How to Conduct a Nevada Business Entity Search

The Nevada business entity search, sometimes called the Secretary of State business search, is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to learn more about the businesses registered in the state. Whether you’re an established business owner who needs to manage your business or a soon-to-be entrepreneur who wants to research name availability, this tool is a go-to resource.

But using the search can feel a bit overwhelming, especially if you’ve never used a tool like this before. That’s where this guide comes in. We’ll give you a step-by-step guide to using the Nevada business search tool. We’ll also cover some essential business name rules and what to do after searching business names.

Let’s get started.

Nevada Secretary of State Contact Information

Physical Address: 101 N. Carson Street, Suite 3 Carson City, NV 89701	Email: sosmail@sos.nv.gov
Telephone: (775) 684-5708	Website: https://www.nvsos.gov/sos

Nevada Business Name Guidelines

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

First, your name needs to be different from the names of other registered companies in Nevada, 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 Nevada business name should follow: 

• If you’re forming a corporation, state law doesn’t explicitly require you to use a designator like “Inc.” or “Company” in your name (in most cases). The exception: if your business name includes the name or initials of a natural person, such as the business founder, then you need to include a designator like “Inc.” or “Corporation” to help distinguish it as a business name. 
• Meanwhile, LLCs are required to include a designator, such as the phrase “limited company,” “limited liability company,” or the word “limited.” You may also use abbreviations of these terms, such as “Ltd.” or “LLC.”
• Nevada has a pretty lengthy list of restricted words, including terms like “bank,” “insurance,” “engineer,” and more. If you’re going to include one of these words in your business name, you need prior approval from the relevant board or agency. 
• Nevada has precise standards for what constitutes a distinguishable business name. Generally, a name is not distinguishable from an existing name if the only difference stems from:
  • An omission, addition, or substitution of a symbol or punctuation, such as changing “USA” to “U.S.A.” or changing “&” to “And”
  • The business designator
  • Changing the font’s typeface or size

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 Run a Nevada Secretary of State Business Search by Entity Name

The Nevada business entity search actually allows you to look up businesses in several different ways: by business name, entity number, Nevada ID number, a registered agent name, or by the name of an officer (you can also run a trademark search, but we’re not focused on that search type here).

We’ll cover the basics of each business search process throughout this guide, but in this section, we’ll focus on searching by entity name. Keep scrolling if you’d like to search by an officer name, registered agent name, business ID number, or entity number.

Step 1: Set your search filters and type your search

To get started, you’ll need to navigate to the search homepage. Here, you can choose your search type and any filters you want to use.

At the top of this page, you’ll see the heading labeled “I would like to search by:” followed by several different filters you can use. Here are your options:

• Starts With: This filter limits results to include business names that begin with the same words as your search terms. For example, if you searched “America” with this filter, you’d see results that had “America” or “American” (or similar words) as the first word.
• Contains: This filter can act more like a keyword search, listing the business names that include your search terms somewhere in the name. Going back to our “America” example, this search would include results like “American Construction Management” or “Nevada American Construction” (as just two examples).
• Exact Match: This more precise filter retrieves an existing business name that is identical to your search terms.
• All Words: This filter will retrieve business names that include any word in your search terms anywhere in the name. For example, if you searched both “Smith” and “Hardware” and used the “All Words” setting, the search would retrieve results like “South Meadows Ace Hardware” and “24/7 Locksmith Services.”

By default, the search tool is set to the “Starts With” filter, but you can change it to meet your needs.

Next, if you’re worried that your search terms will yield a long list of results, you can scroll to the very bottom of the page to the “Advanced Search” options. Here, you can tell the search to display only service marks or business entities (the tool covers both). You can also limit results to a certain business type (such as an LLC, nonprofit corporation, or even a trade name) along with a business status (such as active, dissolved, or withdrawn).

Set any filters you want to use. Then, type your search terms into the search bar labeled “Name.” Then, click “Search” or hit “Enter.”

Step 2: Review your search results

After you hit “Search,” the database will retrieve all of the business names that match your search criteria. For example, here’s what our results list looked like when we ran a “Contains” search for “American Construction.”

