How LeadHunter works
From sign-up to your first lead in under 10 minutes. Here's every step, what happens behind the scenes, and how to fix the few things that can go wrong.
Sign up — 7-day trial, no credit card
Create an account at leadhunterusa.com/signup. Email + password — that's it. We don't ask for billing information until your trial ends, and we don't auto-charge you when it does.
You can use the same login on the desktop app and on your phone (the LeadHunter mobile app).
Pick your profession + service area
The onboarding wizard asks two quick questions:
- Your profession — plumber, HVAC, roofer, etc. We use this to build the keyword list automatically.
- Services you don't do — uncheck anything you'd rather not get pinged about. (e.g. a plumber who doesn't do drain cleaning.)
You can change either at any time from the Settings page.
Download and install the desktop app
After you sign up and finish onboarding, you'll land in your dashboard with a button that opens the install guide. Pick Windows or Mac, download the installer (~120 MB), run it, click Install. Takes about 60 seconds.
Windows 10/11 (64-bit) and Mac (Apple Silicon and Intel) are both supported today.
Sign in once — through your browser
After install, the LeadHunter USA icon shows up in the system tray (Windows: bottom-right of the screen, near the clock — if hidden, click the small ▲ arrow) or in the menu bar (Mac: top-right, near the clock). Click the icon for the popup → click Sign in…. Your browser opens, you log in to LeadHunter USA, and the desktop app picks up your session automatically. No copying tokens, no QR codes.
Your communities import automatically
The first time the app runs, it imports your list of local communities you're a member of. No clicks from you. The list shows up under Groups in the dashboard within a minute or two.
Toggle each one on or off — only the active ones get monitored.
Wait for your first lead
LeadHunter monitors your communities continuously. When a relevant post comes up and our AI verification confirms it's a real service request (not a referral, not off-topic chat), you get a push notification on your phone with the post text and a direct link.
First lead usually arrives within an hour, but it depends on what your local groups are posting.
What the app actually does
The boring details — for the curious or the cautious.
Continuous monitoring
LeadHunter watches your communities throughout the day. The rhythm matches normal browsing, and quiet hours pause activity between 10 PM and 7 AM in your timezone unless you turn them off.
AI verification — every match
A keyword match isn't enough. An AI assistant checks each match and decides: "is this someone actually asking for a service right now?" If not — referral, off-topic, sarcasm — it's filtered out. You only see the real ones.
Listen-only — no posting, no liking
LeadHunter only listens — it never posts, comments, likes, follows, or sends messages on your behalf. Everything you already see as a member, you see in LeadHunter. Nothing more.
Push to your phone, not email
Verified leads fire a push notification through the LeadHunter mobile app (iOS + Android, available separately). One tap opens the original post in your browser.
Runs in the background
The app sits in the system tray. No browser tab to leave open, no chrome window to keep alive. If you reboot Windows, it picks up where it left off automatically.
Auto-updates
We ship improvements regularly, and the app updates itself silently on the next launch. You'll never have to reinstall.
Common questions
The few things that trip people up.
I installed the app but I don't see the icon in the tray.+
Windows hides tray icons by default. Click the small ▲ chevron in the bottom-right corner — LeadHunter is usually in the hidden group. Right-click it and choose "Show icon and notifications" to keep it visible.
I clicked Sign in but nothing happened in the browser.+
Check that your default browser is set to Chrome, Edge, or Firefox. Then try right-click the tray icon → Sign in… again. If the browser opened but you got "Missing nonce", you opened the URL directly — start over from the tray icon.
It's been an hour and I haven't gotten any leads.+
Four checks: (1) left-click the tray icon and confirm "Scanning is on", (2) flip "Keep computer awake" ON in the same popup so Windows doesn't sleep, (3) at least one community is toggled "active" in the Groups page, (4) your profession + keywords look right in Settings. If all four look good, your local communities might just be quiet — leads come at random times.
I see "Sign in to start" in the tray menu.+
Your session expired. Left-click (or right-click) the tray icon → Sign in… to reconnect. This usually happens if your LeadHunter password changed or your browser cleared cookies.
A community platform is asking me to verify my account.+
Open the platform in your normal browser and complete the verification (CAPTCHA, photo ID, etc.). The desktop app uses your same account, so once the platform is happy, scanning resumes on the next cycle. The app will also push a notification telling you when this happens.
How do I uninstall?+
Windows Settings → Apps → LeadHunter → Uninstall. The uninstaller leaves your account on the server intact — log back in any time to reinstall.
I'm on Mac. What now?+
Sit tight — Mac support is in active development. In the meantime you can use the LeadHunter mobile app (iOS) for notifications once your account is set up.
Still stuck? Email support@leadhunterusa.com — we usually reply within a few hours.
From a contractor, by a contractor.
I'm G — a plumber. I spent thousands of dollars on lead-gen services that promised great leads but mostly delivered junk. The leads that actually turned into jobs? They came from local online communities — neighbors posting “anyone know a good plumber?” that I'd see hours or days late, after someone else had already gotten the work.
That's why I built LeadHunter USA. And that's also why I priced it well below what other lead-gen services charge — because I remember what it felt like to overpay for promises that didn't deliver.
It watches those groups for me around the clock, and pings my phone within minutes of a match. The same posts that used to get me my best customers — now I'm not the last one to see them.
Ready to set it up?
Sign up first — the desktop installer is one click from your dashboard.
Start Free — 7 DaysNo credit card required to start