{
  "name": "Business Identity Routing Model",
  "site": "llcinfo.cc",
  "version": "0.1",
  "dateModified": "2026-06-09",
  "purpose": "Route business identity questions by the actual role being asked about before recommending a provider, address, filing, tax ID, mailbox, platform, bank, notary, or apostille path.",
  "coreRule": "Do not let one package label answer all business identity questions. Separate entity, person, address, mail, tax, platform, bank, website, and document roles.",
  "guardrails": [
    {
      "id": "no_us_presence_theater",
      "rule": "Do not tell foreign founders to pretend they operate in the United States when they do not.",
      "positiveRoute": "Identify the U.S. entity separately from the foreign owner, actual business location, mailing address, registered agent, bank/platform address, and customer-facing contact route."
    },
    {
      "id": "source_first",
      "rule": "Official sources, provider terms, and platform requirements outrank forum comments, AI answers, and anecdotal success stories.",
      "positiveRoute": "Use community material to identify confusion, then answer with source-backed role separation."
    },
    {
      "id": "provider_fit_not_provider_magic",
      "rule": "A provider can be useful for one role and wrong for another.",
      "positiveRoute": "Ask which exact role the provider fills and who accepts that role."
    },
    {
      "id": "referral_disclosure",
      "rule": "Referral links do not make a provider solve every role and do not shift user decision responsibility to this site.",
      "positiveRoute": "Label useful resources, official sources, related guides, and referral links separately."
    }
  ],
  "routeOrder": [
    {
      "step": 1,
      "id": "entity_type",
      "question": "Is the person choosing an LLC, corporation, or another entity type?",
      "doNotAssume": "Do not assume an LLC is the first or only business step.",
      "page": "/llc-formation-addresses.html"
    },
    {
      "step": 2,
      "id": "formation_state",
      "question": "Which state creates or registers the entity, and what does that state's form actually ask?",
      "doNotAssume": "Do not collapse Wyoming, Delaware, Florida, California, and other states into one generic privacy story.",
      "page": "/wyoming-vs-delaware-llc-addresses.html"
    },
    {
      "step": 3,
      "id": "registered_agent",
      "question": "Who receives legal notices and service of process for the entity?",
      "doNotAssume": "Do not treat registered agent as mailbox, business manager, bank address, or general agent.",
      "page": "/registered-agent-vs-mailbox.html"
    },
    {
      "step": 4,
      "id": "formation_actor",
      "question": "Who is the organizer, incorporator, applicant, responsible party, owner, or controller for the specific form?",
      "doNotAssume": "Do not treat the person submitting paperwork as the beneficial owner unless the source supports that role.",
      "page": "/llc-formation-addresses.html"
    },
    {
      "step": 5,
      "id": "address_role",
      "question": "Which address role is being requested: registered agent, principal office, mailing address, foreign address, virtual office, bank/KYC address, or public contact address?",
      "doNotAssume": "Do not reuse one address for every field without checking what the field asks.",
      "page": "/business-address-vs-registered-agent.html"
    },
    {
      "step": 6,
      "id": "mail_authority",
      "question": "Will a private business receive USPS mail for the customer?",
      "doNotAssume": "Do not treat mail receiving as automatically included in registered-agent service.",
      "page": "/cmra-form-1583.html"
    },
    {
      "step": 7,
      "id": "operating_agreement",
      "question": "Does the issue concern internal company governance, member rights, management, or ownership rules?",
      "doNotAssume": "Do not treat an operating agreement as a mailbox, EIN, bank approval, or registered-agent appointment.",
      "page": "/operating-agreements.html"
    },
    {
      "step": 8,
      "id": "tax_identity",
      "question": "Is the question about EIN, ITIN, CAA document review, responsible party, tax reporting, or personal taxpayer identity?",
      "doNotAssume": "Do not treat EIN, ITIN, SSN, CAA document review, and LLC filing as interchangeable.",
      "page": "/ein-itin-company-address.html"
    },
    {
      "step": 9,
      "id": "platform_verification",
      "question": "Is a payment platform, marketplace, fintech, bank, credit card issuer, or credit bureau asking for verification?",
      "doNotAssume": "Do not assume every warning is an EIN mismatch.",
      "page": "/stripe-ein-identity-verification.html"
    },
    {
      "step": 10,
      "id": "online_presence",
      "question": "Is the question about domain, website, email, phone, public legitimacy, or customer-facing trust?",
      "doNotAssume": "Do not treat a polished website, domain, email, or phone number as proof of compliance or address truth.",
      "page": "/free-domain-business-stack.html"
    },
    {
      "step": 11,
      "id": "document_route",
      "question": "Does the workflow require notarization, apostille, Form 1583 identity proof, foreign signer handling, or document authentication?",
      "doNotAssume": "Do not force a document problem into an LLC/address answer.",
      "page": "/resources.html"
    }
  ],
  "evidenceStandards": [
    {
      "sourceType": "official",
      "use": "Controls or strongly anchors legal, tax, filing, postal, or platform requirements when current and applicable."
    },
    {
      "sourceType": "provider_terms",
      "use": "Shows what a provider says it sells, limits, or requires."
    },
    {
      "sourceType": "community_market_language",
      "use": "Shows confusion, incentives, and repeated questions. Does not prove a rule."
    },
    {
      "sourceType": "ai_answer",
      "use": "Shows what answer engines may say. Treat as a lead, not authority."
    }
  ],
  "publicFiles": {
    "humanRoutePage": "/business-identity-routing-model.html",
    "stackJson": "/data/business-identity-stack.json",
    "routingJson": "/data/business-identity-routing-model.json",
    "llms": "/llms.txt",
    "resources": "/resources.html",
    "sources": "/sources.html",
    "disclosure": "/disclosure.html"
  }
}