How to Find a Trusted Business on BBB.org

Updated

Go to BBB.org and use the search box on the homepage. Enter a business name or a business category, choose your country (United States or Canada), and add your city or postal code to narrow results to your area. The results page shows local businesses along with trust signals such as BBB Accreditation status and customer reviews, so you can compare before you contact anyone.

Step-by-step: searching for a business

  1. Open BBB.org. The homepage centers on a search field with the prompt "Find a business you can trust."
  2. Enter what you're looking for. You can type a specific company name, or a category like "roofing" or "moving companies" if you don't have a name yet.
  3. Set your location. Use the country selector (US or Canada) and add a city, state/province, or postal code. This is what makes the results local rather than national.
  4. Run the search. You'll get a list of matching businesses in that area.
  5. Open a business profile. Click into any result to see its full BBB record before you decide.

The location step matters most. A company name alone can return branches or unrelated businesses across the country, so filtering by country and city is what turns a broad search into a usable local one.

What to check on a business profile

Once you open a profile, these are the signals worth reading:

Signal What it tells you
BBB Accreditation status Whether the business has applied for and been granted BBB Accreditation, which the site describes as showing a company "operates honestly and with integrity"
Customer reviews Feedback left by other consumers
Complaints Complaints filed through BBB and how the business responded
Business details Basic identifying information about the company

Accreditation is the clearest single marker on the page, but it isn't the only thing to weigh. A business can appear on BBB.org without being accredited, so treat accreditation, reviews, and complaints together rather than relying on any one of them.

If you're a business, not a consumer

BBB.org also has a path for companies. The "Apply for Accreditation" option lets a business apply for BBB Accreditation and present that status to customers. This is a separate flow from consumer search — you'd use it if you want your own company listed and accredited, not to look someone else up.

Common snags

  • No location entered. You'll get scattered national results instead of businesses near you. Always add a city or postal code.
  • Wrong country selected. US and Canadian listings are separated, so a US search won't surface Canadian businesses and vice versa.
  • Assuming a listing means approval. Being findable on BBB.org is not the same as being accredited. Check the accreditation field on the profile itself.
  • Skipping the profile. The search results list is a starting point; the reviews and complaint history live on the individual business page.

Other things the site offers

Beyond business search, BBB.org points to community resources, including a BBB AI Hub with free workshops, courses, and guidance on using AI safely and with confidence, open to everyone in the community. If your question is about learning rather than finding a company, that section is where to look.