Features
Part of A company name, compared to a state file number, makes an unreliable lookup key
Entity number lookup search: five test queries per register
Entity number lookup search made repeatable: five test queries that show how a register matches, what a nil result means, and what to record.
What to take away
- Run five test queries once per register, and every later search on that site becomes interpretable.
- A nil result describes one index, one day, one query. It does not show the entity is missing.
- Use the number field, not the general box, where a register offers both.
- Write down the register, the exact query, the filters in force, the date and the result.
Why test the register before you search
Search boxes on registry sites look interchangeable and behave nothing alike. One matches a number exactly and silently ignores a prefix. Another treats a name query as "starts with" and returns nothing for a company whose distinctive word sits in the middle.
You cannot read a nil result until you know how the register matches. The fix is cheap: spend a few minutes on entities you know exist, then search for the one you need.
The five test queries
| Test | Run it on | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Drop the first word of a known name | An entity you know exists | Whether matching is starts-with or contains |
| Add and remove the suffix | The same entity | Whether the index stores the suffix |
| Search a known dissolved entity | An entity you know is gone | Whether a status filter is on by default |
| Search a known trade name | An assumed name you know exists | Whether assumed names share the entity index |
| Search a number with and without its prefix | A number you know | Which form the number index holds |
Five probes before trusting a register
- Search a known name missing its first word
- Search with and without the entity suffix
- Search a known dissolved entity
- Search a known trade name
- Search a number with and without its prefix
Skipping the tests is why people conclude an entity does not exist when the register simply matched differently from their expectation.
Reading the name tests
Match type comes first. Exact, starts-with and contains are all in use, and the three matching behaviors change what the same query returns.
Name matching behavior by register
Exact
- Distinctive word first
- Found
- Distinctive word later
- Not found
- Short root word
- Few rows
- Suffix stored
- Must match
- Dissolved entity shown
- Filter dependent
Starts-with
- Distinctive word first
- Found
- Distinctive word later
- Not found
- Short root word
- Few rows
- Suffix stored
- Must match
- Dissolved entity shown
- Filter dependent
Contains
- Distinctive word first
- Found
- Distinctive word later
- Found
- Short root word
- Hundreds of rows
- Suffix stored
- Optional
- Dissolved entity shown
- Filter dependent
Under starts-with, a company whose distinctive word is not the first word is effectively invisible unless you know the opening. Under contains, a short root word can return hundreds of rows.
The search instructions of the Delaware Division of Corporations' Entity Search and the California Secretary of State's bizfile Online Business Search explain how each handles matching.
Suffix and punctuation come next. Inc, Inc., Incorporated, Corp, LLC, L.L.C., ampersands, hyphens and doubled spaces are where the string you have and the string the office holds diverge. Drop the suffix and search the distinctive root.
The status test matters most for risk. Some registers default to active entities only, so a dissolved or revoked entity will not appear until the filter is cleared, and nothing on the page necessarily says so.
The trade-name test shows whether trade names, assumed names and reserved names sit in their own index. A nil result in one says nothing about the other, which is the ground the business name search pillar covers in full.
Reading the number test
Registries index the number they issued, so a correct string in the right register lands on one record. Prefixes, leading zeros and separators are part of the identifier. Stripped zeros and missing prefixes are the usual reason a number lookup fails.
Where a register offers separate fields for name and number, use the number field rather than the general box. General boxes often run a name index first and give up before reaching the number index.
Why a number search fails
Does the register store this exact string?
Use the number field, not the general box
Try prefixes, leading zeros, separators
If the number still returns nothing, two other causes remain. The number may be a different kind: a state file number, an Employer Identification Number (EIN), a license number and a customer reference are not interchangeable. Federal contracting uses the Unique Entity ID (UEI) through SAM.gov, with its own entity registration process. Ask which body issued the number before deciding it is wrong.
Or it may be the wrong register. A number is meaningful only with its jurisdiction, and searching the state where the work happens for a number issued by the state of formation is a common version of this mistake.
When the register is not yet known
Test queries need a register to test. There is no national index of ordinary US companies, so find the state first.
- Ask the counterparty. The state of formation appears on their own documents.
- Look for a foreign qualification in the state where the work happens. Those filings name the home state.
- Use a commercial multi-state search only to generate candidates, then confirm at the office of record. Copies find things and do not decide them.
- Where the company files with a federal body, that body's own search may name the state. The SEC's filing search is the obvious example for the small subset of companies that file there.
Turning test results into a search plan
Write the register's answers down as four short rules, then search by them. The rules turn a failed search into a specific next move.
- Starts-with
- type the opening of the name, not the distinctive middle word.
- Suffix stored
- type the suffix exactly as the office does. Suffix ignored: drop it.
- Active-only default
- clear the status filter before you call anyone dissolved.
- Prefix held
- retype the number with its prefix and zeros, as printed.
Only when every rule has been applied does a nil result carry weight. Even then it describes that register, that index and that day, so say that and nothing wider.
Recording the search itself
Write down the register, the exact query, the filters in force, the date and the result. A nil result describes one index, one day, one query. Without the query, no one, including you, can reproduce it.
What to record from a search
- Register searched
- Exact query string
- Filters in force
- Date of search
- Result, including nil
- Identifier, displayed name, status
If the result was a match, record the identifier, the displayed name and the registration status string with its date. Repeating a search properly a year later is the whole reason for the note.
The sequence in secretary of state search puts this note in the context of a full lookup, and the entity number lookup pillar explains why the identifier, not the name, is the key worth keeping.
Common questions
The register found nothing for a company I know exists. What is the most likely cause?
Match type. Try the distinctive root word alone, clear any status filter, and check that you are in the entity index rather than a trade-name index. Wrong state comes next.
Can I search several states at once on an official site?
No. Each state runs its own register, and any product offering a single cross-state query is a commercial copy with its own refresh schedule. Use one to find candidates, then confirm at the office.
The search page has an advanced mode. Is it worth using?
Usually yes, because it exposes the fields the simple box hides: index selection, status filters and exact-match toggles. Those are precisely the settings that explain a surprising result.
I have a number but no jurisdiction. Can I work backwards?
Not reliably. Formats overlap between registers and change within one over time, so a number alone does not identify its issuer. Go back to whoever gave you the number and ask which office issued it.
