How to Conduct a New Mexico Business Entity Search

Navigating tools on any state website can feel overwhelming at first, and the New Mexico business search tool is no exception. But this tool is very helpful; the search can tell you more about registered businesses in the state. It’s also your go-to resource if you want to check availability for a New Mexico LLC or corporation you’re about to start.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about using the New Mexico business search tool, state naming guidelines, and what you can do after searching your business name.

Let’s get started.

New Mexico Secretary of State Contact Information

New Mexico 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, New Mexico has several rules about naming your business. 

First, your name needs to be different from the names of other registered companies in New Mexico, including both domestic and foreign corporations, 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 New Mexico business name should follow: 

• The name needs to include a business entity identifier (sometimes called a designator), such as “corporation,” “incorporated,” or “company” for corporations or “Limited Liability Company” or “LLC” for LLCs. 
• Not only does your name have to be different from other names, but it also can’t be “confusingly similar to” other business names. Basically, if your name is so close to another business’s that customers would confuse you, the name probably isn’t permitted.
• Your name can’t include words or phrases that imply your business is conducting different activities than what’s permitted in your formation documents.

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 New Mexico Secretary of State Business Search

The Business Services Division of the New Mexico Secretary of State offers a helpful business search tool that you can use to check name availability and retrieve information about registered businesses in the state. The New Mexico business search lets you check by business name or by entity ID number.

Here’s how to use this tool as seamlessly as possible.

Step 1: Choose your search filter type

If you hit the “Advanced” tab underneath the search bar, you’ll see that there are actually three different types of searches you can run using the business search. Here’s a quick breakdown of your primary filter options:

• Contains: This search method will let you look at the business names that contain the search term you enter. For example, if you searched “America,” you’d see a list of business names that include the word “America.”
• Starts With: This search retrieves all the business names that begin with the search terms you type. Going back to our “America” example, this search would only yield results for business names that have “America” as their first word.
• Name Availability: This search can help you determine if your proposed business name is still available in New Mexico.

Step 2: Apply any other desired filters and enter your search terms

Depending on how general your search terms are, you might need to adjust the other filters available in the New Mexico entity search. For example, if we searched the word “America” and used the “Contains” search option, we’d get over 100 different results. That’s a big list to sort through.

Thankfully, you have several different filters to choose from to help narrow down your search:

• Entity Type: This filter allows you to search by a particular type of entity, including LLCs, corporations, foreign business structures, and more.
• Status: This filter lets you refine your results to only display entities that maintain a particular business status, such as active or inactive businesses, dissolved entities, and more.
• Registration Date: The registration date filter lets you review results for businesses that registered in a specific time period. For example, if you wanted to view all the businesses that started in 2025 and used “America” in their name, you could put January 1st in the “Start” category to run that check.

After you’ve set your search filters, type your terms into the search bar and hit the button labeled “Search.”

Step 3: Review your New Mexico business search results

After you hit “Search,” you’ll see one of two possibilities: a message that “no results were found” for your search, or a list of results that match your search criteria. The latter might look something like the picture below.

For each result, you can see the company’s name, its business ID, entity type, state of formation, and its current status. From here, you can hit the arrow beside a particular business name to see additional information.

This portion of the results page can display additional facts, such as the company’s registered agent information and any alternate business names it has. In some cases, you can also learn information about the entity’s directors, officers, managers, members, or organizers.

If you’re logged into the state business portal, you can also use this page to file an amendment or request a certificate for the company. You’ll get an error message if you hit those buttons without logging in, however.

What to Do After Searching Business Names in New Mexico

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 New Mexico business name and make the most of it. 

Reserve your New Mexico business name (optional)

If you’ve picked the perfect business name but are not quite ready to file your business formation paperwork, New Mexico allows you to reserve it. 

Since the New Mexico Secretary of State moved its filing process to be entirely online, you have to use its business portal to file the Application for Name Reservation form. After your paperwork is approved, your entity name reservation is valid for 120 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 register your business

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

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

Get a domain name that matches

You want it to be easy for your customers to find your business website. 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 Land of Enchantment.

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.