How the directory works

Understand the record before relying on it

US Business Lookup is an independent directory of retained public business records. A profile helps identify a registry entry; it is not a government certificate, a live registry check or proof that a business is operating.

Verify a registration

1. Match the legal name, registration jurisdiction and registration number. Similar names alone do not establish a match.
2. Review the source reference date beside the reported status. Good Standing, active registration, license status and IRS classification describe different things.
3. Follow the official lookup link on the profile or state hub. Search for the registration number and compare the current official record and filings.
4. Order a certificate or official document from the issuing agency when your decision requires one.

Public summaries provide registration facts and source context for free. Available full addresses, reported people, source payloads and downloads require a subscription. Paying does not add missing fields or certify accuracy.

Sources and identity

Official bulk datasets and archived third-party listings are kept distinct. Registrations are matched by registry jurisdiction and registration number, with source observations retained. One business can have separate registrations in different states. Counts describe registration records, not a deduplicated census of operating companies.

Archived listings with no documented capture date say so. A newer official statewide delivery does not give an unrefreshed archive-only record a newer status date. We do not treat a filing date as a founding date, or a reported agent, officer or principal as a verified owner.

Source dates, ingestion and filing dates

• Source reference date: the delivery or snapshot date supplied or documented for the retained source.
• Source ingested: when we processed that delivery. It is not the date every business field changed.
• Filing date: the registration date reported by the source; it can differ from an effective date.
• Newest usable city filing: the latest reported date among records that can be associated with that city in our retained data.

Official registry deliveries are scheduled for daily checks; additional collections are scheduled for weekly checks. These are polling schedules, not guarantees of a successful update or real-time coverage. Publication happens after source and database validation. An unavailable feed leaves the last accepted data in place. Active-only feeds do not establish dissolution when a record disappears. See the source inventory for individual scope and dates.

Florida’s daily-file documentation says the filename describes the day information entered its database, and some annual reports or address changes are absent. Daily files supplement a quarterly baseline. A daily record can have a city but no principal-state field. When the complete principal and mailing addresses match exactly, an explicit state on that same mailing address can corroborate the location. Otherwise the location stays unassigned; a ZIP alone is insufficient.

Geographic names and raw filing text

City browsing uses state-scoped Census and USGS place/community names, plus reviewed spelling aliases. Address fragments, placeholders and unresolved labels remain outside city indexing and browsing. The underlying records and original filing text are retained. A recognized place name does not verify an individual business address or prove it lies within a municipal boundary.

Missing and conflicting information

“Not reported” means the available source does not supply a usable value. Original status strings and historical observations are preserved for review. A date later than our source reference, an unknown archive capture date or a missing address should be investigated with the original registry, rather than replaced with an assumption.

Reproducible registration reports

Our registration reports identify the source snapshot, exact periods, inclusion rules, SQL and downloadable aggregate data. We compare complete calendar periods from one retained source. Active-only or incomplete historical feeds can bias comparisons; reports explain those limits. Registration counts do not measure jobs, economic output, unique owners or operating businesses.

Corrections and questions

Request a record correction or removal, or contact the operator about source coverage, billing or methodology. Changes here do not change an issuing registry’s own records.