US Secretary of State Business Entity Search: 11 states, official open data

Search LLCs, corporations, nonprofits and partnerships across 11 US states (including Florida) in one run, using official Secretary of State open data. Each result comes back as one normalized record: entity number, type, status, formation date, a business registered agent, principal and mailing address, officers, and a source link.

What it does / Who it's for / Why

• What: searches the official business-entity registries of NY, CO, CT, OR, PA, TX, VA, DC, AK, IA and FL. You can search by name (contains, starts with, or exact), by entity number, or in list mode with no name at all, using filters such as formation date, ZIP and city. List mode gives you every LLC formed in Colorado last week, for example.
• Who: KYB and compliance teams, lenders, B2B sales and lead-gen teams that want new-business lists, process servers and legal researchers, and journalists.
• Why: every record comes from a free government open-data API or official bulk download. There is no scraping of search pages, no captchas and no logins. Runs are fast, the record format is stable, and each record links to its source.

Measured, not promised

Measured locally on 2026-11-04 (all 10 states, parallelism 3):

Query	Results	Wall time
"blue ridge", 5 per state	42	8.8 s
["smith","acme"], 200 per state	1,946	12.1 s
10 entity numbers (one per state)	10	~9 s
List mode: active LLCs formed since 2026-10-01, 50 per state	450	~5 s

Florida (opt-in, add FL to states), measured on Apify on 2026-11-04:

FL query	Results	Run time	Platform cost
List mode: active entities formed since 2026-10-20 (daily files only)	200	4 s	$0.001
"blue ridge", 50 results	50	91 s (4 GB)	$0.014
One entity number	1	78 s (4 GB)	$0.015
"blue ridge mountain", full scan of ~13M records	24	303 s (4 GB) / 195 s (8 GB)	$0.063 / $0.080

FL has no query API. The State publishes a quarterly full file (1.8 GB zipped, Deflate64) and daily update files on its public SFTP server, using credentials it publishes on its Data Downloads page. The Actor reads the daily files first, then the quarterly file only when it still needs more results. Run FL with at least 4 GB of memory.

AK and IA have no query API, so each run streams their full official files (about 42 MB and 105 MB). That adds roughly 5 to 8 seconds whenever those states are included.

Sample output

{
  "state": "DC",
  "state_name": "District of Columbia",
  "entity_name": "BLUE RIDGE CONSULTING SERVICES Inc.",
  "entity_number": "250761",
  "entity_type": "Foreign Business Corporation",
  "entity_type_std": "corporation",
  "status": "Active - In Good Standing",
  "status_std": "active",
  "formation_date": "2005-03-10",
  "domestic_or_foreign": "Foreign",
  "foreign_formation_date": "2005-03-10",
  "registered_agent": {
    "name": "Business Filings Incorporated",
    "type": "organization",
    "address": {
      "line1": "1015 15TH STREET NW #1000",
      "line2": null,
      "city": "Washington",
      "state": "DC",
      "zip": "20005",
      "country": null,
      "full": "1015 15TH STREET NW #1000, Washington, DC 20005"
    }
  },
  "principal_address": {
    "line1": "114 Knightsridge Road",
    "line2": null,
    "city": "Travelers Rest",
    "state": "SC",
    "zip": "29690",
    "country": "USA",
    "full": "114 Knightsridge Road, Travelers Rest, SC 29690"
  },
  "annual_report_due": "04/01/2027",
  "last_report_filed": "2025-06-13",
  "record_last_modified": "2026-11-04",
  "source_url": "https://maps2.dcgis.dc.gov/dcgis/rest/services/DCGIS_DATA/Business_Licensing_and_Grants_WebMercator/MapServer/0/query?where=FILE_NUMBER+%3D+%27250761%27&outFields=*&returnGeometry=false&f=json",
  "official_record_url": "https://corponline.dlcp.dc.gov/",
  "source_dataset": "DC DLCP Corporate Registration (DC GIS Business_Licensing_and_Grants layer 0)",
  "data_scope": "all statuses",
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-05T05:23:20.029Z"
}

Common fields:

• Identity: state, entity_name, entity_number, entity_type (as published) and entity_type_std, status (as published) and status_std, formation_date, jurisdiction
• Contacts: registered_agent, principal_address, mailing_address, officers
• Provenance: source_url, official_record_url, source_dataset, data_scope, retrieved_at

Extra fields where the state publishes them:

