Can we see more than just the top match when several are close? How should we use the alternatives list?

‍Yes. Cobalt returns up to the top ~10 alternatives, allowing you to filter and select the best match based on your own business logic — for example, by city, ZIP, or entity type when multiple results look similar.

State Expansion Limits

Cobalt limits how many candidate business records can be expanded per state to balance completeness with performance. These limits may change if state systems slow down or alter their structures.

When an address is included, Cobalt retrieves fuller details for those alternatives (e.g., entity status, filing number, and date).
If no address is provided, the API returns only what’s visible on the immediate search page (names and URLs, no deep expansion).