Ohio Business Search: Look Up an LLC or Corporation at the Secretary of State

Ohio Secretary of State Business Search: the Search By Menu

The Ohio SOS business search, at businesssearch.ohiosos.gov, is free to use without an account. Its Search By menu offers Business Name, Exact Business Name, Prior Business Name, Agent/Registrant, Organizer/Incorporator and Number Search, and a single search can mix corporations, LLCs, trade names and fictitious names.

Step 1: Search by Name, With a Status Filter

Business Name finds the words anywhere in a name: Goodyear Tire returns THE GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY and BOWMAN GOODYEAR TIRE & REPAIR CENTER LLC. The All, Active, Cancelled, Dead and Fraudulent buttons filter by status. A search for Procter & Gamble filtered on Active returned no result; leaving out the ampersand and searching one distinctive word is the workaround to try.

Step 2: Or Search by Entity Number

Number Search switches between Doc-ID, the number of a single filing, and Entity Number, the company’s own number. The entity number is the charter number of an Ohio corporation, the license number of a foreign corporation and the registration number of an LLC; it has no leading zeros, like 12127 for Goodyear. Each result line lists the Entity#, Type, Filing Date, Exp. Date and Status, and the list exports to CSV or PDF.

Step 3: Show Details and Download the Filings

SHOW DETAILS opens Business Details & Filings: the Entity #, Filing Type, Original Filing Date, Status and Exp. Date, the Agent/Registrant Information block with the agent’s name, address and effective date, then every filing with its Document ID and a Download Image link to the PDF. Copy URL gives a direct link to the record, and a Business ID Theft button signs up for free email alerts whenever something is filed on it.

No Annual Report in Ohio, So an LLC Stays Active on One Filing

Ohio businesses are not required to file annual reports, the Secretary of State says, so an Active status doesn’t mean a company filed anything recently. KROGER FULFILLMENT LLC, entity 1177877, shows a single filing, its articles of organization of August 28, 2000, and is still Active.

Periodic filings exist only for a few entity types: each professional association and limited liability partnership (LLP) files a biennial report for $25, and a nonprofit files a Statement of Continued Existence every five years ($25) unless it made another filing in that time. For an LLC or a for-profit corporation, the ongoing duty with the Secretary of State is to keep a statutory agent: a change is due within 30 days, and an agent default not cured within 30 days of the state’s notice cancels an LLC (R.C. 1706.09).

Letters offering to file an Ohio annual report are solicitations. The Secretary of State’s scam warnings cite companies charging $125 or more for fake report filings, and $72.50 or more for a Certificate of Good Standing that costs $5 from the state. Official mail comes on Secretary of State letterhead, emails end in @ohiosos.gov, and the office sends no text alerts to business customers.

Cancelled, Dead or Fraudulent: The Status Words

Cancelled means the state ended the company’s filing, after an agent default (R.C. 1706.09) or by order of the Department of Taxation (R.C. 111.16), and the company can reinstate within two years of the cancellation date; Dead means the business dissolved itself voluntarily. The difference matters for the name: a canceled company’s name is reserved for one year after cancellation (R.C. 1706.46), while a dead company’s name is available.

Reinstatement costs $25, on Form 525A when a new agent is appointed at the same time. Senate Bill 98, which the Revised Code shows in force since October 24, 2024, limited reinstatement to two years after cancellation; after that the company is canceled permanently. The Secretary of State sought the limit against people reviving old companies to use their history and credit.

The $5 Certificate Scam Letters Sell for $72.50

The Certificate of Good Standing, also called a full force and effect certificate or certificate of registration, is downloaded at cogs.ohiosos.gov for $5 using the entity number, or from the record’s Purchase a Certificate of Good Standing button. A certificate can be checked with its validation number on the same site. Ordering one doesn’t renew a trade name or a nonprofit’s existence.

Who Owns an Ohio LLC? The Record Won’t Say

Ohio’s Business Search can’t be run by owner: the Secretary of State keeps no ownership or officer lists and records only the statutory agent. The filed documents can still name people, since the PDF of the formation documents (the articles) shows who signed them, and the Organizer/Incorporator search looks up those names. Ohio’s free monthly new-business reports also list the filer and incorporator names of recent formations.

The agent is the name to search for: the Agent/Registrant option lists every company that names a given statutory agent, and the Secretary of State suggests the same search to anyone checking whether their own name is being used as an agent. The Person tab above searches agent names too, but the state’s record is the complete one.

The Statutory Agent Needs an Ohio Street Address

Every Ohio LLC and corporation keeps a statutory agent: an Ohio resident, or a business entity authorized in Ohio with a business address there. The address must be an Ohio street address, never a P.O. box or a private mailbox service, and the agent signs a written acceptance. Updating the agent costs $25 on Form 521. Papers are served at the statutory agent’s address shown under Agent/Registrant Information; when no agent can be found or served, the Secretary of State accepts service for $5.

Ohio Business Name Search: Hometown Bakery vs. Hometown Bakeries

To check an Ohio business name, search it in Business Search (Business Name, then Exact Business Name): names still in process don’t appear, and only written approval guarantees one. Ohio checks the name against other corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, LLPs and registered trade names on the Secretary of State’s records, and the name has to stand apart from each one. Words like company, corporation or limited, articles, conjunctions, abbreviations, punctuation and a different tense or number of the same word don’t make a name different, under R.C. 1701.05(B) for corporations and the Secretary of State’s name guide for other businesses, so Hometown Bakery and Hometown Bakeries count as one name. An LLC’s name must also include limited liability company, LLC, L.L.C., limited or ltd.

The Secretary of State’s guide to name availability also accepts Roman Investments II next to Roman Investments 2, Energy First next to First Energy, and Quickie Mart next to Kwik-E-Mart. Business names don’t need to differ from fictitious names or trademarks. Form 534B ($39) holds a business name for 180 days, and forming the LLC itself costs $99 on Form 610. Because Ohio doesn’t compare new names with trademarks, a trademark check before registering a name covers that search.

Ohio DBAs: a $39 Trade Name or Fictitious Name

Ohio has no filing called a DBA: a business can register a trade name, which must be distinguishable and gives exclusive use in Ohio, or report a fictitious name, which does neither; a fictitious name is reported within 30 days of its first use. Both are filed with the Secretary of State for $39, last five years, renew for $25, and show up in the same Business Search with their type and expiration date. The state publishes no downloadable list of them.

EIN, Vendor’s License and the Ohio Business Gateway

An Ohio EIN lookup can’t be done at the Secretary of State: the office doesn’t issue EINs, and no record shows one. Ohio’s Secretary of State warns about companies charging $250 or more for an EIN, a number the IRS gives out at no cost. For someone else’s EIN, see where a company’s EIN shows up.

Licenses aren’t at the Secretary of State either. The Secretary of State sends businesses to Ohio.gov and the Ohio Business Gateway for licenses and permits; company records themselves stay in Business Search. Professional licenses from 24 state agencies and boards are checked in the eLicense Ohio License Look-Up. A business selling taxable goods or services needs a vendor’s license from the Department of Taxation or the county auditor: $50 since April 9, 2025, for each location.

Monthly Reports and Filing Times at the Ohio SOS