Leads API FAQs
Here's a list of common questions and answers related to our Leads APIs. Feel free to leave comments/questions if you have a topic that's not covered here already.
General
What is a lead? What is an interaction event?
A lead is generated at the start of a conversation between a user and business owner. Every thread between a user and a business owner in Yelp classifies as a single lead. Every interaction in a lead is called an (interaction) event.
How do I get additional information about the business?
You can use the Get business by Id endpoint to load business information.
When trying to respond to a Lead I get a 404
You will get a 404 when the biz user whose oauth token you're using doesn't have access to the business or if the lead doesn't exist. Remember that you're subscribing with your API Key and a biz user's oauth token will only grant you access to the businesses for which this user has access to.
Marking as Read
When should an event be marked as read?
Once the biz user reads the event in your application. An event should never be marked as read if it wasn't read by a user.
Marking as Replied
When should a lead be marked as replied?
You should always reply to a lead. If you respond to a lead by contacting a customer through methods outside of Yelp such as Phone or Emails you should mark the lead as replied with the Mark Lead as replied endpoint. A lead should never be marked as replied if it wasn't replied to outside Yelp.
Got more questions?
Updated 12 months ago