from the public release. That means:

- **Cheap and fast**: no browser, no proxies, no website scraping. Thousands of businesses per run.
- **Licensed for commercial use**: every row says which open licence applies, and the licence texts and notices are saved with each run.

### Examples

| You want | Business types | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Florists in Austin with websites | `florist` | `Austin, TX, US` + "Only businesses with a website" |
| Every dentist in Leeds | `dentist` | `Leeds, UK` |
| Plumbers and electricians across Texas | `plumber`, `electrician` | `Texas` |
| Marketing agencies in Toronto | `marketing agency` | `Toronto, CA` |

Plain words work: *dentist* finds dental clinics, general and cosmetic dentistry and orthodontists; *cleaning* finds office, home and carpet cleaning; *solicitor* finds law firms. You can also use exact Overture category names (2,100+), e.g. `office_cleaning`, `real_estate_agent`.

### Output

`name`, `category`, `categoryPath`, `broadCategory`, `website`, `websites`, `phone`, `phones`, `email`, `socials`, `address`, `city`, `region`, `postcode`, `country`, `latitude`, `longitude`, `confidence`, `sources`, `licenses`, `overtureId`, `release`, `searchArea`.

### Tips

- Add the state or country to avoid the wrong town: `Manchester, NH` vs `Manchester, UK`.
- A state on its own (`Texas`) searches the whole state. Large states take a few minutes.
- Areas are searched as the rectangle around the city, county or state, so neighbouring towns at the edges can appear. Use `city` or `postcode` in the output to narrow it down.
- **Map box** (advanced): `[west, south, east, north]` in degrees, e.g. `[-97.94, 30.10, -97.56, 30.52]`. Longitudes must be between -180 and 180, latitudes between -90 and 90, west less than east and south less than north; anything else stops the run with a clear message.
- Raise **Minimum confidence** to 0.7 for the cleanest lists.
- Pair it with a contact form or email finder to reach the businesses.

### Data source and licence

- **Source**: the Overture Maps Foundation places theme, read straight from the public release at `s3://overturemaps-us-west-2/release/<release>/theme=places/type=place/` (how to get the data: https://docs.overturemaps.org/getting-data/). The release used is shown in each row's `release` field.
- **Attribution**: © Overture Maps Foundation. Overture's attribution guidance: https://docs.overturemaps.org/attribution/
- **Licences**: CDLA-Permissive-2.0 (most rows), Apache-2.0 (rows from Foursquare OS Places, © Foursquare Labs, Inc.) and CC0-1.0 (rows from AllThePlaces). Each row's `licenses` field says which apply. Business rows whose sources carry any other licence (for example ODbL, which has share-alike terms) are left out. Full licence texts are bundled for CDLA-Permissive-2.0 and Apache-2.0; CC0-1.0 is a public-domain dedication (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/), so it needs no licence text.
- **Area names and boundaries**: © OpenStreetMap contributors and Overture Maps Foundation, available under the Open Database License (ODbL) https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/. The actor bundles a small area index (name, region, type and bounding box of about 76,000 regions, counties and towns) derived from the Overture Maps Divisions theme, which Overture publishes under the ODbL. It is used to turn "Where" into a map box and appears in each row's `searchArea` field. The bundled area index is offered under the ODbL; ask through the Issues tab for a copy. Some Divisions records also come from Land Information New Zealand (LINZ, CC BY 4.0), geoBoundaries (CC BY 4.0) and Esri Community Maps contributors (listed by Overture under CC BY 4.0), credited here and in `LICENSES`.
- **Licence texts**: every run saves `LICENSES` in its key-value store, with the full CDLA-Permissive-2.0 text, the full Apache License 2.0 text and the Foursquare NOTICE, the CC0 link, and the ODbL notice and full text for the area index. A `LICENSES_SUMMARY` record lists the licences seen in that run and the area attribution. If you share the data, keep these with it.
- Overture Maps Foundation, OpenStreetMap contributors and Foursquare do not endorse this tool or its output.

### Responsible use

The data describes businesses, not private individuals. You are responsible for using it lawfully: follow CAN-SPAM in the US and UK GDPR/PECR in the UK (in the UK, sole traders count as individuals for email marketing), and honour opt-outs.

# Actor input Schema

## `categories` (type: `array`):

Plain words work: dentist, plumber, florist, accountant, marketing agency, cleaning... Leave empty for every business in the area.

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

A city, county or state with its country: 'Austin, TX, US', 'Leeds, UK', 'Texas', 'Cook County, IL', 'Toronto, CA'. A state name on its own searches the whole state.

## `country` (type: `string`):

Only needed if the place name exists in several countries.

## `boundingBox` (type: `array`):

\[west, south, east, north] in degrees, e.g. \[-97.94, 30.10, -97.56, 30.52]. Longitude -180 to 180, latitude -90 to 90, west < east, south < north. Overrides 'Where'. Works anywhere in the world.

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

Stop after this many businesses. You're charged per business returned.

## `mustHaveWebsite` (type: `boolean`):

Skip businesses with no website.

## `mustHavePhone` (type: `boolean`):

Skip businesses with no phone number.

## `mustHaveEmail` (type: `boolean`):

Skip businesses with no email address.

## `excludeChains` (type: `boolean`):

Leave out businesses that belong to a known brand or chain.

## `nameContains` (type: `string`):

Only businesses whose name contains this text.

## `minConfidence` (type: `number`):

How sure the data is that the business exists. 0.5 is a good balance; raise it for cleaner lists.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "categories": [
    "florist"
  ],
  "location": "Austin, TX, US",
  "maxResults": 500,
  "mustHaveWebsite": false,
  "mustHavePhone": false,
  "mustHaveEmail": false,
  "excludeChains": true,
  "minConfidence": 0.5
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

All results in the default dataset, shown in the overview table.

# 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 = {
    "categories": [
        "florist"
    ],
    "location": "Austin, TX, US"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("velveteen_driver/local-business-leads").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 = {
    "categories": ["florist"],
    "location": "Austin, TX, US",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("velveteen_driver/local-business-leads").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 '{
  "categories": [
    "florist"
  ],
  "location": "Austin, TX, US"
}' |
apify call velveteen_driver/local-business-leads --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,velveteen_driver/local-business-leads"
        }
    }
}
```

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/ysES0Sx5udGCssNT1/builds/6ozhbCsaMUtsG3iEQ/openapi.json