Build a business directory with Directorist

A business directory is one of the most durable models on the web: list local businesses, charge for premium placement, and earn whether the economy is up or down. Plugins like Directorist make the front end easy — listings, maps, search, paid submissions. The slow part has always been the data: defining fields, building a category tree, and entering dozens or hundreds of listings by hand. This guide replaces that grind with a conversation. You will stand up a categorized, searchable, monetizable directory and seed it with real listings by describing it to an AI agent through NIBWP.

The agent does not just dump rows into a table. It reads how Directorist is structured on your install, creates the taxonomy terms, registers any custom fields you need, drafts each listing with the right data, and stages everything for your review — typed, validated and logged at every step. The result is a directory you could charge for, built in an afternoon.

Who this is for

Local-marketing entrepreneurs building a “best of [city]” directory, niche community builders (think a directory of vegan restaurants, or co-working spaces), and agencies launching directories for clients. No code required — you describe the directory, the agent builds it. You bring the niche and the source data; the agent brings the speed.

What you will build

• A categorized directory (Restaurants, Gyms, Salons, etc.) with searchable listings
• Custom fields the agent registers for you — price range, opening hours, amenities
• Dozens of seeded listings with address, contact and category, as reviewable drafts
• SEO titles and meta for every listing and category page
• A monetization path — paid or featured submissions through Directorist
• Repeatable bulk-import you can run again as the directory grows

Before you start

You need Directorist active (the free version is plenty to begin), NIBWP with a write-scoped application-password token, and a connected MCP client. Helpful but optional: a spreadsheet or CSV of the businesses you want to list. If you only have a rough idea — “the 20 best coffee shops in Austin” — the agent can draft plausible starter listings you then refine. New to connecting a client? Start with the overview.

The stack

Step 1 — Connect Directorist and confirm the structure

With Directorist active, NIBWP detects its listing type and taxonomies automatically. Ask the agent to confirm what it sees so every later instruction is grounded in your real install:

You: What does the Directorist listing structure look like here?\nnibwp/wp-list-posts { type: at_biz_dir, limit: 1 }\nlisting type: at_biz_dir - taxonomies: at_biz_dir-category,\nat_biz_dir-location - fields: address, phone, website, hours

Step 2 — Build the category and location trees

Directories live and die by navigation. Decide your top-level categories and the locations you cover, then let the agent create the terms in one batch. You can always nest sub-categories later.

You: Create categories: Restaurants, Cafes, Bars, Gyms. Create\n     locations: Downtown, East Side, North.\nnibwp/wp-create-term { taxonomy: at_biz_dir-category } x4\nnibwp/wp-create-term { taxonomy: at_biz_dir-location } x3\n4 categories, 3 locations created

Step 3 — Register the custom fields you need

Out of the box a listing has the basics. Most directories want more — a price range (£–£££), opening hours, amenities (wifi, parking, outdoor seating). The agent can register these fields for you, so every listing has somewhere to put them:

You: Add custom fields to listings: price_range (select),\n     opening_hours (text), amenities (checkbox).\nnibwp/acf-manage-fields { group: listing, fields: [...] }\n3 fields registered on the listing type

Step 4 — Seed the listings

This is the moment the directory fills up. Hand the agent a CSV, a spreadsheet link, or a plain description, and it drafts a listing for each business with the right category, location and fields. For real data, point it at your source; for a starter directory, let it draft plausible entries you then correct.

You: Add 15 listings for popular Austin coffee shops, each with\n     address, phone, price_range and amenities. Category Cafes,\n     location Downtown. Keep as drafts.\nnibwp/wp-create-post { type: at_biz_dir, status: draft, ... } x15\n15 listings created as drafts - categorized and field-filled

Because each write is schema-validated, a listing missing a required field or with a malformed phone number is caught before it is saved — you never inherit a directory full of broken records.

Step 5 — Draft the category copy and SEO

Empty category pages do not rank. Ask the agent to write a short intro for each category (“The best independent cafes in downtown Austin…”) and to generate SEO titles and meta descriptions for every listing. This is high-volume, repetitive work — exactly what to delegate:

You: Write a 60-word intro for each category page, and generate\n     SEO title + meta for every listing.\nnibwp/seo-image-optimize { title, meta } x15\n4 category intros drafted, 15 listings optimized

Step 6 — Review, publish and monetize

Walk the drafts in the WordPress admin, fix anything that needs a human eye, and bulk-publish. Then turn on Directorist’s monetization — paid submissions, featured listings, or a pricing plan for businesses to claim and upgrade their entry. The directory you seeded becomes a directory you earn from.

Going further

• Auto-enrich — ask the agent to find listings missing hours or photos and flag them for completion.
• Landing pages — build a polished “Featured this week” page with a Pro Skill.
• Email outreach — with the FluentCRM integration, draft outreach inviting businesses to claim their listing.
• Scheduled growth — run a weekly agent that adds new businesses from a feed and expires closed ones.
• Multi-city — duplicate the whole pattern per city by changing the location terms and re-running the seed.

Troubleshooting

The agent cannot find the listing type. Directorist must be active and the token needs at least read. NIBWP only exposes active plugins.

Custom fields are not showing on listings. Confirm the field group is assigned to the Directorist listing type. The agent registers it; Directorist must be set to display it on the listing form.

Listings published before review. That requires a publish token. Reissue a write-scoped token and keep force-draft on.

FAQ