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Search Companies

Find companies by keywords, industry, size, and location directly from your sheet. Perfect for building target account lists and market research.

Company Search Formula

Formula Structure

=SEARCH_COMPANIES(query, [numResults], [showHeader], [returnSummary], [ignore_cache])

Parameters

  • query (required): Text to search for (e.g., "B2B SaaS in fintech Singapore", "renewable energy startups California")
  • numResults (optional): Number of results to return. Default is 10.
  • showHeader (optional): TRUE to include a header row. Use FALSE for single result insertion without headers.
  • returnSummary (optional): TRUE to include brief summaries when available. Default is TRUE.
  • ignore_cache (optional): TRUE to force fetching fresh results; FALSE uses cached results where available

Examples

Basic search with header and summaries:

=SEARCH_COMPANIES("fintech companies in Singapore", 10, TRUE, TRUE)

No header row (paste directly into a table):

=SEARCH_COMPANIES("fintech companies in Singapore", 5, FALSE, TRUE)

Without summaries (faster and cleaner output):

=SEARCH_COMPANIES("fintech companies in Singapore", 5, TRUE, FALSE)

Force fresh results (ignore cache):

=SEARCH_COMPANIES("fintech companies in Singapore", 10, TRUE, TRUE, TRUE)

What Information You Get

The search typically returns:

  • Company Name: Official company name
  • Domain: Company website
  • Industry: Business sector
  • Location: Headquarters location
  • Description/Summary: Brief company overview (if returnSummary is TRUE)
  • LinkedIn: Company LinkedIn page

Use Cases

  1. Build Target Lists: Create lists of companies matching your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)
  2. Market Research: Understand competitive landscape in specific industries
  3. Partnership Opportunities: Find potential partners in your space
  4. Investment Research: Discover companies in specific sectors
  5. Lead Generation: Build prospect lists for outbound campaigns

Search Query Tips

Be Specific

Include multiple criteria for better results:

=SEARCH_COMPANIES("B2B SaaS companies, 50-200 employees, in San Francisco", 20)

Industry Focused

=SEARCH_COMPANIES("AI and machine learning startups in Europe")

Size and Location

=SEARCH_COMPANIES("enterprise software companies with 500+ employees in New York")

Funding Stage

=SEARCH_COMPANIES("Series A fintech startups in Southeast Asia")

Combining with Other Features

Build a complete prospecting workflow:

  1. Find Companies:

    =SEARCH_COMPANIES("fintech companies in Singapore", 10, TRUE)
  2. Enrich Company Data (using domain from search results):

    =COMPANY_ENRICH(A2, TRUE)
  3. Find Employees (using domain):

    =SEARCH_EMPLOYEES(A2, 10, TRUE, "executive", "sales")
  4. Find Emails (using employee names):

    =FIND_EMAIL(B2, C2, A2)

Credit Cost

  • Company search uses Exa API which costs 2 credits per search