Business Search

The Business Search API is the first step in the Trust2Connect business verification workflow. It enables you to submit partial or complete business details to identify potential matches within the Trust2Connect database. This API performs a sophisticated search and returns a list of similar businesses, along with a unique session identifier for subsequent actions.

Purpose

This API allows applications to search for a business entity by providing essential identifying details such as name, address, and other relevant information. It is designed to handle varying levels of input specificity and provide a curated list of the most probable matches, along with necessary identifiers for further detailed reporting.

Request Type

POST

Request URL

POST https://api.trust2connect.ai/api/v1/search

Request Headers

Header	Required	Value	Description
Authorization	Yes	Bearer `t2c_access_token`	OAuth 2.0 access token. Replace with the token from the Get Access Token endpoint
Content-Type	Yes	application/json	Specifies that the request body is in JSON format.
X-Search-Option	Yes	list-of-similar	This custom header instructs the API to perform a “similar matches” search. It explicitly tells the system to return a list of up to 10 businesses that closely match the provided search criteria, rather than an exact match or a single result. This is crucial for the two-step verification process, allowing the user to select the correct entity from a set of possible matches.

Request Body

The request body must be a JSON object containing the search criteria for the business. The system validates these inputs to ensure a meaningful search.

Name	Type	Required	Description
`name`	string	Yes	Name of the entity
`address`	string	No	Address of the entity
`city`	string	No	City Name of the entity
`state`	string	Yes	State Code of the entity
`zip`	string	No	ZIP code of the entity
`ein`	string	No	Employer Identification Number (EIN) of the entity

Sample Request Body:

{
    "name": "Chalet nursery",
    "address": "3132 Lake Ave",
    "city": "Wilmette",
    "state": "IL",
    "zip": "60091"
}

Example Request

curl --location 'https://api.trust2connect.ai/api/v1/search' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer 490k1xOLh5AiVGLMfVlfSAOfWwxO' \
--header 'X-Search-Option: list-of-similar' \
--data '{
    "name": "Chalet nursery",
    "address": "3132 Lake Ave",
    "city": "Wilmette",
    "state": "IL",
    "zip": "60091"
}'

Example Response

Show Example Response

{
    "search_result": [
        {
            "business_address_line_1": "3132 Lake Ave",
            "business_address_line_2": null,
            "business_city": "Wilmette",
            "business_country": "US",
            "business_name": "CHALET LANDSCAPE CO",
            "business_state": "IL",
            "business_zip": "60091",
            "display_name": "CHALET LANDSCAPE CO",
            "entity_active_indicator": "1",
            "entity_ein": null,
            "entity_parent_child": "Sole",
            "legal_address_line_1": "191 N Wacker Dr Ste 1800",
            "legal_address_line_2": null,
            "legal_city": "Chicago",
            "legal_country": "US",
            "legal_entity_active_indicator": "1",
            "legal_entity_ein": null,
            "legal_entity_jurisdiction_code": "US_IL",
            "legal_entity_parent_status": "Sole",
            "legal_name": "CHALET LANDSCAPE CO",
            "legal_state": "IL",
            "legal_zip": "60606",
            "location_match": {
                "bq_id": "null",
                "legal_entity_id": "null",
                "location_active_indicator": "null",
                "location_address_city": "null",
                "location_address_line_1": "null",
                "location_address_line_2": "null",
                "location_address_score": "null",
                "location_address_state": "null",
                "location_address_zip5": "null",
                "location_address_zip9": "null",
                "location_city_score": "null",
                "location_classes": "null",
                "location_name": "null",
                "location_state_score": "null",
                "location_types": "null",
                "t2c_id": "null"
            },
            "location_match_note": "No additional other locations found matching address/city criteria",
            "match_explanation": "High confidence. We matched this record because the entity name is a strong match, the name matches an alternate name.",
            "t2c_id": "3c4a533f-18e3-4848-a324-3cf902f20822"
        }
    ],
    "search_version": "search2.0",
    "session_expires_at": "Tue, 03 Feb 2026 22:01:53 GMT",
    "session_id": "d498ebb5-dc2b-4064-830c-dc007f04d003",
    "status": "success",
    "total_entities": 1,
    "transaction_id": "29ec39f0-6b63-4e8e-a4e4-81e81c5ab984"
}

Notes

session_id - The unique session identifier to be used in subsequent Business Search API requests. Valid for a limited time (default: 8 hours).
Employer Identification Number (EIN) is included in the response only if it was provided in the request and has a direct match. EIN is used for equality (exact) search, not for similarity search
transaction_id is a unique identifier generated for every request