It should be integrated with the ways that people find those businesses, including maps, Web search, and "AI chat".

This exists partially - you can often find it by searching "[company name] acquired by" + checking the acquiring firm.

  The bigger problem: PE firms deliberately obscure ownership through multiple holding companies. It's part of the strategy.

  Example with autism centers:
  - PE firm creates "AutismCare Holdings LLC"
  - That entity owns 500 centers
  - Each center keeps its local brand name
  - Parents have no idea they're paying a PE-optimized operation

  The glossary I made includes terms like "Portfolio Company" and "Management Company" that explain this structure:
  https://founderstowne.com/extraction-terms.html

  A database would be valuable, but PE firms would just add more shell companies. The obfuscation is intentional.

I’d happily pay for a tool that lets me opt out of being slowly nickel-and-dimed by entities optimized for short-term yield. This feels like infrastructure: a small amount of collective effort that gives individuals leverage again. Visibility is the lever. And it could be done, it's just more organizing and involvement in local politics. The information already exists, it’s just effectively invisible, and a small translation layer could collapse it into a one-second answer, letting people avoid operators with a predictable extractive playbook, with the only real challenge being the constant, boring maintenance in an environment designed for churn and opacity. Eventually this should revolve around organizing and politics to make a difference.

I agree! I think this kind of resource would be very useful to a lot of people!