# Business Entity Search (`openactor/business-entity-search`) Actor

Business Entity Search delivers compliance-ready company profiles from UK, Australia, Canada, and US registries. Built for legal, risk, procurement, and revenue teams that need fast answers, clear evidence, and transparent pricing.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/openactor/business-entity-search.md
- **Developed by:** [OpenActor](https://apify.com/openactor) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Agents, Other
- **Stats:** 87 total users, 12 monthly users, 98.2% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## Business Entity Search

Get compliance-ready business profiles from **UK, US, Australia, and Canada** in one run.

Business Entity Search is built for teams that need fast, reliable company verification for onboarding, due diligence, compliance checks, procurement reviews, and outbound prospecting.

### Why this actor matters

If you work with legal entities, you need clean business records you can trust. This actor helps you:

- Verify if a company is active or dissolved
- Confirm legal name and registration number
- Pull directors/officers and filing history
- Collect registry-backed evidence for audits and risk reviews
- Standardize company data across multiple countries

This is especially useful for:

- **Compliance & AML teams**
- **Legal and corporate governance teams**
- **Procurement and vendor risk teams**
- **B2B sales and RevOps teams**
- **Data enrichment and automation teams**

### Coverage

- **UK** (Companies House)
- **US** (state registry coverage in actor)
- **Australia** (ASIC / ABR sources)
- **Canada** (federal and provincial sources)

### Input (simple)

Use either:

- `entityName` (for name-based search), or
- `registrationNumber` (for direct verification)

You can search one country or multiple countries in the same run.

### How to use

1. Enter either `entityName` or `registrationNumber`.
2. Select one or more countries in `countryCodes` (for example `["GB"]` or `["GB","US","AU","CA"]`).
3. Run the actor.
4. Open the run and review the **full Dataset** for all extracted records.
5. Use the normalized fields in your CRM, risk workflow, KYB checks, or internal tooling.

### Use cases

- **KYB / KYC checks:** validate legal entities before onboarding.
- **Vendor due diligence:** verify supplier status, officers, and filings.
- **Compliance investigations:** collect registry-backed evidence for audit trails.
- **Sales intelligence:** enrich target accounts with verified company details.
- **Portfolio monitoring:** periodically re-check entity status changes.

### Output (structured company profile)

Instead of raw pages, you get normalized records.

Example structure:

```text
Company Profile
├── Identity
│   ├── Entity Name: "TESCO PLC"
│   ├── Registration Number: "00445790"
│   ├── Country: "GB"
│   ├── Status: "Active"
│   ├── Company Type: "Public limited company"
│   └── Incorporated Date: "1947-11-27"
│
├── Address
│   └── Registered Address:
│       "Tesco House, Shire Park, Kestrel Way, Welwyn Garden City, AL7 1GA"
│
├── People
│   └── Directors / Officers
│       ├── Name: "TAYLOR, Christopher Jon"
│       │   ├── Role: "Secretary"
│       │   ├── Appointment Date: "2025-04-14"
│       │   └── Active: true
│       └── Name: "MURPHY, Ken"
│           ├── Role: "Director"
│           ├── Appointment Date: "2020-10-01"
│           └── Active: true
│
├── Industry
│   └── SIC Codes
│       └── "47110 - Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating"
│
├── Filing History
│   └── Filing Item
│       ├── Date: "2025-12-03"
│       ├── Description: "Cancellation of shares"
│       └── Source Link: "Registry filing history page"
│
├── Search Matches (Top Results)
│   └── Candidate
│       ├── Name: "TESCO PLC"
│       ├── Registration Number: "00445790"
│       ├── Country: "GB"
│       ├── Status: "Active"
│       └── Match Score: 1.00
│
└── Diagnostics
    ├── Registry Source: "companies-house"
    ├── Match Method: "exactName"
    └── Timing
        ├── Search: 120 ms
        └── Detail Fetch: 350 ms
````

To review all extracted records, open the actor run and go to the **full Dataset** output.

### Pricing explained clearly

Pricing starts at **$2.00 per 1,000 results**.

That means:

- **1 result = $0.002**
- **10 results = $0.02**
- **100 results = $0.20**
- **1,000 results = $2.00**

Practical examples:

- If you verify **1 company in 1 country** and get around **1 result**, cost is about **$0.002** (plus tiny run/start overhead).
- If you verify **1 company across 4 countries** and get around **4 results total**, cost is about **$0.008** (plus tiny run/start overhead).
- If you run bulk checks and return **5,000 results**, result-based cost is about **$10.00**.

To see exactly what was returned and billed, check your run results and the full Dataset.

### FAQ

#### Why does one input sometimes return multiple records?

If you search by name, multiple close matches can appear. Use `registrationNumber` for precise verification.

#### Where do I see all results?

After the run finishes, open the run and go to the **full Dataset** output.

#### Is this good for compliance workflows?

Yes. It is designed to support KYB, vendor risk, audit preparation, and legal-entity verification.

#### How should I estimate cost before running?

Use result volume as your main estimator: `results × $0.002`, plus a small run/start overhead.

### Changelog

- **2026-02-04** — Reworked README for clarity: pricing examples, structured output tree, use cases, FAQ, and how-to flow.
- **2026-02-04** — Fixed README rendering format in Apify Store by switching to markdown-first content.
- **2026-02-03** — Improved output documentation and added richer sample structure.

# Actor input Schema

## `entityName` (type: `string`):

Name of the business entity to search for.

## `registrationNumber` (type: `string`):

Registration number of the business entity.

## `countryCodes` (type: `array`):

List of country codes to search in (ISO 2-letter). Leave empty to search all supported countries: GB/UK, US, AU, CA.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Select proxies to be used by your crawler.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "entityName": "Tesco PLC",
  "countryCodes": [
    "GB",
    "US",
    "AU",
    "CA"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

Structured records with status, officers, filings, diagnostics.

## `runConsole` (type: `string`):

Console view for logs, timings, and debug artifacts.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "entityName": "Tesco PLC",
    "countryCodes": [
        "GB",
        "US",
        "AU",
        "CA"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("openactor/business-entity-search").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "entityName": "Tesco PLC",
    "countryCodes": [
        "GB",
        "US",
        "AU",
        "CA",
    ],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("openactor/business-entity-search").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "entityName": "Tesco PLC",
  "countryCodes": [
    "GB",
    "US",
    "AU",
    "CA"
  ]
}' |
apify call openactor/business-entity-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=openactor/business-entity-search",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Business Entity Search",
        "description": "Business Entity Search delivers compliance-ready company profiles from UK, Australia, Canada, and US registries. Built for legal, risk, procurement, and revenue teams that need fast answers, clear evidence, and transparent pricing.",
        "version": "1.2",
        "x-build-id": "thqho8PHhf3v4DyIV"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/openactor~business-entity-search/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-openactor-business-entity-search",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/openactor~business-entity-search/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-openactor-business-entity-search",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/openactor~business-entity-search/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-openactor-business-entity-search",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "entityName": {
                        "title": "Entity Name",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Name of the business entity to search for."
                    },
                    "registrationNumber": {
                        "title": "Registration Number",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Registration number of the business entity."
                    },
                    "countryCodes": {
                        "title": "Country Codes",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "List of country codes to search in (ISO 2-letter). Leave empty to search all supported countries: GB/UK, US, AU, CA.",
                        "default": [
                            "GB",
                            "US",
                            "AU",
                            "CA"
                        ],
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "proxyConfiguration": {
                        "title": "Proxy Configuration",
                        "type": "object",
                        "description": "Select proxies to be used by your crawler.",
                        "default": {
                            "useApifyProxy": true
                        }
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```