CA Secretary of State Business Search Guide

Before you spend time searching, it helps to know what the California Secretary of State’s business search actually covers: corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, and nonprofit corporations — but not general partnerships, limited liability partnerships, or sole proprietorships operating under a trade name. If the business you’re researching falls into one of those excluded categories, this tool won’t find it, and you’ll need a different source entirely.

Where to Actually Go

The current tool is called bizfile Online, at bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/search/business. This replaced the Secretary of State’s older business search system, so if you have an old bookmark or a guide referencing a different URL, use this one instead. It’s free, gives you free PDF copies of formation documents, amendments, and Statements of Information, and covers more than 17 million business documents.

What You Can Search For and Find

You can search by entity name or entity number. A few practical tips that make the search actually work well:

• Results cap at 500 matches, so a broad search term like “Pacific” returns an unmanageable list. Search the most distinctive word in the business name, and include the entity suffix (LLC, Inc., Corp) if you know it.
• If you have the entity number, use it — it’s a faster, more precise match than searching by name.
• Advanced search lets you filter by entity type, status, and initial filing date range, useful if you’re trying to find a specific entity among several with similar names.

Once you find the entity, its record page shows the formation date, current status (active, suspended, forfeited, dissolved), registered agent for service of process, and entity addresses, plus free downloadable PDFs of filed documents. If you need a certified copy for court or a formal transaction rather than a plain printout, that costs a $10 special handling fee.

What This Tool Won’t Tell You

This is the part worth taking seriously if you’re doing real due diligence rather than a quick lookup:

• General partnerships and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) aren’t in the online database. Their records are kept separately. To get copies, you’d need to mail a completed Business Entity Records Order Form to the Secretary of State’s Sacramento office.
• Sole proprietorships and DBAs (“doing business as” names) don’t appear here at all, since they don’t register with the Secretary of State. If you’re looking for a business operating under a trade name, check your county’s fictitious business name records instead — each California county maintains its own.
• A clean Secretary of State record doesn’t mean the business is in good tax standing. The Secretary of State tracks whether filing paperwork is current; the Franchise Tax Board tracks whether taxes are actually paid. A business can look fine on one and be delinquent on the other. The FTB offers a free Entity Status Letter tool specifically to check tax standing — worth checking separately if you’re about to enter a contract or close an escrow with a California entity.
• Owner names, personal contact information, and internal documents like bylaws or operating agreements aren’t public through this search.
• A “suspended” or “forfeited” status is a red flag worth taking seriously — it typically means the entity failed to file required paperwork or pay required fees, and it can affect the entity’s legal standing to do business or enforce contracts in California.

Bottom Line

Use Bizfile Online for a quick, free check on formation date, status, and registered agent. It covers corporations, LLCs, and limited partnerships, not sole proprietors.