Business Registry Search
Glossary
Quick answer. A glossary on this site fixes the words a filing office uses, so a status label from one state is not silently translated into another state’s label. A business registry search is a lookup in the state office that files corporations, LLCs, and similar entities. Use the legal name, open the detail page, and read status plus the registered agent. The hit list is not a name reservation and not a license.
Steps
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Pick the formation state
The registry is state by state. A company formed in Delaware and operating in Texas has its charter in Delaware. Start with the state on the contract or the invoice, then check the operating state if you also need a foreign registration.
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Open the official index
Each state page on this site links the office that keeps that registry. Bookmark the host the office uses. Reprint sites only copy what that host already published.
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Search the legal name
Type the name as it would appear on articles, without inventing punctuation. If the list is empty, drop the entity ending and search the stem. A business name registry matches the index, not a trademark class.
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Read status on the detail page
Active, good standing, withdrawn, and dissolved are not interchangeable, and some offices do not use “good standing” on the free search at all. Read the definition on that office’s help text before you quote the word.
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Save the file number
The file number is the durable id. Use it for a later certificate order, an annual report, or a request to us. Names change. File numbers usually do not.
Terms that get mixed up
File number, entity number, charter number, and document number are local names for the identifier on the detail page. EIN is federal and usually absent. Registered agent is not an owner. Good standing is a certificate in many states and only a status word in others.
Use the glossary when a contract uses a term the office does not print. Quote the office’s word in the note, and put the contract’s word in parentheses.
What a registry row actually proves
People type “business name registry” and “state business registry” when they want the formation file, not a Google listing and not a city hall license. The registry that matters is the one that assigned the file number. District of Columbia entities sit with the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, not with a secretary of state, which is why the state pages on this site name the office instead of assuming a title.
A useful business registry search captures the exact legal name, the file or entity number, the formation date, the status word the office uses, and the registered agent’s name and address. Officers appear only if that state asks for them on a public report. Owners who were never written into a filing are absent. An EIN is not a registry key.
Search the distinctive words first if the full name returns nothing, then add LLC or Inc back and compare file dates. Two companies can share a first word and differ by a city. The detail page, not the first row, is the record.
Common mistakes
- Treating a trade name or a Google Maps listing as proof the company is filed.
- Calling every corporations office a secretary of state. Several states use a different department.
- Assuming a free search reserved the name. Reservation is a filing with a fee.
- Quoting “good standing” from a status field the office never defined that way.
Questions
Is a business registry search free?
The name index is free in most states. Certified copies and certificates of status usually cost extra. Read the fee on that office’s schedule.
Does the registry show the owner?
Only if an owner, member, or officer was named on a public filing. Many LLCs list a registered agent and no members.
Can I search every state at once?
No single official registry covers all states. This site lists each office. A nationwide pass means running the states you actually care about.