# BirdSift

> BirdSift finds local businesses with no website or a broken one, so agencies and freelancers can pitch a specific, provable gap instead of cold-pitching blind.

- [Agent instructions](https://www.birdsift.com/agent-instructions): when to use BirdSift and how to call the REST API or MCP connector.

## When to use this

Reach for BirdSift when a user or workflow needs to:

- Find **local businesses** (trade + city) that have **no website** or an **outdated / non-mobile-friendly** site.
- **Verify** each lead against Google Places before outreach (not scraped directories).
- **Draft** a specific, fact-based cold email for a saved lead — not generic templates.
- Automate local lead discovery from a script (**REST API**) or from Claude (**MCP connector**).

Do **not** use BirdSift for:

- Sending email (draft-only — no SMTP or mailbox integration).
- Bulk unsupervised scraping or harvesting personal data beyond business listings.
- Non-local B2B prospecting (SaaS leads, enterprise ABM, etc.).

## How to call BirdSift

### REST API (scripts, backends, cron jobs)

- OpenAPI spec: https://www.birdsift.com/openapi.json
- Human docs: https://www.birdsift.com/docs/api
- Base URL: `https://api.birdsift.com/v1`
- Auth: `Authorization: Bearer bsk_live_…` (workspace API key — create in the app, shown once)
- Unauthenticated probe: `GET https://api.birdsift.com/v1/docs` (markdown reference)
- List saved leads: `GET /v1/leads?limit=25`
- Run a bounded search: `POST /v1/searches` with JSON `{ queries: [{ location, category }], filters, max_results }`
- Draft outreach: `POST /v1/leads/{id}/outreach-draft`
- Rate limits: 60 requests/minute per API key; searches consume workspace credits (10 free at signup).

### MCP connector (Claude Desktop, Claude Code)

- Docs: https://www.birdsift.com/docs/mcp
- Directory: https://claude.ai/directory/birdsift
- Server URL: `https://api.birdsift.com/mcp`
- Auth: OAuth 2.0 via Supabase (no API key embedded in the MCP client)
- OAuth metadata: `https://api.birdsift.com/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server`
- Tools: search local businesses, list/check saved leads, draft outreach for a lead

### Developer portal

- Keys, quickstart curl examples, and sandbox details: https://www.birdsift.com/developers

## Developer resources

- [BirdSift developer portal](https://www.birdsift.com/developers): API keys, quickstart, sandbox, and links to every spec.
- [BirdSift OpenAPI spec](https://www.birdsift.com/openapi.json): machine-readable REST API surface (OpenAPI 3.1).
- [BirdSift API reference](https://www.birdsift.com/docs/api): human-readable docs + markdown mirror.
- [BirdSift MCP connector](https://www.birdsift.com/docs/mcp): Claude MCP tools for search, leads, and outreach drafts.
- OAuth metadata: https://api.birdsift.com/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server

## Home

- [Homepage (en)](https://www.birdsift.com/index.md)
- [Homepage (fr)](https://www.birdsift.com/fr/index.md)

## Pricing

- [Pricing (en)](https://www.birdsift.com/pricing.md): Simple credit-based pricing. Start free with 10 credits, buy packs when you need more. No subscription required.
- [Pricing (fr)](https://www.birdsift.com/fr/pricing.md): Tarification par crédits. 10 crédits offerts, forfaits au besoin. Aucun abonnement requis.

## Features

- [Features (en)](https://www.birdsift.com/features.md): Natural-language search, site checks, email lookup, and outreach drafts. EN/FR.
- [Features (fr)](https://www.birdsift.com/fr/features.md): Prospection locale : recherche naturelle, sites, courriels, brouillons. EN/FR.

## API

- [BirdSift OpenAPI (JSON)](https://www.birdsift.com/openapi.json): OpenAPI 3.1 spec for the BirdSift REST API.
- [API reference (en)](https://www.birdsift.com/docs/api.md): List leads, run searches, and draft outreach via the BirdSift API.
- [API reference (fr)](https://www.birdsift.com/fr/docs/api.md): Leads, recherches et brouillons via l'API BirdSift.

## MCP

- [MCP connector (en)](https://www.birdsift.com/docs/mcp.md): Search for local businesses, check saved leads, and draft outreach from inside Claude via the BirdSift MCP connector.
- [MCP connector (fr)](https://www.birdsift.com/fr/docs/mcp.md): Recherchez des entreprises locales, consultez vos leads et rédigez des messages de prospection depuis Claude via le connecteur MCP BirdSift.

