Best Tools For Searching?

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April 29, 2026

by a searcher from The Johns Hopkins University in New York, NY, USA

Curious if there are any new sites/tools people have used for searching? I know the big ones such as bizbuysell but more interested if any new sites or AI tools that have proven to be more effective. Thanks!
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Reply by a professional
from Duke University in New York, NY, USA
@redacted‌ appreciate the kind words and great that you're loving the platform. Anon, generally speaking, there are a couple camps of sourcing tools out there (independent of AI). The first are aggregators that consolidate listings from sites like BizBuySell and broker listing pages. Some of the big ones are Kumo and Larvato, but there's a handful of other companies in this space given that this listing info is inherently public. If you're comfortable with building internal tooling, you could also create a scraper yourself. I know @redacted‌ has spent time diving into this w/ DIY Claude Cowork / Code sessions. The second are off-market / proprietary search for all companies, not just listed ones. These tools typically use a combination of scraping raw company data and partnering / purchasing access to private data for distribution to end users. We focus on this specifically for the LMM at DealDogs. I'm not sure your exact buy box criteria, but I'm including a sample search of HVAC businesses in Ohio here: https://app.dealdogs.ai/search?share=e8tUfiDYMflkn1dc1TWjWH20on9024r5 (note: desktop only). You could filter this based on your deal criteria, get owner contact info and run similar searches for other industries and geographies. It really comes down to what you're trying to solve for. If you'd prefer brokered search, go with the former. If you're willing to put in the work or have a structured way to do proprietary outbound, go with the latter. Frankly the best results come from having more lines in the water and doing both. Also, friendly suggestion, I know going Anon can feel less ~risky~ but a lot of the folks on here are super kind and keen to help one another out -- worth a shot to just post with your profile, you never know what conversations can happen. And, if you're a part-time searcher worried your work is going to find out, just remember that if they see your post that means they're on this site too :) Hope this helps and feel free to DM with any questions!
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Reply by a professional
from Boston University in İstanbul, Türkiye
At Search Fund Plus, we’ve built an all-in-one Search Fund platform that brings sourcing, outreach, market coverage, and deal management into one system, supported by an expert deal team helping searchers go directly after off-market opportunities at scale instead of relying on crowded listing sites and competitive brokered deals. Feel free to check out our website, references, and help center: https://www.searchfundplus.com/
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