Every corporation or limited liability company that is formed in a particular state can be found in that state’s registry. Even if a business wasn't formed in a particular state, it might be required to register in that state if it has offices, stores, or warehouses in it, or even if it just does a small number of sales in that state without a physical presence in it (for instance, in the case of online sales). Whether or not the name you have has a corporate identifier, limited liability company identifier, or another identifier, you should look up the name in the state database of registered businesses.

California has made its lists of registered businesses publicly accessible through its business search on the Secretary of State’s website. Here, you’ll be able to search:

• Corporations (Incs and Corps), 
• Limited Liability Companies (LLCs), 
• Limited Partnerships (LPs) 

Note that you will not be able to search General Partnerships (GPs) or Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs), associations, or other entity types, but you can still fill out and file a "Business Entities Records - Order Form" to the California SoS to get information about these entities are they are also registered at the state level.

If the name you have for the business already has an identifier like “Inc” or “Corp” in it, then search for the name complete with the identifier. If it doesn’t have an identifier, then you can search for the name, without any identifier.  

Business Name Located

Use the details in the business record to confirm it is the one you are looking for:

• Date of Incorporation: If you know that the company is a newer business that was just recently founded, but the listing you have found has a date of incorporation from 1981, then you are likely looking at the listing of a different company. 
• Officers, Directors, and Agent: Similarly, if you happen to know the boss of the company is Ted Jones, that his lieutenants are Sarah Wong and Jane Smith, and that the company is fairly small (and thus it is unlikely that there are other bosses you don’t know of), yet all the names you see for officers, directors, and the agent in the listing you have found are unfamiliar to you, then maybe you have found the wrong company. 
• Address: If you know the company you would like to sue is based out of an office on Main Street in Tustin, but the business address you found is based out of a building on Apple Street in Stockton, then, again, you might not have found a match. (However, be careful, as many companies have different legal addresses than the address you may be familiar with.)
• Other research: Don’t limit yourself to just cross-referencing the details in the listing to what you already know: You can search online for terms such as the full name of the business in the listing (in quotation marks, to ensure that you find that exact name in your search results; ex: “ACME Elevators Inc.”), along with the address from the listing to find out more, which will help you determine whether it is indeed the business you would like to sue.

Business Name Not Located

If your search yields no results, try searching for the business name without the identifier (ex., “ACME Elevator” without the “Inc.”). Still zero results? Don’t worry: There are more ways to find the business’s name.

Because the government wants to ensure that businesses can’t avoid lawsuits by hiding their true, legal names, it requires them to register their fictitious business names. But, unlike corporations and LLCs, which have to register (under their real name) at the state level, fictitious business names are registered at the county level. So fictitious business name searches are done through county governments, rather than state governments. 

If at this point you have the business’s location nailed down, but you don’t know what county the business’s city is in, then search Google. You can search for a question like “What County is [the business’s city], [the business’s state] in?” (For example: “What County is Tustin, California in?”)

Once you know what county you need to do your search in, search for that county’s fictitious business name search tool. An example of this Google search would be: “Orange County California fictitious business name search” (you can also try “Orange County, CA DBA Search” or “Orange County, CA Assumed Business Name Search”). Most county governments allow for online fictitious business name searches, but some smaller counties might require you to call.

Here are some tips for your online Fictitious Business Name Search:

• If there is a search option for “partial match” or “wild card” or a similar option, then select that option. This will allow you to search for the business name without having the exact name. For example, if you search for “Open Sesame” when the exact fictitious business name is “Open Sesames”, then the partial match search should find “Open Sesames”.
• If your original search produces zero results, then try searching for variations of the name. For instance, if your search for “Open Sesame” yields nothing, then try options like “Open-Sesame” or “OpenSesame”.
• If those methods don’t work, try searching for just the beginning of the name. For example, try “Open” instead of “Open Sesame” and scroll through all the names that begin with “Open” to see if you find the business.
• If you still can’t find the business name, try calling the county government and asking for their help. Sometimes they can search for the business using methods that aren’t available for online searches, such as searching for the business by its address instead of its name.

Did you find the fictitious name you were looking for? 

If you did, then you have also found the real name of the company—the name of the company that registered the fictitious business name will be included in its information. But it’s still worthwhile to check your work! Try Googling the business by the real, legal name you found, in quotation marks, along with the city it’s located in (Ex: “ACME Can Openers, Inc.” Tustin). 

Does it still look like the right business? 

Also, try searching for the legal business name you discovered at the county level in the state’s business records search. You might find out that the legal business name you discovered at the county level had dropped its “Inc.” or “LLC” from its legal name when registering its fictitious name with the county. But if the legal name that you found at the county level in your fictitious name search didn’t include a business type identifier such as “Inc.” or “LLC,” and your search at the state level produced zero results, then don’t worry: This most likely means the business isn’t a corporation, LLC or another type of business required to register at the state level.

Business not found on state or county level (Not Inc, LLC, LP)

At this point, you have done a state business records search and county fictitious business name search. If you still haven’t been able to find the legal name for the business, it most likely means that two things are true: 

1. The company you are searching for is not a corporation, LLC, or another type of company that needs to register at the state level
2. It is not operating under a fictitious business name (in other words, the name that you have could still be its real name). 

Now, it’s time to do a business license search at the city level.

Most cities require businesses operating within them to have a business license. Many bigger cities have an online business license search that allows you to search for a licensed business by name and address. All cities that require a business license should have a phone number that you can call to perform such a search. To figure out how you can perform a business license search, you can search Google for something along the lines of [business’s city and state] + “business license search” (eg: Huntington Beach, CA business license search). 

Here are some tips for your online Business License Search:

• If there is a search option for “partial match” or “wild card” or a similar option, then select that option. This will allow you to search for the business name without having the exact name. For example, if you search for “Open Sesame” when the exact fictitious business name is “Open Sesames”, then the partial match search should find “Open Sesames”.
• If your original search produces zero results, then try searching for variations of the name. For instance, if your search for “Open Sesame” yields nothing, then try options like “Open-Sesame” or “OpenSesame”.
• If those methods don’t work, try searching for just the beginning of the name. For example, try “Open” instead of “Open Sesame” and scroll through all the names that begin with “Open” to see if you find the business.
• If you still can’t find the business name, try calling the county government and asking for their help. Sometimes they can search for the business using methods that aren’t available for online searches, such as searching for the business by its address instead of its name.

Business not found or is inactive

If you are unable to locate a business after looking through multiple levels or have concluded that the business is currently inactive, your last option would be to name the highest-ranking officer (often the owner) of the business as the defendant. In this case, be sure to indicate that the defendant is an individual and not a business.

• Corporaciones (Incs y Corps),
• Sociedades de Responsabilidad Limitada (LLC),
• Sociedades Limitadas (LP)