> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.baselayer.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Business Search: Basics > Core KYB product for business identity verification and risk assessment. ## What is Business Search? Business Search is Baselayer's foundational Know Your Business (KYB) product. It verifies business identity by matching your input against authoritative government registries (Secretary of State filings across all 50 states), validating Tax Identification Numbers with the IRS in real-time, screening for sanctions and watchlist matches, and returning a comprehensive risk assessment with match confidence scores. Unlike legacy verification systems that rely on outdated data or require manual processes, Business Search delivers fresh, authoritative results through a modern API in seconds. The product serves as the anchor for all Baselayer verification workflows: most customers start here, then expand to specialized products like Portfolio Monitoring, Lien Search, or Web Presence analysis based on their use case. *** ## When to Use Business Search **Use Business Search when you need to:** * Verify that a business exists and is legitimately registered * Validate that provided business details (name, address, TIN) match official records * Screen for sanctions and watchlists * Assess business risk through automated scoring * Retrieve comprehensive business profile data (officers, addresses, registration history) * Make onboarding, underwriting, or approval decisions based on KYB verification **Consider alternatives when:** * You only need TIN verification without full business profile → Use [TIN Verification endpoint](/api-reference/tin-verification/submit-tin-verification) * You're verifying unregistered businesses (sole proprietors) → See [Sole Proprietor Verification guide](/docs/sole-prop-verification) * You need web presence or industry classification without full KYB → Use [Web Presence](/docs/online-presence-basics) For foundational concepts about business verification in the United States, see [Business Verification Basics](/docs/business-verification-basics) . *** ## What Business Search Returns A completed Business Search provides multiple layers of verification data in a single response: ### Match Signals Confidence indicators showing how well your input matched official records: * **`business_name_match`**: How closely the provided name matches the registered name (EXACT, SIMILAR, NO\_MATCH) * **`business_address_match`**: Address matching precision (EXACT, CITY, STATE, NO\_MATCH) * **`tin_matched`**: Boolean confirming IRS validation of the provided TIN against business name * **`business_officer_match`**: Whether provided officers match registered officers (EXACT, PARTIAL, NO\_MATCH) * **`registered_agent_match`**: Match level for registered agent information These signals let you build verification rules tailored to your risk appetite and product requirements. ### Scores & Ratings Two automated scores assess overall verification quality and risk: * **KYB Rating** (A-F scale): Evaluates the strength of business identity verification based on registration quality, match confidence, and completeness of official records * **Risk Rating** (A-F scale): Identifies potential risk factors common in fraud, credit risk, and compliance scenarios Most customers use these ratings as primary decision gates - for example, auto-approving A/B ratings and routing C/D/F to manual review. For detailed guidance on interpreting and using these scores, see [Scores & Ratings](/docs/baselayer-scores-ratings) . ### Business Profile When a match is found, you receive the complete business entity profile: * **Identifiers**: Unique `business_id`, legal business name, entity structure (LLC, C-Corp, etc.) * **Registrations**: Domestic (incorporation state) and foreign (states where authorized to operate) with status, filing dates, and registration numbers * **Officers & Agents**: Directors, managers, registered agents with names and addresses * **Addresses**: All known business addresses with USPS validation signals * **Business Age**: Months since incorporation (critical for lending and certain compliance requirements) * **Watchlist Screening**: Any sanctions or PEP matches associated with the business entity or its officers The business profile persists in Baselayer's system with a permanent `business_id` that you can reference for follow-up queries, or historical analysis. ### Search Metadata Every search returns operational metadata: * **`state`**: Current search state (PENDING, EXECUTING, COMPLETED, FAILED, CANCELLED) * **`warnings`**: Array of any operational issues (e.g., "IRS Validation is Unavailable") * **`created_at` / `updated_at`**: Timestamps for audit trails * **`console_url`**: Direct link to view full results in Baselayer console for analyst review ### Orderables (Optional) If you request additional analysis at search time using the `options` parameter, you receive IDs and URLs to fetch: * **Website Analysis**: Domain registration details, site age, status, contact information discovered on the website * **Industry Prediction**: NAICS, MCC, and SIC codes with confidence