Scraping Leads using ChatGPT: A How-To Guide

Sep 25, 2023 ยท 3 min read

ChatGPT's natural language capabilities open up new possibilities for lead generation. With the right prompts, it can scrape large lists of leads from the web.

In this article, we will walk through a step-by-step process for scraping leads using ChatGPT.

Overview

The key steps are:

  • Providing a detailed prompt to ChatGPT specifying the type of leads needed
  • Getting the list of domains generated
  • Copying the domains into a spreadsheet
  • Running them through a tool like Apollo to find email addresses
  • With some refinements, this approach generated 500-1000 leads in a niche.

    However, there are some limitations:

  • Leads are from 2021 onwards due to ChatGPT's training data cutoff
  • Needs workarounds for ChatGPT's no web scraping policy
  • Overall, it serves as a powerful starting point for targeted lead generation.

    Detailed Steps

    Here is the playbook to leverage ChatGPT for scraping niche leads:

    1. Craft a Targeted Prompt

    Carefully frame the prompt to ask for relevant leads. For example:

    "Can you give me a list of 100 domains of crypto/web3/blockchain/NFT companies that have been funded or raised in the last 12 months" give me 100 domains that you know. Its ok if it is out of date
    

    Specify the niche, number of leads and criteria like funding status. This is going to be the result.

    2. Get Domains Only

    Instruct ChatGPT to provide "domains only" instead of full company profiles if it does that. This makes the next steps easier.

    3. Copy Domains into Spreadsheet

    Once the list is generated, copy the domains and paste them into a spreadsheet. This prepares them for the next step.

    4. Extract Emails

    Feed the list of domains into a tool like Apollo or Hunter to find associated email addresses.

    This automates the process instead of manually searching.

    5. Refine and Expand

    To expand the list, prompt ChatGPT for another 100 leads without duplicates.

    Also test other niches like SaaS, ecommerce etc. Refine prompts to get better quality leads.

    Results

    With the right prompt structure and niche, this approach generated 500-1000 leads reliably.

    Crypto/blockchain/web3 startups produced more leads compared to SaaS - likely due to ChatGPT's training data.

    The leads were highly targeted based on funding status and other criteria. Email tools also extracted valid email addresses for outreach.

    Conclusion

    ChatGPT provides a unique way to source targeted leads at scale. With experimentation, it is possible to build extensive lead lists automatically.

    As with any web scraping, care should be taken to respect site terms of service. But the AI-powered automation makes lead gen easy.

    What are your thoughts on scraping leads using ChatGPT? Have you tried any similar approaches? Share your experiences in the comments!

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