Yelp Search API
Returns Yelp businesses matching a term and location as a PlaceList with name, rating, review count, and location fields when the provider returns rows. Sort, ads, and cursor are optional.
GET /v1/yelp/searchLast updated November 2026Maintained by the SocialCrawl team
When to use the Yelp Search API
Use it to find businesses before business/info. query and location are required. If the provider reports a non-zero total with no rows, the call fails and is refunded.
From the API reference
Searches Yelp businesses by term and location. Returns a unified PlaceList of 10 businesses a page: the 22-character encid as place.id (use it on GET /v1/yelp/business/info and /v1/yelp/business/reviews), name, Yelp URL, unrounded star rating, review count, price level, address, coordinates, categories, and photos, with the total number of matches. Results are in Yelp's recommended order; sort=rating and sort=review_count are refused with a free 400. ads=true adds sponsored businesses after the regular results. Page with cursor from next_cursor. A location Yelp does not cover returns an empty list and is not billed.
Searching 69 platforms in parallel
What can you do with the Search API?
The Search endpoint gives you structured Yelp data with computed fields in a single request. No scraping infrastructure to build or maintain.
Example Request
# GET /v1/yelp/search: 1 credit per page. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
# --max-time 60: the API's own time limit for this endpoint.
# --retry 3: retries timeouts, 429 and 5xx, honoring Retry-After.
# -o response.json keeps only the final attempt's body.
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
# Next page: send pagination.next_cursor back as cursor until pagination.has_more is false.
IDEMPOTENCY_KEY=$(od -An -N16 -tx1 /dev/urandom | tr -d ' \n')
curl -sS --max-time 60 --retry 3 -o response.json \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Idempotency-Key: $IDEMPOTENCY_KEY" \
"https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/yelp/search?query=Pizza&location=New+York%2C+NY" && cat response.json# GET /v1/yelp/search: 1 credit per page. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
# Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
import os
import random
import time
import uuid
import requests
API_KEY = os.environ.get("SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY")
TIMEOUT_S = 60 # the API's own time limit for this endpoint.
MAX_RETRIES = 3
URL = "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/yelp/search"
def backoff(attempt):
# Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
return 2 ** attempt * (0.5 + random.random() / 2)
def socialcrawl(params):
# One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
idempotency_key = str(uuid.uuid4())
for attempt in range(MAX_RETRIES + 1):
try:
res = requests.get(
URL,
params=params,
headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY, "Idempotency-Key": idempotency_key},
timeout=TIMEOUT_S,
)
body = res.json()
except (requests.RequestException, ValueError):
# A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise
time.sleep(backoff(attempt))
continue
if body["success"]:
return body
error = body["error"]
# Branch on error["type"], never on the message text.
if error["type"] == "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND":
return None # refunded: nothing to read
retry_after = res.headers.get("Retry-After")
# SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
permanent = error["type"] == "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" and retry_after is None
if not error.get("retryable") or permanent or attempt == MAX_RETRIES:
raise RuntimeError(f"{error['type']}: {error['message']} (request_id {body['request_id']})")
# Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
time.sleep(float(retry_after) if retry_after else backoff(attempt))
params = {
"query": "Pizza",
"location": "New York, NY",
}
# Walk the list: send pagination.next_cursor back as cursor until has_more is false.
MAX_PAGES = 10 # each page is one call
items = []
for _ in range(MAX_PAGES):
body = socialcrawl(params)
if body is None:
break
items.extend(body["data"]["items"])
page = body.get("pagination") or {}
if not page.get("has_more") or not page.get("next_cursor"):
break
params["cursor"] = page["next_cursor"]
print(f"{len(items)} items")// GET /v1/yelp/search: 1 credit per page. Cache hits are free and failed calls are refunded.
