Fuzzy Match

Fuzzy matching for business addresses

The fuzzy_match parameter controls how the address field in your query is matched against business records. By default, Datafiniti applies its own normalization standard to the address field so that minor variations in spelling, formatting, or abbreviation still return the records you expect. The fuzzy_match parameter lets you tune this behavior — turning it off for exact matching, leaving it on, or retrying with fuzzy matching only when an exact match returns no results.

This is especially useful when searching by address, where the same business can be represented in slightly different ways across sources, such as 700 E 6th St versus 700 East 6th Street.

For the full parameter definition, see the Business Data API reference.

Endpoint

POST https://api.datafiniti.co/v4/businesses/search

Input

Add the fuzzy_match parameter alongside your normal search parameters. It accepts one of three values. The three accepted values for fuzzy_match behave as follows:

• on - Datafiniti matches the address field using its own normalization standard, autocorrecting the supplied value to a matching record. This is the default behavior.
• off - The address field value is matched exactly as supplied, with no normalization. Only records that exactly match will be returned.
• retry - Datafiniti first matches as if off. If no record is found, it then attempts to fuzzy match as if on. This gives you the precision of an exact match while falling back to a broader search only when needed.

default behavior

If you do not specify a fuzzy_match parameter, the API behaves as if fuzzy_match is set to on. To require exact matches, you must explicitly set fuzzy_match to off.

{
  "query": "address:"700 East 6th Street" AND city:Austin AND province:TX",
  "fuzzy_match": "on",
  "num_records": 5,
  "download": false,
  "format": "json"
}

Exact matching

Set fuzzy_match to off when you need precise results and want to avoid close-but-not-exact matches. This is useful when you already know the exact stored value of a field and want to guarantee that only matching records are returned.

{
  "query": "address:"700 East 6th Street" AND city:Austin AND province:TX",
  "fuzzy_match": "off",
  "num_records": 5,
  "download": false,
  "format": "json"
}

exact string matching

When using fuzzy_match: off, remember to wrap multi-word values in escaped quotes (field:\"value\") so the API treats them as a single exact string rather than separate terms.

Retry matching

Set fuzzy_match to retry when you want the best of both approaches. The API attempts an exact match first, and only falls back to fuzzy matching if the exact search returns zero records.

{
  "query": "address:"700 East 6th Street" AND city:Austin AND province:TX",
  "fuzzy_match": "retry",
  "num_records": 5,
  "download": false,
  "format": "json"
}

when to use retry

retry is a good default for address lookups where you want exact results when they exist, but would rather receive close matches than an empty response when they don't.

{
  "num_found": 1,
  "total_cost": 1,
  "people_cost": 0,
  "property_cost": 0,
  "business_cost": 1,
  "product_cost": 0,
  "records": [
    {
      "name": "Cisco's Restaurant Bakery & Bar",
      "address": "700 E 6th St",
      "city": "Austin",
      "country": "US",
      "province": "TX",
      "postalCode": "78701",
      "categories": [
        "Mexican Restaurants",
        "Bars",
        "Bakeries"
      ],
      "id": "3CYhpHIBzUQvJ7ofBJwQ"
    }
  ]
}

Note that the query searched for 700 East 6th Street, but the record stored the address as 700 E 6th St. With fuzzy matching enabled, or via retry, this record is still returned.

Example use cases