API and MCP server

Ask whether a dentist, eye doctor, vet, dermatologist or GI practice is private-equity backed, from your own code or from an AI assistant. Free, read-only, no key needed.

Use it in an AI assistant (MCP)

Server URL: https://peornot.org/mcp/ (Streamable HTTP, no sign-in). Tools: lookup_business, find_businesses, get_group.

Claude (claude.ai or the desktop app): Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, paste the URL. In Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http peornot https://peornot.org/mcp/
ChatGPT: with developer mode on (Settings → Apps & Connectors → Advanced), create a connector with the URL and no authentication. Or build a custom GPT and import our OpenAPI file under Actions.
Other MCP clients (Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and others): add a remote HTTP server with the URL.

Menu names change; look for “connectors” or “MCP servers”.

HTTP API

JSON over GET. Every response includes say (the exact sentence to use), sources, coverage, wording_rules and data_as_of. OpenAPI: /openapi.json.

Look up one business

GET /api/lookup/?name=&address=&city=&state=&zip=&phone=&industry=

Give a name plus a city and state or a ZIP; a phone number or street address makes the match surer. Matches by phone, by street address and name, by name in the city, and by brand name. Returns the best matches with label, owner group, backers, deal depth, confidence, sources and a correction link. Example: https://peornot.org/api/lookup/?name=Aspen%20Dental&city=Plano&state=TX

List businesses in an area

Up to 100 per page (default 20), with counts by label for the area. label takes one or more of pe_backed, lender_owned, corporate_owned, health_system_owned, group_practice, vc_backed, unconfirmed, no_known_pe_ties, not_labeled, comma-separated. Example: https://peornot.org/api/search/?industry=dental&city=Plano&state=TX&label=no_known_pe_ties

Get an owner group

GET /api/group/?id=|name= returns the group’s label, owner or backers, since when, PE stake, how it holds practices, every source with its headline, and its known locations by state. Example: https://peornot.org/api/group/?name=Heartland%20Dental

Coverage

Dentists and eye care: every practice in the federal NPI registry, nationwide, checked against the groups we track. Deepest in Dallas-Fort Worth (dentists and eye care) and the SF Bay Area (dentists).
Vets, dermatology and GI: the groups we track and their published locations (chains only).

Wording rules for answers

Say "PE-backed" or "affiliated with a PE-backed group" and name the firm. Never say a dental or eye care practice is "owned by" a PE firm: the PE-backed company usually manages it, and a dentist or doctor remains the legal owner.
Say "no known PE ties", never "independent": only practices that certify their ownership (Verified Not PE) are confirmed independent. It means we found no ties, not that none exist.
State ownership as facts with sources: cite the source headline and link, and the data date.
Never say or imply a practice is worse (care, prices, honesty) because of who owns or backs it.
label "unconfirmed" means a thin or old record: say "Not confirmed" and give the source; don't name the group as the owner.
Vision Source members and Pearle Vision franchise stores are independently owned: never label them by the network.
Use the "say" text as written or stay close to it. If the user says it's wrong, give the correction link.

Terms

Use is free; please cite “PE or Not? (peornot.org)” and link the source. Bulk data: downloads. Data license: CC BY-NC 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/): free for non-commercial use with attribution to peornot.org. Commercial use needs a license from TechCrowds, LLC: info@peornot.org.. Errors: report a correction.