No, every business doesn't need a DUNS number. That said, it can help you build good business credit and is necessary if you want to apply for certain types of funding. It's also required for a credit report from Dun & Bradstreet.

Dun & Bradstreet (DNB) is a 180-year-old company that supports companies in the areas of sales, finance, compliance, procurement, and marketing.

On February 8, 2019, the investor group completed the acquisition of Dun & Bradstreet and it became a privately held company. Its former ticker symbol, DNB, was retired. On July 1, 2020, Dun & Bradstreet re-listed shares on the New York Stock Exchange, once again trading under the ticker symbol DNB.

The DUNS Company Lookup method searches the Dun and Bradstreet database for a company match. The search can be made essentially by the company's DUNS number but other parameters can be used as well. For example: company name, email address, postal code, and so on.