// Check the price first for 0 credits: add dry_run=1 to the query. Nothing is fetched or charged.
const API_KEY = process.env.SOCIALCRAWL_API_KEY ?? "YOUR_API_KEY";
const TIMEOUT_MS = 60_000; // the API's own time limit for this endpoint.
const MAX_RETRIES = 3;
type Page = { next_cursor: string | null; has_more: boolean };
type SocialCrawlResponse =
| { success: true; data: any; pagination?: Page; credits_used: number; request_id: string }
| { success: false; error: { type: string; message: string; retryable: boolean }; request_id: string };
const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
// Exponential backoff with jitter: about 1 s, 2 s, then 4 s.
const backoffMs = (attempt: number) => 2 ** attempt * 1000 * (0.5 + Math.random() / 2);
async function socialcrawl(url: URL) {
// One Idempotency-Key per request, reused on every retry, so a retried call is never charged twice.
const idempotencyKey = crypto.randomUUID();
for (let attempt = 0; ; attempt++) {
let res: Response;
let body: SocialCrawlResponse;
try {
res = await fetch(url, {
headers: {
"x-api-key": API_KEY,
"Idempotency-Key": idempotencyKey,
},
signal: AbortSignal.timeout(TIMEOUT_MS),
});
body = (await res.json()) as SocialCrawlResponse;
} catch (error) {
// A timeout, a dropped connection or a non-JSON gateway page: retry with the same key.
if (attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) throw error;
await sleep(backoffMs(attempt));
continue;
}
if (body.success) return body;
// Branch on error.type, never on the message text.
if (body.error.type === "RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND") return null; // refunded: nothing to read
const retryAfter = res.headers.get("Retry-After");
// SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE without Retry-After is a withdrawn endpoint: permanent.
const permanent = body.error.type === "SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE" && retryAfter === null;
if (!body.error.retryable || permanent || attempt >= MAX_RETRIES) {
throw new Error(`${body.error.type}: ${body.error.message} (request_id ${body.request_id})`);
}
// Retry-After (seconds) wins; otherwise back off.
await sleep(retryAfter ? Number(retryAfter) * 1000 : backoffMs(attempt));
}
}
const url = new URL("https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/yelp/search");
url.searchParams.set("query", "Pizza");
url.searchParams.set("location", "New York, NY");
// Walk the list: send pagination.next_cursor back as cursor until has_more is false.
const MAX_PAGES = 10; // each page is one call
const items: unknown[] = [];
for (let page = 0; page < MAX_PAGES; page++) {
const body = await socialcrawl(url);
if (!body) break;
items.push(...body.data.items);
const next = body.pagination?.next_cursor;
if (!body.pagination?.has_more || !next) break;
url.searchParams.set("cursor", next);
}
console.log(`${items.length} items`);Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| query | Yes | Search term as typed on Yelp, for example Pizza or coffee. |
| location | Yes | City or full location string, for example New York, NY or San Francisco, CA, United States. Required with query. |
| cursor | No | Cursor from the previous page's next_cursor. Omit on page 1. Pages hold 10 regular businesses (plus any sponsored ones when ads=true); the cursor is a numeric offset such as 10. |
| sort | No | Result order. Only recommended (the default, Yelp's recommended order) is served. rating and review_count are refused with a free 400: no source can order Yelp search by them. To rank by rating or review count, sort the returned items by place.rating.value or place.reviews_count yourself. (recommended | rating | review_count) |
| ads | No | When true, sponsored businesses are added after the page's regular results. They are not marked as sponsored. Default false. |
| max_pages | No | 1 to 50 (default 1, or 50 when `max_items` or `max_credits` is sent). Walk up to this many pages in one call and return the rows from all of them. Each page walked is billed exactly as one call to this endpoint (a cached page is free) and counts against your rate limit; its charge and any refund are recorded under the page's own request id, listed in `data.walk.request_ids`. The walk stops early at the last page, or when the request's time budget runs low; `data.walk.stopped` says why (`end`, `max_pages`, `max_items`, `max_credits`, `time_budget`, `page_error`) and `pagination.next_cursor` continues from where it stopped. |
| max_items | No | 1 to 5000. Get more in one call: keep walking pages until the response holds at least this many rows, then stop with `data.walk.stopped: "max_items"`. The last page is returned whole (it was billed), so `data.items` can hold up to one page more than this, and `pagination.next_cursor` resumes right after it without skipping a row. Walks up to 50 pages unless `max_pages` says fewer; each page is billed as one call (a cached page is free). Add `max_credits` to cap the spend. A long walk can stop on the time budget first (`"time_budget"`): send the returned cursor with the same params to continue. |
| max_credits | No | 1 to 100000. The most this call may spend, across every page it walks. A page starts only while the credits already spent plus that page's price (or, when higher, the most any page of this walk has cost) still fit, so the call never goes past it; the walk then stops with `data.walk.stopped: "max_credits"` and the cursor to resume. Sent alone, it walks as far as the budget goes (up to 50 pages). A value below the price of one page is a free 400 whose `error.details.page_credits` names that price. Credits a row join (`include=`) adds are known only once a page has run, so page 1 is checked against its own price. |
What does the Yelp Search API return?
