How to Scrape BBB (Better Business Bureau) in Node.js

This example shows how to extract business listings from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) using the BBB Advanced Scraper Apify actor — no scraper code required. Just call the actor via the Apify API and get structured business data back.

What this example does

• Calls the BBB Advanced Scraper actor with a search keyword and location
• Waits for the run to complete
• Fetches all results from the actor's dataset
• Prints each business record to the console

Prerequisites

• Node.js v18 or higher
• An Apify account (free tier available)
• Your Apify API token

Installation

npm install

Environment setup

Copy .env.example to .env and add your Apify API token:

cp .env.example .env

Then edit .env:

APIFY_TOKEN=your_apify_token_here

Usage

npm start

Code example

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';
import 'dotenv/config';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Set APIFY_TOKEN in your .env file (copy .env.example to get started)
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN,
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "search": "Home Improvement",
    "location": "Los Angeles, CA"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("piotrv1001/bbb-advanced-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

Example output

See sample-output.json for a full example. Each result includes:

• businessName — the business name
• address, city, state, postalcode — full address
• tobText — type of business (matches your search term)
• rating — BBB letter rating (e.g. A+, A, B)
• ratingScore — numeric rating score (0–100)
• bbbMember — whether the business is a BBB member
• phone — array of phone numbers
• location — latitude/longitude string
• distance — distance from the searched location
• categories — array of business category tags
• bbbName — name of the local BBB chapter
• reportUrl — path to the full BBB business profile
• leaveReviewUrl — path to the review submission page
• accreditationStatus — BBB accreditation status (if applicable)
• hasServiceArea / serviceArea — service area info

Use cases

• Lead generation — build targeted lists of local businesses by industry and BBB rating for sales outreach
• Market research — analyze the competitive landscape in any category and geography
• Reputation monitoring — track BBB ratings and accreditation status for businesses over time
• Directory enrichment — supplement CRM or business databases with BBB ratings, contact info, and categories
• Compliance screening — verify vendor or partner accreditation status before onboarding

Try the actor on Apify

Open the BBB Advanced Scraper on Apify

Related resources

• How to Scrape BBB Business Listings — step-by-step blog post
• YouTube tutorial — video walkthrough

License

MIT