Official business registers: is your company record correct?

A correct record in the relevant official business register gives the web an authoritative reference for who your company is. The registry varies by country: the United Kingdom has Companies House, the United States has state business registries and SEC EDGAR for public companies, Australia has ASIC, and Norway has the Brønnøysund registers. The common thread is that the record can help search engines, knowledge graphs, data providers and AI services connect the right name to the right legal entity.

Why an official record matters for AI

A language-model answer does not necessarily draw directly from one particular company register. Models with web search may find registry or directory pages, while other systems encounter the same facts indirectly through knowledge graphs and data providers. The defensible claim is therefore not that one registry guarantees visibility, but that an accurate primary source reduces ambiguity when several sources must decide whether two names describe the same organisation.

This is especially important for businesses with a common name, several locations, a trading name that differs from the legal name, or operations in several countries. A stable registration identifier and a clear jurisdiction make the entity easier to distinguish from similarly named companies.

The fields to audit

Registers expose different fields, but these are the most useful facts to compare with your website and other profiles:

• Legal name, including the correct legal form and spelling.
• Company number or another jurisdiction-specific registration identifier.
• Country, state, province or other jurisdiction of registration.
• Active status and incorporation date where the registry publishes them.
• Business or registered address, recognising that some countries suppress parts of it.
• Industry or activity code, such as SIC, NAICS or NACE where applicable.
• Official website, but only where the registry actually provides a website field.

Find the right register for your jurisdiction

Start with the authority that incorporated or registered the business, not a random directory that republishes its data. Some countries use one national register. Others, including the United States and Canada, may register companies at state or provincial level. Regulated and publicly traded businesses may also appear with a financial regulator or exchange. Look for the government domain, and be cautious with sites charging for information that the primary source provides for free.

A practical global audit workflow

1. Find the official registry record and save its stable URL if the registry provides one.
2. Compare the legal name, registration identifier, status, address and activity code with your own records.
3. Correct errors through the registry's official filing process; the procedure depends on the jurisdiction.
4. Explain the relationship between your legal name and trading name on the About page and in structured data.
5. Update Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, industry directories and social profiles after the primary source is correct.
6. Audit again after a move, legal-name change, acquisition or domain migration.

A registry is an identity source, not a ranking service

A perfect registry record does not automatically make ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Perplexity recommend the business. It can make the identity clearer, while recommendations also depend on useful content, reviews, independent sources, local relevance and how well the website answers real customer questions. Treat the register as an authoritative foundation, then build the AEO work with consistent facts and verifiable answers.