To look up who owns a business, start with the Secretary of State’s free online business search in the state where the company is registered: the formation documents and annual reports filed there list officers, directors, or managing members by name. If that comes up short, the next step depends on what kind of business it is. Sole proprietors and general partnerships leave their paper trail at the county clerk, publicly traded companies disclose ownership through the SEC, and layered LLC structures take some digging across multiple registries.
Get the Legal Name and Entity Type First
A few minutes of preparation saves hours of searching the wrong records. The most important detail is the company’s exact legal name, which is often different from the brand name on the storefront or website. A restaurant called “The Golden Fork” might be registered as “GF Dining LLC” or “Sanchez Hospitality Group, Inc.” The legal name usually appears in the fine print of a contract, on an invoice, or in the footer of the company’s website.
Knowing whether the business is an LLC, corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship tells you which database to use. LLCs and corporations register at the state level. Sole proprietors and general partnerships typically file only at the county level. If the company operates under a name that differs from its registered legal name, there will be a “Doing Business As” filing somewhere, and that filing connects the trade name back to a real person or entity. The company’s physical address narrows down which state or county holds the records.
One trap to avoid: if you’re trying to identify the owner of a specific location, make sure you’re not accidentally researching a parent company or franchise organization. A franchised fast-food restaurant is usually owned by a local franchisee whose name appears nowhere on the national brand’s filings. The local business license or the state registration for that particular LLC is where the actual owner shows up.
Search the Secretary of State’s Business Registry
This is the workhorse method, and it works for any LLC, corporation, limited partnership, or nonprofit. Most states require these entities to register with the Secretary of State or an equivalent business agency before they can legally operate.1U.S. Small Business Administration. Register Your Business Every state maintains a free, publicly searchable online database of these registrations.
A company’s record typically shows the formation documents (articles of incorporation for a corporation, articles of organization for an LLC), the most recent annual report, and the name and address of the registered agent. Annual reports are especially useful because states require businesses to update them periodically with the current names of officers, directors, or managing members. Even if the original formation documents don’t list useful names, the most recent annual report usually does.
The registered agent is the person or company designated to accept lawsuits and legal notices for the business. Sometimes that’s the owner, sometimes their attorney, and sometimes a commercial service like CT Corporation or Northwest Registered Agent. A commercial registered agent doesn’t reveal ownership directly, but it confirms the business is formally registered in that state.
Searching these state portals costs nothing. Certified document copies may carry a fee, but you rarely need certified copies to identify an owner. The basic search results and viewable filings contain the names you’re after.
Check County Records for Sole Proprietors, Partnerships, and DBAs
Sole proprietors and general partnerships don’t file formation documents with the Secretary of State in most states, which means they won’t appear in state-level business entity searches. These smaller operations typically register at the county level by filing a fictitious business name statement, also called a DBA filing. The filing creates a public record linking a trade name to the individual who actually owns the business.
You can usually find these records through the County Clerk’s office or the Registrar-Recorder in the county where the business operates. Many counties now offer online search portals; older filings may require an in-person visit or a mailed request. Some states handle DBA filings at the state level rather than the county level, so if the county clerk comes up empty, check whether the state runs a centralized fictitious name registry.
County business license applications are another route. When someone applies for a business license, the application typically requires the owner’s name and address, and those records are generally considered public. Most jurisdictions let you search their online business license databases for free.
Use SEC EDGAR for Publicly Traded Companies
If the business is publicly traded, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR database is the definitive source. EDGAR provides free public access to millions of filings, including annual reports (Form 10-K), quarterly reports (Form 10-Q), and proxy statements that name the company’s officers, directors, and largest shareholders.2U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Search Filings
For tracking individual insiders, look at SEC Forms 3, 4, and 5. Form 3 discloses initial holdings when someone first becomes an officer, director, or major shareholder. Form 4 is filed within two business days of any insider transaction. Form 5 captures anything that wasn’t reported during the year.3U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Updated Investor Bulletin – Insider Transactions and Forms 3, 4, and 5 Together, these forms give you a detailed picture of who holds significant ownership stakes in any public company. You can search EDGAR by company name or ticker symbol, free of charge and with no registration required.4U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Search Filings
Try Licensing Boards, Trademark Records, and Court Files
If the business requires a professional or trade license, such as a contractor, real estate broker, restaurant, pharmacy, or medical practice, the licensing agency’s records often identify the owner or qualifying individual by name. State licensing boards typically maintain searchable online databases where you can look up a business by name or license number.
