LibGuides: Backgrounding People &amp; Companies: Backgrounding Companies

Search company website and do a Google search

Start with checking the company website and Google search

Try Google, search company name in quotes
Company Websites: check the ‘about’ or ‘history’ section, look for contact information and names of principals.
Domain search: whoxy.com, – may also have an address or name of contact in the WHOIS history (scroll down on the right). Example https://www.whoxy.com/geogroup.com
Search Social media under business name or principals’ names.
Search the Wayback Machine for an archive version of the website.

Public records databases

SEC Filings in EDGAR - search by company
Public company filings. Private companies who work with the government may be required to file some documents with the SEC too, make sure you search there.
SEC Filings in EDGAR - keyword search
advanced search gives you access to the full text of electronic filings since 2001.
Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website - SEC
search for an Investment Adviser firm and view the registration or reporting form; or search for an individual investment adviser representative and view that individual's professional background and conduct, including current registrations, employment history, and disclosures about certain disciplinary events involving the individual.
SEC Litigation Releases
links to litigation releases concerning civil actions brought by the Commission in federal court.
How to become an EDGAR power user
from Hudson Labs

Mergent Market Atlas
Search for public companies based on name, location, industry, financial data etc. and create custom lists. Additional company search criteria allow you to explore sustainability, SEC filings, annual reports, independent research and company reports

Will replace Mergent Online in July 2025

Every state secretary of state has a company entity search database for (public or private) companies that are registered in that state.

NY Secretary of State Business Entity Search
All companies doing business in NY must register. Sometimes entries include an address, name of principals, other leads.
Links to business registries in 50 states
From the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS)

Search state licensing and disciplinary databases like NY State and FDA

Data Axle
Find contacts for businesses and names of executives. Can also search historical business info for closed businesses.

Trademark Search
more... less...

Trademark Search (see notes on trademark searches below** trademarks are a good source of company intel): **Trademarks as surveillance technology
This Essay examines the powerful and unexplored role of trademark law in exercising oversight within and beyond surveillance. Trademark law promotes access to information, and the federal trademark application process—long overlooked by scholars—demands extensive public disclosures that reveal a wealth of information about surveillance technologies. This Essay leverages examples from real trademark applications to explore how journalists, researchers, and civil society can use the detailed disclosures in trademark applications for transparency. I conclude that trademark law can be a powerful tool for correcting longstanding information

Oversight & Regulation

Search Google for audit reports that evaluate the company, written by government agencies or watchdogs, here are examples searching the gov domain and the org domain. You can copy the search and change the company name:

audit report palantir site:gov

audit report palantir site.org

More Oversight and Regulation Databases

Federal Inspector General Reports
WEBSITE NOT CURRENTLY WORKING - Database of all IG reports, searchable by topic or company name.
National Labor Relations Board Cases & Decisions
Search database by company
OSHA Inspection Data Search
Search for violations by company
SEC Litigation Releases of SEC civil lawsuits
Links to litigation releases concerning civil lawsuits brought by the Commission in federal court.
SEC Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Enforcement Cases
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) prohibits companies issuing stock in the U.S. from *bribing foreign officials for government contracts and other business."
Corporate Regulation Violation Tracker from Good Jobs First
Database on corporate misconduct.
Subsidy Tracker from Good Jobs First
National search engine for economic development subsidies and other forms of government financial assistance to business.
Tax Break Tracker from Good Jobs First
Use this tool to identify the aggregate amount of tax revenue lost by states and localities—including school districts—due to tax breaks awarded to companies, ostensibly to promote economic development. Tax Break Tracker assembles that information for over 4,000 jurisdictions across the country.
Amazon Tracker from Good Jobs FIrst
Use this tool to see a running list of the subsidy awards given to one of the country’s fastest-growing and most controversial corporations.
Corporate Rap Sheets from Good Jobs First
Dossiers summarizing the most significant crimes, violations, and other questionable activities of the world’s largest and most controversial companies.
NYS DOL Non-Compliant Labor Standards Employer Search
NYS Law prohibits contractors who have been debarred for violations of Article 8 from bidding on or being awarded public work projects for five years. A contractor is debarred when two final determinations have been rendered within any consecutive six-year period that such entity has willfully failed to pay the prevailing rate, or one final determination has been rendered involving the falsification of payroll records or the kickback of wages and/or supplements. (Article 8, Section 220-b, subd. 3b)
EPA's Enforcement and Compliance History Online
Search for facilities to assess their compliance with environmental regulations.
AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch
EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory Program
Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is a resource for learning about toxic chemical releases and pollution prevention activities reported by industrial and federal facilities.

Contracts: municipal, state, and federal

Federal Government Contracts
Search by recipient, type, agency and location.
Checkbook NYC
Search for NYC contract data, by name and agency. Can only get the actual contract from the agency or comptroller.

Do a clip search on the company and the company officials

Factiva (Academic)
Factiva is great for business news and data and has industry and trade publications.

example: hlp=(the geo group)
- Searching the headline and lead paragraph for phrase the geo group
example: hlp=(the geo group* and prison*) and atleast10 geo*
- Searching for the geo group in the headline and lead paragraph and (and is really important in commercial databases) the word geo appears at least 10 x in the article. The asterisk means it is searching for variations of a word, like prison’s, prisoner, prison.

Factiva Search Tips

Company Executive background and nonprofit affiliations

Use the Backgrounding People Guide to background the company executives.

Use the Guide Nonprofit Organizations - research sources for reporters to identify nonprofits associated with the company or executives.

Nonprofit Organizations - research sources for reporters
by Barbara Gray Last Updated Nov 9, 2025 3416 views this year

Civil Lawsuits (state and federal)

Newmark J-School Court Records Research for Reporters Guide

You may be able to find undisclosed information on private companies in civil court documents.