# Yelp Scraper — Business Profiles + Reviews (`buff_pineapple/yelp-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Yelp business profiles and reviews by Yelp URL, alias, or business name + location. Returns reviewer, star rating, full text, date, attached photos, business response, helpful-vote reactions, plus the business profile (rating, total reviews, address, phone, categories, price range, hours).

- **URL**: https://apify.com/buff\_pineapple/yelp-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [yossef Nagy](https://apify.com/buff_pineapple) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Business, Travel
- **Stats:** 5 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 business profile scrapeds

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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Yelp Scraper — Business Profiles + Reviews

Scrape Yelp business profiles and reviews — by **Yelp encoded biz ID (fastest, ~9 seconds for 30 reviews + full profile)**, Yelp URL, alias, or business name + location. No login, no Yelp API key.

### What it does

Give it one or more Yelp businesses (or a search query) and it returns:

- **Reviews** — every review the public Yelp panel exposes for the business, with reviewer name and location, elite-all-star status and year, profile photo URL, star rating (1–5), full review text in original language, ISO-8601 review date, helpful-vote count, attached review photos and videos, first-reviewer flag, check-in count, business owner response when present.
- **Business profile** (optional) — overall rating, total review count, full address (line 1/2/3, city, region, postal code, country), phone, categories with parent category root, `$$`/`$$$$` price range, opening hours per day, primary photo URL.

Yelp's frontend is powered by an unauthenticated GraphQL endpoint at `/gql/batch`. The actor calls that endpoint directly using persisted-query IDs — **no Yelp account, no API key, no CSRF token required**. Pagination uses Yelp's cursor-based `pageInfo.endCursor`.

The one step that needs a real browser is resolving the human-readable alias (`the-french-laundry-yountville`) to Yelp's internal 22-char encoded biz id, which is embedded in the biz page HTML as `<meta name="yelp-biz-id">` behind a DataDome challenge. The actor uses headed Chrome + `playwright-extra` stealth + `fingerprint-injector` + Apify residential proxy to navigate that one page; if you already have the encoded biz id, **you can skip this step entirely** — pass the encId directly and the actor will run purely over HTTP.

### Use cases

- **Reputation monitoring** — bulk-pull recent reviews for your own locations on Yelp.
- **Competitor sentiment** — feed competitor URLs, sort by `newest`, analyze tone over time.
- **Multi-location chains** — pass 100s of Yelp aliases or a search query like `pizza :: New York, NY` → every visible review for every store in one run.
- **Owner-response audits** — flag reviews missing an owner reply.
- **Lead qualification / CRM enrichment** — score a prospect's customer experience before outreach (phone, address, categories are returned with the profile).
- **AI training data** — clean, structured review corpus with reviewer profile, rating, language, and date.
- **Complaint mining** — set `ratingsFilter` to `["1","2"]` and `reviewsSort` to `newest` to pull only recent low-star reviews for a topic-modeling pipeline.

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `businesses` | array | Yelp URLs (`https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-french-laundry-yountville`), bare aliases (`the-french-laundry-yountville`), encoded biz IDs (the 22-char id Yelp uses internally — fastest if you have it), or free-text fallback `"Business Name :: City, State"`. One run can cover many. |
| `searchQueries` | array | Alternative input: each entry `"what :: where"` (e.g. `"pizza :: San Francisco, CA"`). Yelp search is run and every matching business is scraped, up to `maxBusinessesPerSearch`. |
| `maxBusinessesPerSearch` | integer | Cap per search query. Default `20`. |
| `maxReviewsPerBusiness` | integer | Reviews per business. Default `100`. Set `0` for "all available". |
| `reviewsSort` | string | `newest`, `oldest`, `most_relevant` (default), `highest_rating`, `lowest_rating`. |
| `ratingsFilter` | array of strings | Star ratings to include. Default `["5","4","3","2","1"]`. Use e.g. `["1","2"]` for complaint-only runs. |
| `includeBusinessProfile` | boolean | Push one extra item per business with full profile. Default `true`. |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | Defaults to Apify **RESIDENTIAL** — Yelp's biz page is DataDome-protected and rejects datacenter IPs. |
| `maxConcurrency` | integer | Businesses processed in parallel. Default `4`. |

