Better Business Bureau Categories (BBB)

Better Business Bureau (BBB) Categories are a set of business categories defined by the Better Business Bureau, a private and nonprofit organization that works to promote trust between businesses and consumers. BBB categories are simply titles for the different types of business, including those that have been rated and/or accredited by the Better Business Bureau. As of 18 December 2024, 6,475 BBB categories covering an extensive range of activities in the United States (US) and Canada are listed on the Better Business Bureau website. Some BBB categories have single-word titles like "Advertising", "Bakery", and "Conveyors". Others have more specific titles like "Data Processing Equipment Maintenance", "Executive Search Consultants", and "Foreign Currency Exchange Broker".

The list is non-hierarchical in the sense that the business categories are not grouped under one or more sub-categories (or classification levels) with varying degrees of specificity, as is the case with national or international industrial classification systems. BBB categories are therefore similar to the Google My Business Categories. Both systems have been developed by private organizations according to their internal needs and processes.

The Better Business Bureau has not given a fixed schedule for publishing updates to the BBB categories list and other information about its general maintenance. It is likely that the list is continuously being updated with the addition, removal, or renaming of business categories as the organization considers necessary.

The BBB categories list can be found in the Complaint and Inquiry Statistics published by the Better Business Bureau since at least 2002. Over the 2002-2023 period, the number of business categories has ranged from 1,103 in 2002 to 6,247 in 2022. Since 2018, each business category in the Complaint and Inquiry statistics has been assigned an eight-digit numeric code such as 10006-100 for Kitchen Remodeling and 20003-100 for Banking Services. In previous editions (years 2004-2006), BBB categories had five-digit numeric codes such as 60088 for Auctioneers and 60125 for Barbers. In all other editions of the Complaint and Inquiry Statistics, the BBB categories were not numerically coded.

It is not certain whether the Complaint and Inquiry Statistics contains all BBB categories currently in use or only categories for which complaints and inquiries were received or that met some other criteria during the year under review.