How to Conduct a Michigan Business Entity Search

The Michigan business entity search is a valuable tool for anyone who needs to learn more about companies registered in the state. Whether you’re an established business owner who wants to check if a potential business partner is in good standing or a new entrepreneur who needs to check if your desired business name is available, the business entity search is your go-to resource.

But how do you use the business entity search? The search process can feel a bit overwhelming, especially if it’s your first time using a tool like this. That’s where this guide comes in. We’ll walk through how to use the Michigan business search tool. We’ll also cover important business naming guidelines and what you should do after searching your business name.

One quick note before we go further: the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) recently replaced its old business registration website with a new one: the MiBusiness Registry Portal. With this updated online filing system, the state also updated the search process. This guide covers the most up-to-date version of the business entity search.

Let’s get started.

Michigan Secretary of State Contact Information

Michigan State Naming Guidelines for Businesses

When you’re starting a business, one of the most important things you’ll do is pick your business name. And like other states, Michigan has several rules about naming your business. 

First, your name needs to be different from the names of other registered companies in Michigan, including both domestic and foreign corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs), limited partnerships, and so on. This is one of the simplest but most important naming standards. 

That said, uniqueness isn’t the only naming guideline to adhere to. Here are a few other rules your Michigan business name should follow: 

• Your business name should include a designator. For example, a corporation needs to include the words “corporation,” “company,” “incorporated,” “limited,” or an acceptable abbreviation. Meanwhile, LLCs need to include the phrase “limited liability company” or the abbreviations “LLC” or “LC” with or without periods.
• You can’t use abbreviations or designators that belong to another business type. 
• Your name can’t imply that you’re conducting any activities that aren’t permitted by your formation documents. 
• Your name can’t include words like “bank,” “banking,” “security,” “trust,” or similar words unless the company is registered appropriately under the Bank Holding Company Act.

If you’re in a licensed trade or profession, keep in mind that you’ll need to meet any naming rules that your industry has in place, too. If your business name doesn’t meet these requirements, you’ll need to pick a new one. 

How to Search by Business Name

The MiBusiness search tool actually allows you to look up a business in several different ways. Searching by business name or entity ID number is the most common method, but the advanced search opens up even more search possibilities. We’ll walk you through all of these possibilities throughout this guide, but in this section, we’ll focus on how to run a business name search.

Step 1: Set up your search

To get started, you’ll need to navigate to the business search homepage (pictured below). Please note that users can no longer access the old system, so the link above is the one you’ll need to use.

Once you’re here, you can simply type in the business name (or part of the business name if you don’t know the full name). Then hit “Enter” or click on the magnifying glass button.

Note: the “Advanced” drop-down menu gives you additional business name search options, but you aren’t required to use them for a basic name search. We’ll cover those options in a later section.

Step 2: Review your search results

After you hit “Enter,” the database will retrieve all of the business names that match your search terms. For example, here are some of the results we saw when we ran a search for “America.”

On this first results page, you can see the full business name, entity type, and entity ID number for each matching business. You’ll also see the formation date, status, annual report standing, registered agent, and annual report due date for each company.

If you’d like to see more information about a company, click on the arrow beside its business name. A pop-up window will show up on the right-hand side of the screen.

Here, you can see more information, such as the full name and street and mailing address for the registered agent and registered office. If a company has provided information about its principal individuals (such as a director or officer for a corporation or a member or manager for an LLC), you’ll see it listed here, too.

The “View History & Filings” button at the bottom of this page allows you to look at the company’s filing history, including initial filings like the Articles of Organization or annual reports. If needed, you can view images of these filings, too.

How to Search by Identification Number

If you use a business name search, there’s a decent chance that your search will yield multiple results (especially if you’re searching just part of a name). But if you want to get the desired results quickly, then an ID number search is your best bet.

The Corporations Division assigns a unique ID number to every company that completes the business registration process. So if you search that number, you’ll be directed to the company’s information right away.

To get started, navigate to the search homepage (linked above). Then, simply type in the entity ID number and hit “Enter.” As long as you typed in the number correctly, you should see only one result: the business you’re looking for. For example, here’s what our results page looked like when we searched the entity ID number from our example business above.

As before, you can click on the arrow beside the business name to review the company’s filing history and other information.

How to Use the Advanced Search

If you use the standard business name search, you may find that your search yields a lot of results, especially if you don’t know the full business name. The advanced search feature can help you narrow down your results. To find it, head to the search homepage and click on the “Advanced” tab directly underneath the search bar. This will pull up several different criteria you can use to filter your search.