scores and risk classifications * **Enhanced Search**: Comprehensive package including website analysis, industry prediction, social media profiles, online reviews, and additional addresses/officers discovered online For more on orderables, see [Web Presence & Orderables](/docs/web-presence-orderables) . *** ## Key Product Concepts ### Search States Every Business Search progresses through a state lifecycle: * **PENDING**: Search submitted and queued for processing * **EXECUTING**: Search actively running against data sources * **COMPLETED**: Search finished successfully and found a business match * **FAILED**: Search could not complete due to insufficient input data or system errors, or could not find a business match * **CANCELLED**: Search was cancelled during execution ### Match Levels Match signals use consistent levels to indicate confidence: * **EXACT**: Perfect match between your input and official records * **SIMILAR**: Close match with minor differences (e.g., "Amce Corp" vs "Acme Corp") * **CITY**: Address matched to city but not exact address level * **STATE**: Address matched to state level but not to city * **NO\_MATCH**: No match found Your verification logic should define which match levels are acceptable for your use case. Most customers require EXACT name with at least CITY address, or SIMILAR name with EXACT address. *** ## Performance & Coverage ### Latency Business Search is optimized for real-time verification workflows: * **p50 latency**: \~2-3 seconds (typical case) * **p99 latency**: \~5 seconds (standard searches) Latency varies based on: * Requested orderables (Website Analysis or Enhanced Searches can add 10-30 seconds) * IRS system status (system overload can add 1-2 seconds) ### Coverage Baselayer maintains comprehensive business data across all US jurisdictions: * **Active businesses**: 33+ million currently registered businesses * **Historical records**: 130+ million all-time business registrations * **State coverage**: All 50 states plus DC and Puerto Rico * **IRS TIN validation**: Real-time access to IRS e-Services (one of only a handful of providers with direct IRS integration) * **Update frequency**: Daily to weekly updates from state registries (varies by state) ### Data Freshness * **Secretary of State data**: Refreshed daily to weekly depending on state update schedules * **IRS validation**: Real-time API access (validates against current IRS records) * **Sanctions lists**: Updated within hours of official update publication Data freshness is a key Baselayer differentiator - legacy providers often work with quarterly or annual data snapshots, while Baselayer maintains near-real-time connectivity to authoritative sources. *** ## Integration Patterns ### Asynchronous (Recommended) Most customers use asynchronous Business Search with webhook notifications: 1. Submit search with `POST /searches` 2. Receive immediate response with `state: PENDING` and search ID 3. Listen for `BusinessSearch.Completed` or `BusinessSearch.Failed` webhook 4. Process final results when webhook arrives **Why async?** Allows your application to continue processing while Baselayer queries multiple data sources. Webhooks eliminate polling overhead and provide immediate notification when results are ready. See [Webhooks at Baselayer](/docs/webhooks-at-baselayer) for webhook setup guidance. ### Synchronous For testing or simple integrations, you can request synchronous responses: 1. Submit search with `Accept: application/vnd.osiris.sync+json` header 2. Wait for HTTP response (may take 3-5 seconds) 3. Receive complete results in the response body *** ### Batch Processing For bulk verification needs (e.g., backfilling existing customer base), use Batch Business Search: * Upload CSV with up to 10,000 searches at once * Download results when batch completes See [Batch Searches](/docs/batch-search-how-to-run-bulk-searches-in-baselayer) for implementation details. *** ## Next Steps **Get Started with Implementation:** * [Business Search: API Quickstart](/docs/business-search) - Make your first API call in minutes * [Authentication Guide](/docs/authentication) - Set up your API keys * [Sandbox vs. Production](/docs/sandbox-vs-production-environments) - Understand testing environments **Build Verification Logic:** * [Business Search: Best Practices](/docs/business-search-1) - Recommended decision workflows and rules * [Scores & Ratings](/docs/baselayer-scores-ratings) - Deep dive on KYB and Risk scores * [Handling IRS Outages](/docs/webhook-guide-businesssearchupdated) - Manage TIN validation edge cases **Expand Your Workflow:** * [Web Presence & Orderables](/docs/web-presence-orderables) - Add website and industry analysis * [Portfolio Monitoring](/docs/portfolio-monitoring) - Continuous monitoring after approval * [Sole Proprietor Verification](/docs/sole-prop-verification) - Handle unregistered businesses **Need Help?** * Check [FAQs](https://support.baselayer.com) for common questions * Review the complete [API Reference](/api-reference) for detailed endpoint documentation * Contact your Baselayer account manager for implementation support This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.