• county (NY, PA)
• naics (CT, TX)
• annual_report_due (CT, AK, DC)
• dissolution_date (CT)
• status_reason and status_date (VA)
• assumed_name (AK)
• latitude and longitude (IA)
• service_of_process (NY)
• taxpayer_number and right_to_transact (TX)
• ownership_flags (CT: woman-, veteran- or minority-owned)
• business_email (CT, opt-in)

Privacy by design

• A registered agent is output only when the agent is an organization, such as CT Corporation, CSC or a law firm. For an individual agent, the name and address are replaced with "type": "individual (omitted for privacy)".
• If a principal or mailing address matches an individual agent's address, which usually means a home address, the address is dropped and the reason goes into privacy_notes.
• officers contains names and titles only. Addresses of people are never output.

Coverage

State	Source (official)	Statuses	Agent	Officers	Freshness
NY	Dept. of State, Active Corporations + all-filings history (data.ny.gov n9v6-gdp6, 63wc-4exh)	all (inactive = not on active list, with filing history, former and assumed names)	✓ (+ service of process)	chairman/CEO	daily
CO	Secretary of State, Business Entities (data.colorado.gov)	all	✓	–	daily
CT	Secretary of the State, Business Master + Agents + Principals (data.ct.gov)	all	✓	✓	daily
OR	Secretary of State, Active Businesses (data.oregon.gov)	active	✓	✓ (authorized reps)	weekly/monthly
PA	Dept. of State, Currently Registered Businesses (data.pa.gov)	active	– (registered office address)	✓	periodic
TX	Comptroller, Active Franchise Taxpayers with SOS file number (data.texas.gov)	active franchise-tax entities	–	–	weekly
VA	SCC entity tables + Officer file (data.virginia.gov bulk downloads, cached, refreshed every 30 days)	all	✓	✓ corporations only (see note)	snapshot (corp Nov 2024, LLC Jun 2022; index refreshed every 30 days; see source_as_of)
DC	DLCP Corporate Registration (DC GIS open data)	all	✓	–	daily
AK	Division of Corporations, full database download	all + business name registrations	✓	–	daily
IA	Secretary of State, Active Business Entities (Iowa Data hub, CC BY)	active	✓	–	monthly
FL	Division of Corporations, official quarterly + daily data files (public SFTP)	all	✓	✓ (up to 6, names + titles) + FEI/EIN, annual reports	daily

Virginia officer gap: VA officer data comes from the data.virginia.gov Officer file, which is cut off at Excel's 1,048,575-row limit. Corporations with IDs after F1923004 (about 4.8% of VA corporations) have no officers listed, though their entity records are complete. Every VA search with officers on carries a run note saying so.

Not yet supported, and why:

• VA (official SCC weekly file) and IL (bulk data): both hosts' robots.txt disallow automated access (Disallow: /), so VA stays on the data.virginia.gov snapshots and IL is skipped.
• OH: the business reports return 403.
• MA: the corporate export is behind a bot challenge.
• RI: the weekly export URL returns 404.
• KY, WV: bulk data requires a paid subscription.
• WA, MS, ID and the rest: search portals or script apps only. This Actor does not scrape HTML search pages.

How to use

1. Enter a business name, several names, or entity numbers, and pick the states.
2. Optionally filter by status, entity type, formed after/before, city or ZIP.
3. Leave the name empty and set formed after to get a new-business list (list mode).
4. Results go to the dataset, which has an overview view and a flat "leads" view. Per-state counts and errors go to RUN_STATS.

Example inputs

Copy one of these into the JSON input tab.

1. Name search across all default states

{ "businessName": "blue ridge" }

Returns entities whose name contains "blue ridge" in the 10 default states (up to 100 per state). In our test this returned 629 results in about 20 s.

2. Entity-number lookup (KYB / verification)

{ "entityNumbers": ["3523029"], "states": ["NY"] }

Returns the single New York record for DOS ID 3523029 (BLUE RIDGE ACCOUNTING SERVICES, INC.), with status, formation date and filing history. Our test run took about 3 s.

3. New-filings feed (newly formed LLCs)

{ "formedAfter": "2026-10-01", "entityTypes": ["llc"], "status": "active", "states": ["CO", "CT", "NY"], "maxResultsPerState": 20, "maxItems": 60 }

List mode: no name needed. Returns active LLCs formed on or after the date. Our test returned 60 LLCs formed between 2026-10-01 and 2026-11-04 in about 3 s.