First, you can set several different “Search By” options that affect what type of search the tool will run:

• Name or filing number: This is the default version of the search, which you can use to look up companies by a business name or filing number.
• Individual name: This search type allows you to use the name of an individual who’s affiliated with a company. For example, you could use this setting to search by the name of a company’s registered agent. You could also look up a business by the name of a principal person, such as a member of an LLC or a president of a corporation.
• Corporation Card File: This search option stems from a legacy system, when the state kept a public record of corporate activities on an index card. When the state started an electronic database in 1979, they took pictures of the old card files; these cards are now searchable (by entity name) with this search method.

Next, you can choose from three different search filters, which will affect the results that the search tool retrieves:

• Contains: This filter acts like a keyword search, retrieving the companies that include your search terms somewhere in the name. For example, if you used this setting with the search term “America,” the tool would retrieve entity names like “1 American Eagle Collision” and #1 Soccer School of America.”
• Starts With: This filter retrieves company names that begin with the same word(s) as your search term. For example, our “America” example would only retrieve company names that have “America” (or a word that begins with “America,” like “American” or “Americana”) as the first word of the name.
• Name Availability: Use this search filter if you want to determine whether or not your desired business name is available (we’ll cover this in more detail in a moment).

You can also use the “Entity Type” filter to limit your search results to a particular entity type, such as a domestic ecclesiastical corporation, a foreign LLC, or something else. Similarly, you can use the “Status” filter to limit your results to businesses that are active, dissolved, revoked, withdrawn, and other status types.

Finally, the “Registration Date” filter allows you to limit your results so they only include matching businesses that registered during a specified date range, such as between January 1 of this year and today.

To use the advanced search, set one (or more) of the filters to match your search goals. Then, type in your search terms and hit search to review your search results.

How to Check Name Availability Using the Advanced Search

If you’re starting a new business, it’s your responsibility to ensure that your desired LLC name isn’t already claimed by other businesses in the state. Michigan doesn’t have a separate page dedicated to running name availability searches. Instead, the state offers the search feature underneath the advanced search category.

To get started, open the search home page and click the “Advanced” tab. Then, click the bubble labeled “Name Availability” in the “Search Filters” category. Then, type your desired business name into the search bar; leave off entity identifiers like “Inc.” or “LLC.” Hit “Enter.”

Ideally, you’ll get a message that no results were found that match your search terms. If that happens, there’s a good chance that no other registered business entities have claimed that name.

However, if your search matches a registered business name on file with the state, the search will retrieve the listing for that business. For example, when we ran a name availability search for “ZenBusiness,” the search retrieved our own business information. If your name availability search displays a conflicting name, you’ll need to edit yours to be distinct or choose a new one altogether.

Please keep in mind that this search isn’t a guarantee of name availability; the search database isn’t 100% up to date at all times. The Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs will have the final say when you make a name reservation or file registration paperwork.

What to Do After Searching Business Names in Michigan

After you’ve come up with a name and searched it, you’re probably feeling like you’ve done a lot of legwork. You’d hate for that hard work to go to waste, right? Here are some steps you can take to protect your Michigan business name and make the most of it. 

Reserve your Michigan business name (optional)

If you’ve picked the perfect business name but you’re not quite ready to file your business formation paperwork, Michigan allows you to reserve a business name.

You can get a Michigan name reservation by filing an Application for Reservation of Name form with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. The cost for this form varies depending on your entity type; for example, LLCs pay a $25 filing fee while most other entities pay $10. 

After your paperwork is filed and approved, your name reservation will be valid for six months (with the exception of limited partnerships, which are four months). This step is optional, and you should only pursue it if you want to protect your desired LLC name but aren’t ready to file your formation paperwork yet.

Form an LLC or register your business with the Corporations Division

One of the best ways to protect your business name is to register your business. After you register a business under your chosen name, no one else in Michigan will be able to register their own company with the same name. 

Registering a Michigan business is an important legal process. Learn more about starting a Michigan LLC. 

Get a domain name that matches

You want your customers to find your business website easily. That means you need a domain name that matches your business name as closely as possible. A matching domain will help your brand maintain consistency both in person and online.

If you’re struggling to come up with a domain name (or the one that matches your name is already taken), try using a domain name generator. A generator can help you come up with a domain that matches your brand image. 

Set up your business online

Today, you can’t run a business without a good digital footprint. A good business website is a decent starting point. But don’t stop there; set up social media accounts like a Facebook page, a TikTok profile, and an Instagram account. Make sure your business name is included on each account so your brand is consistent across your online presence.

Last but not least, set up a Google Business Profile for your business (or claim it if it already exists). This profile will help you direct customers to your website or your store location. Plus, it’ll help you respond to customer reviews and build a good brand reputation in the Great Lakes State.

Trademark your business name (optional)

If you want the most robust protections for your business name, you could pursue trademark registration. Trademarks can be registered at the state or federal level (with federal protections being the strongest). 

Getting a trademark can be pretty complicated and time-consuming. If you go this route, it’s highly recommended to work with a trademark attorney.