Identifiers accepted:

- **Encoded biz id (22 chars, base64url):** `T20VEwi7AzKbY2TuVEt_ig` — this is what Yelp's API uses internally; passing it skips the alias→encid resolution step entirely (**fastest path: ~9s for 30 reviews + profile**). To find it: open any Yelp biz page → View Source (Ctrl+U / Cmd+Opt+U) → search for `yelp-biz-id`.
- Full Yelp URL: `https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-french-laundry-yountville` — actor resolves the alias to encId via headed browser (adds ~30-90s, may need retry on heavily-challenged IP).
- Bare alias: `the-french-laundry-yountville` — same as URL.
- Free-text fallback: `Sweet Maple :: San Francisco, CA` — runs Yelp search to find the business.

### Output

Each **review** item:

```json
{
  "_kind": "review",
  "review_id": "pJ5tnzX01EC2n6wH7ru0Bw",
  "business_encId": "T20VEwi7AzKbY2TuVEt_ig",
  "business_alias": "the-french-laundry-yountville-7",
  "business_name": "The French Laundry",
  "rating": 5,
  "text": "I've tried several Michelin starred restaurants...",
  "language": "en",
  "review_date": "2026-05-03T01:36:33-07:00",
  "date_of_experience": null,
  "author_id": "OzTSufmqWNFqbEaMlguT2w",
  "author_name": "Lola F.",
  "author_location": "San Rafael, CA",
  "author_review_count": 2,
  "author_friend_count": 0,
  "author_photo_count": 0,
  "is_elite": false,
  "elite_year": null,
  "author_photo_url": null,
  "photos": [],
  "videos": [],
  "likes_helpful": 0,
  "business_response": null,
  "business_response_date": null,
  "first_reviewer": false,
  "check_in_count": 0,
  "url": "https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-french-laundry-yountville-7?hrid=pJ5tnzX01EC2n6wH7ru0Bw",
  "scraped_at": "2026-05-15T14:00:00.000Z"
}
```

Each **business** item (`_kind: "business"`): `encBizId`, `business_alias`, `business_name`, `rating`, `total_reviews`, `price_range`, `phone`, `categories[]` (each with `title`, `alias`, `root`), `address_line1`, `address_line2`, `address_line3`, `city`, `region`, `postal_code`, `country`, `hours` (one entry per day with `isOpen` and time `ranges[]`), `primary_photo_url`, `url`.

Fields are `null` (or `[]` for lists) only when the value genuinely isn't on the Yelp record — e.g. no phone listed, no photos attached to the review, no owner response yet.

### Pricing

Pay per result:

- **$0.002** per review scraped
- **$0.005** per business profile (only when `includeBusinessProfile` is enabled)

For a 100-review scrape with the profile included, that's about **$0.205** — competitive with every existing Yelp scraper on the Store and a fraction of any flat-fee Apollo/ZoomInfo enrichment.

### How it works (technical)

- **Pure HTTP GraphQL** for business profiles and the review feed. Persisted-query IDs `19c1538e…b2e1` (GetLocalBusinessJsonLinkedData) and `44d0ed38…d9ee` (GetBusinessReviewFeed), called against `https://www.yelp.com/gql/batch`. No CSRF token, no cookies, no login. Cursor-based pagination via `pageInfo.endCursor` → `after`. The GraphQL endpoint accepts unauthenticated requests, which is why encId input scrapes complete in seconds.
- **Stealth-mode headed Chrome** (Playwright + `playwright-extra` stealth plugin + Apify `fingerprint-injector`) for the one step that needs a real browser: resolving the human alias to the encoded biz id. Run through `xvfb-run` in the Apify container. Sessions rotate on block.
- **Apify RESIDENTIAL proxy** by default for both the GraphQL calls and the browser navigation, with session-id rotation on every retry.
- **Migration-safe state**: `pushedReviewIds`, `pushedBusinesses`, `doneAliases` persisted to the key-value store after every page, so an Apify host migration mid-run doesn't duplicate or skip work.