Find newly formed LLCs for lead lists

New LLC filings are a common source of B2B leads. Freshly formed businesses often need a bank account, insurance, bookkeeping, a website, payroll or a registered agent. This Actor builds a new business filings list straight from official Secretary of State open data. It doesn't scrape search portals.

Step 1: choose states and a date. Leave the business name empty and set formedAfter to the start of your window, for example last Monday. List mode works in every state whose data includes a formation date. CO, CT and NY (active entities) were tested for this tutorial.

Step 2: filter to LLCs that are still active.

{ "formedAfter": "2026-10-01", "entityTypes": ["llc"], "status": "active", "states": ["CO", "CT", "NY"], "maxResultsPerState": 200 }

Add city or zip to target a local market.

Step 3: export. Use the dataset's flat leads view for CSV or Excel. Each row has the entity name, entity number, formation date, status, the registered agent where the state publishes one, the business address and a link back to the official source record.

Step 4: repeat weekly. Run it again with a new formedAfter date to pick up only the latest filings. You pay $0.002 per result returned. The final coverage summary row is free.

Good to know:

• How fresh the data is depends on the state. CO, CT, NY and DC update daily, IA monthly. Virginia's open-data files are older snapshots. Each row's source_as_of or retrieved_at tells you how fresh it is.
• Individuals' home addresses and sole proprietors are never output.
• Many new LLCs list a commercial registered agent, not the owner. Treat these lists as company-level leads, not personal contact data, and follow the marketing rules that apply to you (CAN-SPAM, TCPA and state laws).
• The Actor provides no emails or phone numbers that the states don't publish.

Use cases

Use case	How
KYB / vendor onboarding	Exact name or entity number, then check status_std, formation_date and the agent
New-business leads	List mode: formedAfter = last week, status = active, filtered by ZIP or city
Registered-agent market share	Search a state, then group by registered_agent.name
Litigation / service of process	Find the registered agent (organization) and the NY service-of-process address
Due diligence	Officers (names and titles), dissolution date, annual report due

Notes

• status_std values:
  • active: good standing, exists, active
  • delinquent: still exists but not in good standing
  • inactive: dissolved, revoked, withdrawn, merged and similar
  • reserved
• NY, OR, PA, TX and IA publish active entities only, so a dissolved company in those states returns no result.
• TX data comes from the Comptroller's franchise-tax roll, which carries the SOS file number and charter date. The address is the taxpayer mailing address.
• Requests are throttled to about 3 per second per host and retried with backoff. All sources are public and need no login.

v3 additions

• UCC liens (CO, CT, OR) from official open data (data.colorado.gov wffy-3uut/8upq-58vz/ap62-sav4, data.ct.gov xfev-8smz, data.oregon.gov snfi-f79b).
  • mode: "liens": search liens by business debtor name; one record per lien (record_type: "ucc_lien", filing_number, lien_kind, debtor_name/address, secured_parties, filings[], status, lapse_date, image_url for OR).
  • includeLiens: true: attaches ucc_filings + ucc_summary (total, active, latest_filing_date, secured_parties) to CO/CT/OR entities by exact debtor-name match.
  • Only organization debtors/secured parties are returned. Oregon's lien dataset covers the most recent month only.
• History (includeHistory, default on): CT filing_history, last_filing_date, name_history, former_names; CO filing_history, last_filing_date, trade_names.
• Oregon "new last month": entities from the monthly New Businesses list that are no longer on the active list are added (new_last_month: true).

v4 additions

• Business licenses (mode: "licenses", or includeLicenses: true to attach to CO/OR entities), from official open data. Only organization licensees are returned; sole proprietors and individuals are skipped.

State	Jurisdiction	Dataset	Notable fields
IL	City of Chicago	data.cityofchicago.org r5kz-chrr	license type, business activity, status, issued/expires
DE	State of Delaware	data.delaware.gov 5zy2-grhr	statewide license category, valid from/to
WA	City of Seattle	cos-data.seattle.gov wnbq-64tb	NAICS code, ownership type, phone
CO	Denver	data.colorado.gov s9wt-dsfz	license type, status, expiry
LA	New Orleans	data.nola.gov hjcd-grvu	business type, start date, phone
OR	OLCC liquor + cannabis	data.oregon.gov srxe-qkm2, q32u-cmam	license type, endorsements, county
VA	City of Norfolk	data.norfolk.gov dpi6-sct5	category, opened date
CA	Berkeley; Marin County	data.cityofberkeley.info rwnf-bu3w; data.marincounty.gov jfy7-shxv	NAICS, employees, ownership type

• CO UCC collateral: collateral (descriptions) and farm_products on CO liens (data.colorado.gov 4am6-w6u4).
• No official inactive-entity open data exists for OR, PA, TX or IA (their portals publish active lists only), so inactive records there are not available.

v5: two ways to use it

Human mode (default): type a business name, optionally pick states, press Start. Long histories are capped at 10 entries (*_count shows the full number).

