- Anonymous LLC states: where ownership stays off the public filingCompare anonymous LLC states by formation filings, ongoing disclosures and out-of-state registration. Learn what LLC ownership privacy means for public records.
- How do you find out who owns a building when the owner is an LLC?The property record names an LLC and the state file names nobody. The person is usually in the city rental registry: 99.96% of New York City's LLC-held buildings name one.
- How do you find other businesses owned by the same person?Find a person's other businesses by searching records that index people: city licence registers, state officer searches, and the parent company named as manager.
- GovFiles vs. OpenCorporates vs. Cobalt IntelligenceCompare GovFiles, OpenCorporates and Cobalt Intelligence on US Secretary of State coverage, historical entities, live lookups, bulk delivery and API pricing.
- How do you find the legal entity behind a local business?Find the legal entity behind a storefront using DBA filings and business licenses, with public-record examples and a name-and-address API walkthrough.
- What are articles of incorporation called in each state?Articles of incorporation is the founding document a corporation files with a state, but nine states call it something else. A table of all 51 US registries.
- The most common words in US business namesThe most common descriptive word in US business names is 'services,' found in 3.3 million of the 92.3 million entities across all 50 state registries.
- Why are so many companies registered at the same address?A shared business address is almost always a registered agent's. One Wilmington, Delaware building is on file for over 1.19 million companies. Here's why.
- What is a business registration number?A business registration number is the ID a US Secretary of State assigns a company. It is issued per state, unique only within that state, formatted differently in all 50, and is not an EIN.
- How do you find out who owns a business?How to find out who owns a business or LLC: what state registries actually publish, why the registered agent is not the owner, and why most US business owners are not in any public database.
- Domestic vs. foreign business entities: what a 'foreign' company really isA 'foreign' LLC or corporation is an out-of-state company, not an international one. At least 8.2 million US business registrations, about 1 in 11, are foreign qualifications.
- How many businesses are registered in the US?There are at least 91.9 million business-entity registration records across the 50 US state registries as of July 2026. Counting distinct companies gives a smaller number, and here is why.
- How do you check whether a US business is still active?Look up the company in its state's Secretary of State registry and read the status. But 'active' is not one word: at least 130 different labels across the 50 registries all mean a company is active.
- How do you verify a US business entity against Secretary of State records?How to verify a US business entity against Secretary of State records: look it up by state registry number, not name. At least 20.8 million US entities share a legal name.
- Who are the largest registered agents in the US?CT Corporation is the largest registered agent in the US, named on at least 3.0 million business entities, followed by CSC at 2.3 million. A data-driven ranking across 49 state registries.
- Is there a national database of US business registrations?No. The US has no national business registry. Business entities are chartered by 50 separate state offices, each with its own database, entity-number format, and status wording.
- How many LLCs are there in the US?At least 46.2 million LLCs are on record across all 50 US state registries as of July 2026, more than every other business entity type combined. Here is why the commonly cited 21.6 million is wrong.
- What Is a Registered Agent?A registered agent is the person or company authorized to receive legal and state mail for a business entity. Here's what that means, why every US entity needs one, and how to look one up.