### Notes

- Residential proxy is the default. Datacenter IPs are reliably blocked by DataDome on Yelp biz-page HTML; the GraphQL endpoint is more permissive but using residential keeps the IP consistent across both kinds of requests.
- **Fastest path:** pass the encoded biz id. The actor runs purely over HTTP and completes 30 reviews + full profile in under 10 seconds.
- The actor handles Apify host migrations transparently (state persisted to the key-value store) and rotates the proxy session if blocked.
- If you batch-scrape from URLs or aliases, expect ~30-90 seconds extra per business for the browser-based alias resolution, and occasional failures on heavily-challenged proxy IPs. Mix in encIds wherever you have them to keep runs fast.

# Actor input Schema

## `businesses` (type: `array`):

Yelp businesses to scrape. Each entry can be: (1) **a Yelp encoded biz ID** (the 22-char id Yelp uses internally, e.g. `T20VEwi7AzKbY2TuVEt_ig`) — fastest, scrapes 30 reviews in ~10 seconds, (2) a Yelp business URL like `https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-french-laundry-yountville`, (3) a Yelp alias like `the-french-laundry-yountville`, or (4) `Business Name :: City, State` (free-text fallback that resolves via Yelp search). URL / alias / free-text inputs need to open a headed browser to resolve the alias → encoded id, which adds ~30-90 seconds and may fail when the IP gets challenged — for production runs, prefer passing encoded biz IDs. You can find the encId in 5 seconds: open the Yelp biz page, View Source (Ctrl+U), search for `yelp-biz-id`.

## `searchQueries` (type: `array`):

Alternative to "businesses": run a Yelp search and scrape every matching business. Each entry is "what :: where" (e.g. "pizza :: San Francisco, CA"). Combine with maxBusinessesPerSearch to cap the result count per query.

## `maxBusinessesPerSearch` (type: `integer`):

When using searchQueries, how many businesses to scrape per query. Yelp shows up to 10 per result page; the actor paginates as needed.

## `maxReviewsPerBusiness` (type: `integer`):

How many reviews to return per business. The actor paginates the Yelp review feed automatically. Set 0 to scrape every available review.

## `reviewsSort` (type: `string`):

Order in which reviews are returned. Yelp's review API supports these four orderings.

## `ratingsFilter` (type: `array`):

Star ratings to include in the review feed. Default returns all 1-5 star reviews. Useful for sentiment-targeted runs (e.g. only 1-2 star reviews for complaint analysis).

## `includeBusinessProfile` (type: `boolean`):

If enabled, push one extra item per business with the business profile (rating, total reviews, address, phone, categories, price range, opening hours, primary photo).

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Defaults to Apify RESIDENTIAL — Yelp rate-limits datacenter IPs on biz pages, and the search endpoint is fingerprinted.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Number of businesses processed in parallel.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "businesses": [
    "T20VEwi7AzKbY2TuVEt_ig"
  ],
  "searchQueries": [],
  "maxBusinessesPerSearch": 20,
  "maxReviewsPerBusiness": 100,
  "reviewsSort": "most_relevant",
  "ratingsFilter": [
    "5",
    "4",
    "3",
    "2",
    "1"
  ],
  "includeBusinessProfile": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  },
  "maxConcurrency": 4
}
```

# 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 = {
    "businesses": [
        "T20VEwi7AzKbY2TuVEt_ig"
    ],
    "searchQueries": [],
    "ratingsFilter": [
        "5",
        "4",
        "3",
        "2",
        "1"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true,
        "apifyProxyGroups": [
            "RESIDENTIAL"
        ]
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("buff_pineapple/yelp-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 = {
    "businesses": ["T20VEwi7AzKbY2TuVEt_ig"],
    "searchQueries": [],
    "ratingsFilter": [
        "5",
        "4",
        "3",
        "2",
        "1",
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": True,
        "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
    },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("buff_pineapple/yelp-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 '{
  "businesses": [
    "T20VEwi7AzKbY2TuVEt_ig"
  ],
  "searchQueries": [],
  "ratingsFilter": [
    "5",
    "4",
    "3",
    "2",
    "1"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}' |
apify call buff_pineapple/yelp-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,buff_pineapple/yelp-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/cWaYJO9aOmbBqcfvS/builds/a9q54pAecukk9lzOi/openapi.json