These records are especially useful when the owner must be personally licensed to operate. A general contractor’s license, for example, is tied to a specific individual even when the contracting business is structured as an LLC. The state contractor licensing board often reveals the person behind the company when Secretary of State records show only a commercial registered agent.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office maintains a searchable trademark database where each registration lists the name and address of the trademark holder. This can help when you know a brand name but can’t find the entity behind it through state records. A trademark registration sometimes points to a parent company or holding entity that doesn’t appear in the state business registry under the brand name you searched.
Court filings are an underused source. When a business is sued or sues someone else, the complaint and other filings typically name the owners, officers, or managing members. Many state court systems have online docket search tools. Federal court records are available through PACER, which charges a small per-page fee.
County property tax records provide another angle. If a business owns commercial real estate, the county assessor’s office maintains records showing who owns the property. These are searchable online in most counties by address or owner name. The property owner isn’t always the business owner, since many businesses lease their space, but when a small business owns its building, the assessor’s records link the property directly to an individual or entity. The county Register of Deeds holds the deed itself.
Peel Back Layered LLCs
Sometimes a state business search reveals that the owner of an LLC is another LLC, which is in turn owned by a holding company registered in a different state. This layered structure is legal and common, particularly in real estate and private equity. Tracing through it means searching the business registry in each state where a parent entity is registered, working up the chain until you reach an individual’s name.
A few strategies help. Check every state where the business appears to operate; a company registered in Delaware or Wyoming often has a foreign entity registration in the state where it actually does business, and that filing sometimes contains different names. Look at the registered agent’s address across multiple entities. When several LLCs share the same registered agent and formation date, they’re likely controlled by the same person. Commercial business credit reports from agencies like Dun & Bradstreet compile data from multiple sources and sometimes list principals or officers that don’t appear in state filings.
For businesses that own real property, the chain often breaks open at the county level. A holding company’s LLC might be opaque in state records, but the commercial lease, the mortgage, or the property deed recorded with the county may name an individual guarantor. That individual is frequently the person who controls the entire structure.
Two Resources That Won’t Help: FinCEN and WHOIS
Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act in 2021, which created a federal requirement for companies to report their beneficial owners to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 5336 – Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting In March 2025, FinCEN published an interim final rule exempting all domestically created entities from the reporting requirement. Only companies formed under the law of a foreign country and registered to do business in the United States are now required to file beneficial ownership reports.6FinCEN. Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Even for those foreign entities, the beneficial ownership database is not open to the public. Access is restricted to federal law enforcement, certain Treasury officials, state and local law enforcement, and financial institutions with the reporting company’s consent.7Federal Register. Beneficial Ownership Information Access and Safeguards So the CTA is not a resource available to ordinary researchers trying to look up a business owner.
WHOIS lookups are also outdated advice. WHOIS was once a reliable way to see who registered a domain name, including their name, address, and phone number. That changed in 2018 when ICANN began requiring registrars to redact personal data from WHOIS results to comply with European privacy regulations. Today, a WHOIS lookup on a .com, .net, or .org domain almost always returns “REDACTED FOR PRIVACY” in the registrant name and address fields. For most businesses operating under standard domain extensions, WHOIS is no longer a practical ownership research tool.
When Online Searches Come Up Empty
You can file a formal public records request with the government agency that regulates or licenses the business. At the federal level, the Freedom of Information Act allows you to request records from federal agencies. Each state has its own equivalent public records law. These requests can target specific departments responsible for business licenses, health permits, building inspections, or environmental permits, any record where the applicant’s name would appear. FOIA applies only to federal agencies; for state and local records, use the state’s own public records law. Response times vary, but most states require agencies to respond within 10 to 30 business days. Filing the request itself is generally free, though agencies typically charge a per-page copying fee for physical documents.