## Guides

- [How to Find Web Design Clients: The Tactic-by-Tactic Guide](https://www.birdsift.com/guides/how-to-find-web-design-clients.md): A working freelancer's guide to finding web design clients — including the underused move of spotting local businesses with an objectively weak web presence and leading with a specific observation instead of a cold pitch.
- [Web Design Lead Generation: Pipeline, Not One-Offs](https://www.birdsift.com/guides/web-design-lead-generation.md): Treat web design lead generation as a pipeline — source, qualify, approach, close — and see where a data-driven sourcing step replaces random prospecting.
- [How to Get Local SEO Clients: Sell Outcomes, Not Rankings](https://www.birdsift.com/guides/how-to-get-local-seo-clients.md): Local SEO clients are sold on results, not rankings. Here's how to spot the easiest foot-in-the-door gap, open with a diagnostic instead of a pitch, and handle the "we already have someone" objection.
- [Local Lead Generation for Agencies: Sourcing, Not Outreach](https://www.birdsift.com/guides/local-lead-generation-for-agencies.md): Turning one person's prospecting into a team process means systematizing lead sourcing first — and resisting the urge to automate the outreach itself, where over-automation is what quietly kills response rates.
- [How to Find Local Businesses With Outdated Websites (Without Checking Every Site by Hand)](https://www.birdsift.com/guides/find-local-businesses-with-outdated-websites.md): What "outdated" actually means in specific, checkable terms, where to look beyond Google Maps, and why verifying sites one at a time eventually becomes the bottleneck instead of the solution.
- [How to Sell a Website Redesign to a Local Business](https://www.birdsift.com/guides/how-to-sell-a-website-redesign.md): Sourcing and approaching a lead can be systematized. Closing usually isn't — here's the proposal framing, follow-up cadence, objection handling, and clear-next-step habit that turns a good reply into a signed project.
- [Comment trouver des clients en création de site web : le guide tactique](https://www.birdsift.com/fr/guides/comment-trouver-des-clients-creation-site-web.md): Le guide concret pour trouver des clients en création de site web — dont la tactique sous-utilisée qui consiste à repérer les entreprises locales à la présence web clairement dépassée, et à les aborder avec une observation précise plutôt qu'un pitch générique.
- [Génération de leads pour agences et freelances web : bâtir un pipeline](https://www.birdsift.com/fr/guides/generation-de-leads-agence-web.md): Traitez la génération de leads comme un pipeline — sourcer, qualifier, approcher, conclure — et voyez où une étape de sourcing basée sur la donnée remplace la prospection au hasard.
- [Comment trouver des entreprises locales avec un site web obsolète](https://www.birdsift.com/fr/guides/comment-trouver-des-entreprises-avec-un-site-obsolete.md): Ce que « obsolète » veut vraiment dire en termes vérifiables, où chercher au-delà de Google Maps — y compris le signal propre au Québec (Loi 96) — et pourquoi vérifier les sites un par un finit par devenir le frein plutôt que la solution.
- [Comment vendre une refonte de site web à une entreprise locale](https://www.birdsift.com/fr/guides/comment-vendre-une-refonte-de-site-web.md): Sourcer et approcher un lead peuvent devenir reproductibles. Conclure, généralement, ne l'est pas — voici le cadrage de proposition, la cadence de relance à l'écrit, la gestion des objections et l'habitude de la prochaine étape claire qui transforment une bonne réponse en mandat signé.
- [Trouver des entreprises sans site web : la méthode, et quand un outil devient utile](https://www.birdsift.com/fr/guides/outil-pour-trouver-des-entreprises-sans-site-web.md): Ce qui compte vraiment comme « sans site web », où chercher, comment aborder le prospect par écrit, et à quel moment un outil de recherche devient plus utile que la méthode manuelle.

## Compare

- [Compare index (en)](https://www.birdsift.com/compare.md): Honest, fact-checked comparisons between BirdSift and other tools for finding local businesses without a website.
- [Compare index (fr)](https://www.birdsift.com/fr/compare.md): Comparatifs honnêtes et vérifiés entre BirdSift et d'autres outils pour trouver des entreprises locales sans site web.
- [BirdSift vs. Outscraper](https://www.birdsift.com/compare/birdsift-vs-outscraper.md): Outscraper is dramatically cheaper per record — and sells a different thing. Here's the honest comparison, including the price gap most prospects will bring up.
- [BirdSift vs Outscraper](https://www.birdsift.com/fr/compare/birdsift-vs-outscraper.md): Outscraper coûte beaucoup moins cher par fiche — et vend autre chose. Comparatif direct, y compris l'écart de prix que vos prospects mentionneront.
- [BirdSift vs. Gonovu](https://www.birdsift.com/compare/birdsift-vs-gonovu.md): Gonovu is a monthly subscription; BirdSift sells credit packs that never expire. Here's the honest comparison, including where Gonovu is cheaper.
- [BirdSift vs Gonovu](https://www.birdsift.com/fr/compare/birdsift-vs-gonovu.md): Gonovu est un abonnement mensuel ; BirdSift vend des packs de crédits qui n'expirent jamais. Comparatif honnête, y compris là où Gonovu coûte moins cher.
- [BirdSift vs. NoSiteFinder](https://www.birdsift.com/compare/birdsift-vs-nositefinder.md): NoSiteFinder is a monthly subscription with AI mockups; BirdSift sells credit packs that never expire. Honest comparison, including what NoSiteFinder does better.
- [BirdSift vs NoSiteFinder](https://www.birdsift.com/fr/compare/birdsift-vs-nositefinder.md): NoSiteFinder est un abonnement mensuel avec maquettes IA ; BirdSift vend des packs de crédits qui n'expirent jamais. Comparatif honnête, y compris ce que NoSiteFinder fait mieux.
- [BirdSift vs. SiteSeeker](https://www.birdsift.com/compare/birdsift-vs-siteseeker.md): SiteSeeker is a subscription that also builds and hosts sites; BirdSift sells credit packs that never expire. Honest comparison, including what SiteSeeker does better.
- [BirdSift vs SiteSeeker](https://www.birdsift.com/fr/compare/birdsift-vs-siteseeker.md): SiteSeeker est un abonnement qui construit aussi des sites ; BirdSift vend des packs de crédits qui n'expirent jamais. Comparatif honnête, y compris ce que SiteSeeker fait mieux.

## Reports

- Data-driven "state of {niche} websites in {city}" pages exist for 35 (locale, city, niche) combinations under `/reports/{city}/{niche}` — not listed individually here. See the [reports index](https://www.birdsift.com/reports) or [sitemap](https://www.birdsift.com/sitemap.xml).

## Full site

- [Sitemap](https://www.birdsift.com/sitemap.xml)