Simplifying Compliance for Business Owners: Inside LegalZoom’s AI-Powered Business License Research Platform

At LegalZoom, we know how challenging it is to start and run a business. Core to our mission is supporting our customers at every stage of their journey. And that’s exactly why we are continuing to make strategic investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform the customer experience and make life easier for business owners. Today, we’re excited to introduce a major leap forward in how we help entrepreneurs navigate bureaucracy and run their business.  

It’s our new, AI-powered Business License Research. This innovative system tackles a complex yet critical step: helping new and existing businesses identify the necessary permits and licenses they need to run their business. After all, starting a business is hard enough. Figuring out which licenses and permits you need shouldn’t add to the burden.

We’ve spent years building a comprehensive database of over 40,000 business licenses across the United States, researched and verified by our independent network of attorneys. For common license requests, we have built up a lot of knowledge from previous customers and are able to deliver answers quickly. But every month, we’re faced with approximately 10,000 new, unique research requests that require specialized review. Unfortunately, this sometimes creates delays for customers who need answers fast.

But now, thanks to our new legally-specific AI engine, a majority of new research can now be completed in a matter of minutes. One of our most exciting milestones was seeing this AI capability scale from handling a fraction of requests to seamlessly managing the majority in a single leap forward, ensuring our customers get the answers they need, faster than ever before.

A glimpse under the hood

• From manual to automated: Our new AI-powered Business License Research tool is a multi-agent AI system that automates legal research and fulfillment of business licenses from start to finish. What was once a 100% manual workflow, requiring specialists to comb through tens of thousands of jurisdictions, agencies and industry research, is now a scalable solution that can identify the right licenses with incredible speed and accuracy.
• Intelligent orchestration: We've built a multi-agent AI legal research system. At the center is the lead orchestrator large language model that splits tasks and directs specialized subagents to tackle different aspects of the research process. The system intelligently combines agentic orchestration (where AI agents make decisions and take actions) with deterministic workflows (where certain steps follow precise, rule-based logic) to ensure both flexibility and reliability.
• Verified at scale: Accuracy is non-negotiable for legal compliance, which is why we use a human-in-the-loop approach that combines AI research with expert review. The system delivers over 90% accuracy—exceeding typical industry benchmarks—while enabling teams to identify 50% more new licenses and generate reports in minutes, creating a scalable foundation for future agentic automation.

Why it matters

The launch of AI-powered Business License Research is huge on three fronts.

1. Meaningful, customer-facing AI: This isn’t a pilot program or a proof of concept. It’s a production-ready AI solution that’s live right now and actively serving customers. As a leading player in online legal services, customers, competitors, and investors are all watching how we leverage AI to transform the customer experience. This launch sets in motion what truly meaningful, customer-facing AI looks like in legal services, and it paves the way for our company-wide AI future.
2. Super timely reports: Speed matters when you’re trying to launch a business. For example, the approximately 10,000 monthly requests that needed manual research could take up to a week to complete. But now, AI delivers those answers in minutes. Faster delivery means higher engagement and entrepreneurs who can move forward with confidence.
3. Major cost savings: Beyond the customer benefits, this system delivers real operational efficiency to LegalZoom. Until now, we have invested in human expertise to manually handle the individual research requests, and this expertise comes with a price tag. However, we estimate that replacing that manual research with our AI solution could result in approximately $3 million in savings in 2026, which could allow us to reinvest in even better products and services for our customers.

What’s next

This is just the beginning. While we’re thrilled with what we’ve accomplished so far, there’s so much more we want to do for our customers. That’s why we’re focused on tackling the remaining 30% of research requests that still require human review. We’re also expanding our AI capabilities to support ongoing license maintenance. This means making sure that every license in our database has the most current agency information, updated links, and the correct forms, even as regulations evolve across thousands of jurisdictions.

Whether through AI automation or AI-assisted concierge service, we’re working toward a future where LegalZoom can do it all for you. Because at the end of the day, our goal is to remove obstacles and help you focus on what matters most: growing your businesses.