AI / Agent mode (outputMode: "agent"): every field, plus one final dataset item with record_type: "coverage" (also saved as key-value record COVERAGE):

{"record_type":"coverage","run_status":"completed|no_match|failed",
 "states_queried":[{"state":"CO","status":"completed|no_match|failed|partial","results":60,"seconds":5.8,"notes":[]}],
 "states_skipped":[{"state":"ZZ","reason":"..."}],
 "queries":[{"query":"blue ridge","kind":"name","status":"completed|no_match|failed","results":83,"by_state":{"CO":60,"OR":23}}]}

The coverage item is not a charged result.

For AI assistants

Copy this into your agent's tool description:

Tool: US Secretary of State business search (official open data only).
Input JSON: {"outputMode":"agent","mode":"entities"|"liens"|"licenses",
 "businessNames":[...], "entityNumbers":[...], "states":[two-letter codes] (omit = defaults),
 "matchMode":"contains"|"startsWith"|"exact", "status":"any"|"active"|"inactive"|"active_or_delinquent",
 "formedAfter":"YYYY-MM-DD","formedBefore":"YYYY-MM-DD","city":"..","zip":"..",
 "includeOfficers":true,"includeHistory":true,"includeLiens":false,"includeLicenses":false,
 "maxResultsPerState":100,"maxItems":1000}
Entity states: NY CO CT OR PA TX VA DC AK IA, FL (opt-in, slow). Liens: CO CT OR. Licenses: IL DE WA CO LA OR VA CA.
List mode: no name, give formedAfter/formedBefore/city/zip -> new-business list.
Read the last item (record_type "coverage"): run_status, per-state status, per-query status.
"no_match" means the state was searched and has no match; "failed" means a source error, so retry or report unknown.
Never treat a state missing from states_queried as "no such business".
Each record has source_url and source_dataset; cite them.

v6 – speed

Alaska and Iowa are served from a prebuilt index of their official bulk files. The index is kept in the named key-value store sos-entities-bulk-cache and is rebuilt automatically when it is more than 7 days old. To rebuild it now, set refreshCache: true. Every AK/IA record's source_as_of shows the index date. If a rebuild fails, the Actor falls back to the old index or to a live scan. Smoke test: APIFY_TOKEN=... python3 test/smoke.py. It runs a small agent-mode query (about $0.0006, about 9 s) and exits 1 if any state fails. It can be scheduled with cron or an Apify schedule, and a scheduled run also keeps the index warm.

v6.1 – time limits and reliability

• maxRunSecs (default 300) limits the whole run: when it is reached (or ~45 s before the run timeout), the run stops and returns the results found so far, with unfinished states marked partial.
• stateTimeoutSecs (default 30) sets a time limit for each state. A state that runs out of time returns what it found so far and is marked partial in COVERAGE, with a note. Set it to 0 for a complete search with no limit. Florida and cache rebuilds are not limited.
• Each HTTP request is retried 4 times with backoff. If a whole state fails before returning any results, it is retried once. Each state's status is one of completed, no_match, partial, failed or not_run.
• The AK/IA index is split into about 1.5 MB shards. They are downloaded, unzipped and filtered in parallel, so Iowa now takes about 4.5 s instead of 16–29 s.
• States are searched 10 at a time by default (maxConcurrency).
• smoke.py treats partial as a warning and fails only on failed or not_run.

v6.2 – Virginia cached

Virginia is now served from a monthly (30-day) index in the sos-entities-bulk-cache store, built from the official data.virginia.gov bulk download files (Corporation, LLC, LP, Business Trust, Officers). The SQL/datastore API is no longer used because data.virginia.gov's robots.txt disallows /api/ and /datastore/; downloads respect its Crawl-delay. source_as_of carries the index build date; if the index is missing or stale, it is rebuilt (live fallback). Duplicate rows in the source files are de-duplicated.