Business.gov's Small Business Search Engine

Searching for information to help you start and manage your business, and comply with government regulations has gotten a whole lot easier with the launch of Business.gov’s new search engine.

Business.gov lets you search across federal, state and local government sites, and retrieve information on programs, services and resources that help you start, grow and manage your small business. You no longer need to visit multiple government websites to find information you need.

Using Google’s Site Search service, Business.gov has developed a unique service tailored to the needs of the nation’s small business community. Business.gov improves on the relevancy of Google by applying some intelligence to better understand the context of a user’s search words.

Here are some things you can do on Business.gov:

Search a government-wide index of regulatory agencies, and get results that help you comply with government regulations.

example:  

Search for financial and technical assistance programs aimed at helping small businesses get started and expand operations.

example:  

Search for information from your state government by entering in a topic and state name and get results specifically about doing business in your state.

example:  

Search for information from your local (city and/or county) government by entering in a topic and city or county name and get results specific to your city and/or county.

example:  

Search for information using a zip code (e.g. 98101 for Seattle, Washignton), and get results specific to doing business in your local area.

example:  

Frequently Asked Questions

Why isn't my city (or county) not included in the search results?

There are a couple reasons why your city or county site is not included in our search results:

• Your city or county may not have an official government website.
• Your city or county may not be included in our database. If you know of an official government site that is not included in our search engine, please let us know.
• Your city or county site may not be included in the Google.com search engine. Some local governments have configured their sites so they cannot be included in web search engines. To verify your city or county site is included in Google, search on the city/county domain using Google’s Site Search feature.

What's the difference between Business.gov, Google and other government search engines?

Business.gov improves upon other search services by "reading" and understanding the context of the keywords you entered in the search box, and returning the most relevant results. If you do a business-related search on general government search engines, you will often get results that are not relevant. Compare the following results from Business.gov with other government search engines (note: links open a new window):

• Business.gov: business license reno nv
  Top results provide a number of links specific to getting business licenses in the city of Reno. Only city of Reno results are returned.
• USA.gov: business licnese reno nv
  Top results include links that are too specific and from websites for other cities.
• Google Government Search: business license reno nv
  Top results provide links to state of Nevada, not the city of Reno.
• Google: business license reno nv
  Top results provide links to main Reno website, and unrelated links to the state of Nevada.

As the above example illustrates, Business.gov provides a service that improves upon the power of existing search services by customizing results specific to the needs of small business owners. In addition, Business.gov is the only one of these search engines that allows you to search by zip code and get results that are directly relevant to doing business in a local area.