On this first page, you can see the legal entity name, status, compliance hold (if applicable), filing date, business type, Nevada business ID number, and entity number for each matching business. You’ll also see the mark number if a service mark matches your search terms.

If you find the business you’re searching for, you have two options. First, you can click the “Manage this Business” button to be redirected to a page where you can log in and request a Certificate of Good Standing, renew a business license, file for reinstatement, and more.

Alternatively, you can click on the company’s business name to see additional information about it.

On this business information page, you can see the company’s annual report due date, its registered agent information, and information about its officers (such as a corporation’s directors or a managing member for an LLC). You can also review the company’s filing history, name history, and any mergers or conversions the company has gone through.

Checking Name Availability Using the Name Search

Nevada doesn’t currently offer a dedicated name availability search tool, but you can use the standard search tool to research name availability.

To get started, run an “Exact Match” search of your desired business name. Ideally, you’ll see an alert that says, “No records found with your search criteria.” If that happens, there’s a decent chance that your desired name is available.

But if there are any matches to your name, you’ll see the business with a claim to that name. If that happens, you’ll need to check their status: if the company has the “Active” or “Default” status, then the name is not available. If it has another status, then you can use the name.

It can also be helpful to run a few other searches, such as a “Contains” search or an “All Words” search using some of the keywords in your business name. These extra searches can help you double-check that your name is truly unique.

Keep in mind that this search isn’t a guarantee of name availability. The only way to know for sure is to register your business or request a name reservation with the Secretary of State (we’ll explain more about these steps later).

How to Search by Officer Name or Registered Agent Name

Nevada also allows you to look up business information if you know the name of a person who’s affiliated with the company. This could include an officer, such as a director or president of a corporation or a member of an LLC. It can also include the registered agent who represents the company.

To get started, navigate to the search homepage. Then, scroll down to the section labeled “Business Entity Search Criteria.”

If you’re going to be searching for a registered agent, you’ll type the agent name (or partial name) into the search bar labeled “Registered agent name.” But if you’re searching for an officer, you’ll need to type the first, middle, and last name into the corresponding search bar (you can use just one or two of these search bars if you don’t know the officer’s full name).

Next, click “Search.” The business entity search tool will pull up any businesses that match your search criteria. For example, here’s what our results looked like when we ran an officer name search for “John Smith.”

On the results page, you’ll see the company name for each matching business, its status, filing date, business entity type, and ID numbers. As before, you can use the “Manage this Business” button to make changes to the business registration, get certificates, and more. You can also review additional information about the company by clicking on its company name.

How to Search by Nevada Business ID or Entity Number

The Secretary of State’s office assigns a unique business ID number and an entity number to every company registered with the state. Even unincorporated businesses like sole proprietorships receive a business identification number when they register for their state business license.

Every business ID and entity number is unique, so you can use that identifier to look up a company’s information directly. You shouldn’t have to sift through a long list of business names using these searches.

To get started, navigate to the search homepage and scroll down to the search bars labeled “Entity Number” or “NV Business ID Number.” Type your number into the corresponding search bar (note: if your number starts with “NV,” it’s the NV Business ID number). Then, click “Search.”

As long as you typed the number correctly, you should see only one search result. You can click on the company name to review additional information about the company, or you can click on the “Manage this Business” button to submit filings for it or request a Certificate of Good Standing.

What to Do After Searching Business Names in Nevada

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 Nevada business name and make the most of it. 

Reserve your Nevada business name (optional)

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

You can file for a name reservation by submitting a Name Reservation form to the Secretary of State’s Office. Nevada allows you to file this online through SilverFlume or using a paper form. No matter how you file, there’s a $25 filing fee. 

After your paperwork is filed and approved, your name reservation will be valid for 90 days. This step is optional, and you should only pursue it if you’ve picked a name but aren’t ready to file your formation paperwork yet.

Form an LLC or complete your business registration

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 the state will be able to register their own company with the same name. 

Registering a Nevada business is an important legal process. Learn more about starting a Nevada 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 Silver 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.