Business.gov Web Service API

About the API

Business.gov's Web Service API provides methods for obtaining small business resources and geographic data used by Business.gov's core search tools including its award-winning state and local search engine, loans and grants search, and licenses and permits search.

Using Business.gov's API, software developers can build new applications and mashups using authoritative information from Federal, state and local government agencies. The API is free of charge, does not require registration, and allows for unlimited calls.

The Business.gov API is RESTful. Output formats are available in either XML or JSON. Each web service begins with a base URL followed by parameters and arguments. Parameters and arguments are separated by a forward slash ("/").

Visit the Business.gov Developer Forum to ask questions about the API and data sets, share ideas, read updates, and show off apps that you or others created using Business.gov's API.

Available Web Services & Methods

Data available via the API is regularly synchronized to ensure that all updates are immediately available. The following four web services are available:

• Loans & Grants Search
  This data set provides a collection of links to Federal, state, and local financial assistance programs that help small businesses get started or expand operations. Each program is categorized to 15 dimensions, from loan type to business activity, industry group and location.
• Business Licenses & Permits
  This data set provides a collection Federal, state and local licenses, permits and registrations small businesses need to operate.
• U.S. City & County Web Data
  This geographic names data set provides a "mashup" of URLs for city and county web sites and city and county location data from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). GNIS data includes incorporated places, census designated areas, unincorporated places, counties, and populated places.
• Recommended Sites
  This data set includes links to federal, state and local websites that are boosted to the top of organic search results for "long-tail" queries to improve the relevancy of web search results.