Data sources / Filings and registries

SAM.gov

Federal entity registration and other procurement-related records. The detail accessible to a researcher depends on the record, public visibility and the functions being used; some searches require registration.

Last reviewed 14 October 2026 · report an error

Publisher: U.S. General Services Administration
Access: Free, registration
Coverage: Federal entity registration and other procurement-related records. The detail accessible to a researcher depends on the record, public visibility and the functions being used; some searches require registration.
Identifiers: UEI; CAGE code where available
Freshness: varies
Official URL: https://sam.gov/

What it can establish

Use SAM.gov for a defined acquisition-research question. Match each record to the right entity using its identifiers (UEI, CAGE code where available) before accepting its contents, and keep U.S. General Services Administration's own scope and attribution on the finding.

Publicly available registration identity, identifiers and business information as reported in the relevant entity record.
A connection between a legal entity and procurement identifiers that can support a separate search for published awards.

What it cannot establish

That registration has produced a federal contract, that an entity is a profitable supplier, or that every listed capability generates revenue.
A complete customer base or current operating scale; registration information and actual award performance are separate evidence.

A search that returns nothing in SAM.gov describes the search performed. Coverage here is federal entity registration and other procurement-related records, so a missing record becomes a negative finding only where that coverage reaches the company in question and the evidence standard supports the inference. Otherwise the question stays open.

How Docket uses it

Your acquisition criteria become the agents' questions. SAM.gov can support some of them and leave others unanswered; its freshness (varies) is weighed answer by answer and it receives no blanket reliability score.

Triage. Uses public identifiers and legal-name context to distinguish related entities before linking an award record.
Scout. Collects visible registration attributes with their status and source date, keeping self-reported classifications attributed.
Audit. Checks retained evidence for mistaken entity matches and unsupported leaps from registration to contract revenue.

Scout records typed answers from a fixed list with verbatim quotations from retained pages. Audit reviews only the retained material, with every fetch tool denied. It settles supported contradictions, strikes unquotable answers and leaves gaps visible. See the research-agent method and screening criteria guide for the surrounding workflow.

Pitfalls and review questions

A registered address can be a headquarters or administrative location rather than a service delivery footprint.
Search access and visibility vary. Docket's public-page research does not imply access to restricted entity data or authenticated procurement tools.

What a registration shows

Businesses that want federal contracts or grants register in the System for Award Management. The public record shows the legal business name, a unique entity identifier assigned by the system, physical address, a CAGE code for the facility, the business's own selection of industry codes, size and socioeconomic representations, and the registration status and expiry date. The federal acquisition rules require registration for contractors, which is why the data covers a defined population.

The identifier changed in 2022: the government replaced the commercial identifier previously used with an identifier it assigns itself. The CAGE code comes from the Defense Logistics Agency and identifies a facility supplying the government, so a company can have several. Older records may use the former identifier, and a crosswalk is needed to connect them.

Interpreting the fields

Representations are made by the business itself and are not independently verified in the public record. The industry codes listed are the codes the company chose, so they show how it wants to be found. Registration is annual, so an active status shows recent renewal, while an expired one can mean either an inactive contractor or an administrative lapse. A business can also be registered without ever having won an award.

Entity records name the parent and ultimate parent in some cases, based on what the registrant reports. Treat those as claims with a date. To see actual work performed, connect the registration to award data on the spending site using the unique entity identifier.

Illustration (fictional)

A researcher resolving a brand finds a registration for a legal entity with a matching address and a CAGE code. The registration lists the business's chosen industry codes and a parent entity. The researcher records the entity, the identifier and the status, notes the parent as a registrant claim, then looks up the identifier in award data to find the agencies that have contracted with it.

Filings and registries

USAspending.gov

Reported recipient, agency, award and transaction information for the selected record and reporting period.

Filings and registries

State business registries

Legal existence, registered name, entity identifier and the particular status or filing information made public by that jurisdiction.

Company-published

Company websites

What the identified company publicly says about its services, footprint, customers or ownership on a retained page.

Sources and further reading

FAR Subpart 4.11: System for Award Management, Acquisition.GOV. The federal acquisition rule requiring contractors to register in SAM.gov.
SAM.gov entity information, General Services Administration. How entity registrations, unique entity identifiers and public registration data work.
Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Program, Defense Logistics Agency. The agency that assigns CAGE codes to facilities supplying the federal government.
SAM.gov entity registration, U.S. General Services Administration. Any entity that wants federal money registers here, exposing legal name, address and NAICS codes.
USAspending.gov, U.S. Department of the Treasury. Federal contract and grant awards by recipient. A revenue line you can read without asking.

These links identify research contexts to investigate, rather than conclusions about sector attractiveness. Ask how SAM.gov would be used on your list or return to the complete source directory.

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