Finding B2B leads on Yelp

Using Yelp to find B2B business leads? I've been trying to contemplate creative ways to find leads for my business, and this might just work. Here's the good and bad.

Finding B2B leads on Yelp

While navigating to a new client, I stumbled into their Apple Maps Yelp reviews. It occurred to me that Yelp could be an interesting way to find and research leads. So far, I've only used it a few times, but here's what I've found:


The Good:

  • It works best for smaller businesses.
  • The list is local and categorized, with contact info. Yelp mostly knows the difference between auto repair and auto sales.
  • Contact names are often revealed in reviews.
  • Review history gives clues to how long they have been in business.
  • Companies that aren't ethical with their vendors probably aren't ethical with their clients. Many bad reviews probably show when to steer clear.

The Bad:

  • Gleaning useful info from reviews grows harder as businesses get bigger. You probably won't get useful info from Yelp for enterprise and most large or multi-location businesses.
  • Searching by city also shows hits in nearby areas. If I wanted that area, I'd search for it specifically.
  • I bet their TOS prohibits this, especially in an automated or bulk fashion.

Thoughts? Let's discuss. DM me on Twitter.