Find Instagram Collaboration Leads using Apify Scraping and GPT-4o Evaluation

This no-code n8n workflow finds recent Instagram posts by hashtag, scrapes profile data, and uses an AI agent to evaluate whether each account is a good collaboration lead. The workflow filters based on the number of followers and the content of their bio, and outputs structured reasoning for outreach decisions.

Perfect for creators, marketers, or business developers looking to automate influencer or community partnership prospecting—especially in niche ecosystems like n8n.

✅ Key Features

🔍 Hashtag Discovery**: Finds recent Instagram posts from a specified hashtag (e.g., #n8n) 👤 Account Scraping**: Retrieves profile details such as follower count and biography 🧠 AI Evaluation**: Uses OpenAI and LangChain to determine if the profile is a good fit for outreach 📦 Structured Output**: Returns a JSON object with "Yes/No" lead status and reasoning 🛠️ Manual Execution**: Run on demand using the manual trigger

🧰 What You'll Need

| Tool / API | Purpose | Setup Steps | |-------------------------|------------------------------------------|-------------| | Apify Account | To access Instagram scraping actors | Create account → Generate API Token → Use in httpQueryAuth credential in n8n | | OpenAI API Key | To power the AI decision-making agent | Sign up at OpenAI → Create API key → Paste into OpenAI credential in n8n | | LangChain Plugin for n8n | AI Orchestration with System Message | Install LangChain nodes from Community Nodes (already installed in this workflow) |

🔧 Step-by-Step Setup

1️⃣ Manual Trigger
Node**: When clicking ‘Execute workflow’
Use**: Allows you to run the workflow manually while testing.

2️⃣ Define Hashtag
Node**: Create Search Term
Value**: Sets "n8n" as the default Instagram hashtag to scan.
You can edit this to any other hashtag you'd like.

3️⃣ Find Recent Posts
Node**: Find Recent Posts
API**: Apify Instagram Hashtag Scraper
Auth Setup**:
Go to your Apify Console
Click “Create new token”
In n8n, create a new HTTP Query Auth credential
Set token in the token query param (e.g., ?token=yourTokenHere)
Choose the credential in this node

4️⃣ Scrape Each Profile
Node**: Scrape Accounts
API**: Apify Instagram Profile Scraper
Body**: JSON with usernames from the hashtag search
Note**: Uses the same httpQueryAuth credential as the previous node.

5️⃣ Extract Fields
Node**: Set bio and follower count
What it does**: Extracts biography and followersCount from the profile JSON and stores them in clean variables for AI input.

6️⃣ AI Lead Scoring
Node**: AI Agent
Purpose**: Uses GPT-4o-mini to analyze the bio and follower count
Prompt Details**:

7️⃣ AI Model
Node**: OpenAI Chat Model
Model**: gpt-4o-mini
Credential**: Connect your OpenAI account via API Key.
Go to OpenAI API Keys
Copy your key and create a new OpenAI API credential in n8n.

8️⃣ Output Parser
Node**: Structured Output Parser
What it does**: Parses the response from the AI into structured JSON for further use (e.g., storing leads, sending to Airtable, etc.)

🧪 Sample Output { "lead status": "Yes", "Reasoning": "The user has 3.5k followers and their bio shows they build automations with n8n." }

📬 Need More Help?

If you'd like assistance setting this up, customizing it to your niche, or expanding it to score and store leads automatically — I can help!

👤 Robert Breen
Automation Consultant | AI Workflow Designer | n8n Expert
📧 robert@ynteractive.com
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