How to search for companies on Inddex: a complete feature guide

Inddex brings together data on more than 67 million Brazilian companies in a single platform, with search tools, advanced filters, artificial intelligence, and a developer API. In this complete guide, we walk through every available feature so you can get the most out of each one.

Search by CNPJ

The most direct way to find a company is to search by its CNPJ number (Brazil's national company registration number). On Inddex, the search accepts the number with or without formatting:

• Formatted: 12.345.678/0001-95
• Unformatted: 12345678000195
• Partial (root): 12.345.678 — finds the headquarters and all branches

When you type a valid CNPJ, the system automatically recognizes it as a document number and redirects you to the matching company page. There is no need to select a search type — Inddex detects the format automatically.

Search by name

When you do not know a company's CNPJ, you can search by name. Inddex searches both the legal name (razão social) and the trade name (nome fantasia) of every registered company at the same time.

The search uses fuzzy matching, which means it tolerates small typos, abbreviations, and spelling variations. For example, searching for "Magazine Luiza" will return results even if the legal name is "MAGAZINE LUIZA S/A" or a similar variation.

Results are sorted by relevance, prioritizing exact matches and companies with active registration status. Each result shows a summary with legal name, trade name, CNPJ, location, and registration status, letting you quickly identify the company you are looking for.

Advanced filters

To refine results, Inddex offers filters that can be freely combined:

Filter by state and city

Select one or more Brazilian states to limit results to a specific geographic region. After selecting a state, you can refine further by choosing a city. This filter is useful for finding companies within a defined commercial territory.

Filter by CNAE and industry

The CNAE code (Brazil's National Classification of Economic Activities) categorizes each company's primary activity. On Inddex, you can filter by economic sector or by a specific CNAE code, quickly finding every company in a given line of business.

Filter by registration status

Filter companies by registration status: active, closed, non-compliant, suspended, and others. This filter is essential if you only want companies in regular operation or, conversely, need to identify companies that have shut down or have outstanding issues.

What each result shows

When you click a company in the search results, you reach the full page with all available registration data. The information is organized into clear sections:

• Registration data: legal name, trade name, opening date, registration status, legal nature, and company size
• Address: full street address, neighborhood, city, state, postal code (CEP), and map location
• Economic activity: primary CNAE and all registered secondary activities
• Share capital: the amount declared at incorporation or in the latest amendment to the articles
• Simples Nacional and MEI:whether the company has opted into Brazil's simplified tax regime
• Contact: phone and email, when available in the records

Premium data

Beyond the basic registration data, Inddex offers advanced information for those who need deeper analysis:

Ownership structure (QSA)

The partners and officers list (QSA) shows all of the company's partners, with name, role (managing partner, attorney-in-fact, etc.), and date of entry into the company. Learn more in the article Ownership structure (QSA).

Compliance and risk

Compliance information includes checks against databases such as CEIS (Registry of Disreputable and Suspended Companies), CNEP (National Registry of Punished Companies), CEPIM (Registry of Barred Private Nonprofit Entities), and outstanding federal debt data from the PGFN (Brazil's National Treasury Attorney General's Office). This data is essential for due diligence and risk assessment.

Related companies

Inddex maps each company's ownership network, showing other companies that share the same partners. This feature is valuable for identifying corporate groups, checking conflicts of interest, and understanding the full corporate structure.

Company pages

Every company on Inddex has a dedicated page with a permanent URL, indexed by search engines. The page is divided into tabbed sections for easy navigation:

• Overview: summary of the main registration data
• Partners: complete ownership structure
• Activities: primary and secondary CNAEs with descriptions
• Compliance: checks against risk databases
• Establishments: headquarters and branches of the same company
• Related: companies with partners in common

Browse by state and city

Inddex offers location-based navigation pages, letting you explore companies organized geographically:

• /empresas — lists every Brazilian state with company counts
• /empresas/sp — companies in the state of São Paulo, with a list of cities
• /empresas/sp/sao-paulo — companies in the city of São Paulo, with the most common industries

These pages are useful for exploratory research, when you want to understand a region's business landscape before running more specific searches.

Search by line of business

The economic activities page organizes companies by industry, following the CNAE's hierarchical structure. You can browse by section (e.g., Retail, Manufacturing, Services), division, group, and activity class, viewing the number of companies at each level.

Radar IA: AI-powered search

Inddex Radar is an artificial intelligence search feature that lets you describe the company profile you want in natural language. Instead of configuring filters manually, you simply describe what you are looking for and the AI translates your intent into a structured search. Learn more in the article Inddex Radar: company search with artificial intelligence.

Developer API

For programmatic integrations, Inddex provides a complete REST API. With it, developers can query company data, run filtered searches, and access compliance information directly from their own systems.

The API documentation details every available endpoint, accepted parameters, response formats, and usage examples. The API returns data in JSON and can be integrated with CRMs, ERPs, compliance platforms, and any system that needs company data.

Credits and plans

Inddex works on a credit system. Basic lookups (registration data) are free. Premium data — such as ownership structure, compliance, and enrichment — consumes credits depending on the type of information accessed.

The available plans offer monthly credit packages for different usage volumes, from independent professionals who run occasional lookups to companies with a high volume of daily verifications.

Frequently asked questions

Is searching on Inddex free?

Yes. Basic registration data — legal name, address, CNAE, registration status, and share capital — can be looked up for free. Premium data such as ownership structure, compliance, and related companies uses credits, which can be purchased through Inddex plans.

Where does the data come from?

Registration data comes from the official database of Brazil's Receita Federal (RFB, the federal tax authority), updated monthly. Compliance data comes from government sources such as the Portal da Transparência (Brazil's federal transparency portal, run by the CGU) and the Procuradoria-Geral da Fazenda Nacional (PGFN). All of this information is public by law.

Can I use Inddex to generate sales leads?

Yes. Combining filters by location, line of business, and company size lets you segment companies for sales prospecting. Radar IA makes this task even more efficient, letting you describe your ideal customer profile in natural language.

Does the API have request limits?

Yes. Limits vary by plan. The API documentation details the limits for each plan, including requests per minute and per month.