Every response follows one unified schema. Here is a real, unmodified response body, so you can see the exact fields you get back before spending a credit.
Example response
{
"success": true,
"platform": "target",
"endpoint": "/v1/target/stores",
"data": {
"items": [
{
"place": {
"id": "3412",
"name": "Chelsea 23rd and 8th",
"url": null,
"category": null,
"rating": {
"value": null,
"max": null
},
"reviews_count": null,
"price_level": null,
"address": "258 8th Ave, New York, NY 10011-1619",
"phone": "646-720-0024",
"latitude": null,
"longitude": null,
"verified": null,
"description": null,
"image_urls": null,
"ext": {
"distance": 0.37,
"status": "Open",
"timezone": "America/New_York",
"hours": [
{
"date": "2026-09-16",
"day_name": "Wednesday",
"is_open": true,
"opens_at": "08:00:00",
"closes_at": "23:00:00"
},
{
"date": "2026-09-17",
"day_name": "Thursday",
"is_open": true,
"opens_at": "08:00:00",
"closes_at": "23:00:00"
}
]
}
}
},
{
"place": {
"id": "3277",
"name": "Manhattan Herald Square",
"url": null,
"category": null,
"rating": {
"value": null,
"max": null
},
"reviews_count": null,
"price_level": null,
"address": "112 W 34th St, New York, NY 10120-0101",
"phone": "646-968-4739",
"latitude": null,
"longitude": null,
"verified": null,
"description": null,
"image_urls": null,
"ext": {
"distance": 0.42,
"status": "Open",
"timezone": "America/New_York",
"hours": [
{
"date": "2026-09-16",
"day_name": "Wednesday",
"is_open": true,
"opens_at": "08:00:00",
"closes_at": "23:00:00"
},
{
"date": "2026-09-17",
"day_name": "Thursday",
"is_open": true,
"opens_at": "08:00:00",
"closes_at": "23:00:00"
}
]
}
}
}
],
"total": 20,
"dropped": 0
},
"credits_used": 1,
"request_id": "req_example000000",
"cached": false,
"pagination": {
"next_cursor": null,
"has_more": false,
"page_size": 20
},
"credits_remaining": 9999,
"redacted": true
}Example captured from the Target API. Every SocialCrawl endpoint returns this same unified schema, so your Yelp Search response has the same fields.
How does the Yelp Search API work?
Send a GET request with your API key and get back clean, structured JSON in our unified schema. Supported computed fields are populated when the source provides the required inputs.
Method
GET
Response
JSON
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import requests
response = requests.get(
'https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/tiktok/profile',
params={'handle': 'charlidamelio'},
headers={'x-api-key': 'sc_YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json(){
"success": true,
"platform": "tiktok",
"data": {
"author": {
"username": "charlidamelio",
"followers": 152400000
},
"engagement": {
"likes": 12400000000,
"engagement_rate": 0.087
},
"metadata": {
"language": "en",
"content_category": "lifestyle"
}
}
}Have a question? We got answers
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