When it comes to competitor analysis, influence research, or brand collaboration, having access to public information about other Instagram business or creator accounts can be incredibly valuable. Instagram’s Business Discovery API, which is part of the Graph API, makes this possible. It lets you pull details like usernames, bios, and even recent media captions from accounts that matter to your business.

How the Business Discovery API Works

The Business Discovery API is designed specifically for business and creator accounts. It allows one business account (yours) to discover another and read publicly available data about them. This does not give full access to everything they post but provides just enough information to help you understand who they are and what type of content they publish.

Endpoint:

GET /{your-user-id}?fields=business_discovery.username({username}){id,username,bio,media{caption}}&access_token={token}

Replace {your-user-id} with your Instagram Business account ID.

Replace {username} with the username of the business account you want to fetch.

Include a valid access token with instagram_basic and pages_show_list permissions.

Purpose of the API

The Business Discovery API has a few important use cases:

You can pull the basic profile information (username and bio) of other business or creator accounts.

You can see the recent media captions they’ve posted. This is useful for analyzing what topics or hashtags they are focusing on.

It helps businesses and marketers track what competitors, partners, or influences are doing — all through official, permission-based methods.

It’s important to note that this works only with business or creator accounts, not with personal Instagram profiles.

Required Setup and Permissions

To make this request successfully, your app must have the correct permissions. At a minimum, you need:

instagram_basic – this allows your app to read account information.

pages_show_list – this is required because Instagram business accounts are linked to Facebook Pages, and this permission allows the connection to be made.

Without these permissions, your API calls will fail, even if your access token is valid.

Required Parameters:

When making a request to the Business Discovery API, you’ll need to provide a few key parameters:

username – the handle of the business or creator account you want to fetch.

fields – the specific details you want to retrieve, such as id, username, bio, and media{caption}.

access_token – your long-lived access token that includes the correct permissions.

Sample Image:

Things to Keep in Mind

Your Instagram account must itself be set up as a Business or Creator account. Personal accounts cannot use this endpoint.

The API only returns recent media captions, not the entire posting history. If you need long-term data, you’ll have to store it in your own system.

Your access token must include the correct permissions, otherwise the request will fail with a permissions error.

The username you pass into business_discovery must belong to a valid Instagram business or creator account. Trying to query a personal account will not work.

Key Notes for Business account

You must have a Business or Creator account to access this API.

Only recent media captions are returned, not all posts.

The access token must include instagram_basic and pages_show_list permissions.

The {username} in business_discovery must be a valid Instagram Business account.

Example Response

When you send a successful request, the response includes the business account’s ID, username, bio, and the captions from a few of their latest posts. This information can be used to quickly get a sense of the account’s tone, topics, and engagement style.

Conclusions:

The Business Discovery API is a powerful way for brands and creators to research other accounts in their industry. Whether you’re monitoring competitors, identifying influences, or preparing for collaborations, this API provides a structured way to gather key profile and content information.

By focusing on business and creator accounts, Instagram ensures that this data is used professionally and ethically. If you’re building tools for social analytics, influence marketing, or brand monitoring, the Business Discovery API is an essential part of your toolkit.

Instagram competitor analytics and market research made easy with Instagram Business Account APIs