Guides · 2026-09-25 · By VSNARY | Emmanuel Orta · 0 views

How to find other websites using your brand name online

A six-step routine: sweep the domains, pull registration dates from the registry, read what the other site does, publish a factual notice, tell answer engines, and keep watching.

Sooner or later another site uses your name. Sometimes it is an old parked domain; sometimes it is a live product in your market, with a similar look. You cannot always stop it, but you can find it early, prove who came first, and make sure people and search engines can tell you apart. This is the routine we used on 25 September 2026 when a second “CrawlCheck” appeared.

Step 1: sweep the obvious domains #

List your name on the domain endings people actually type or buy: .com, .net, .org, .io, .ai, .app, .co, .dev, .tech, .xyz and your country ending. For each one, check whether it resolves (a DNS lookup) and whether a website answers over HTTPS. Most will not exist; the ones that do are your list. We checked 23 endings for our name and found two registered besides ours.

Step 2: get the registration dates from the registry #

Every domain has a public registration record. The modern way to read it is RDAP, the successor to WHOIS, which returns structured data including the registration date and registrar. Use the registry’s own RDAP service where you can; a generic lookup site sometimes returns nothing for a country or new ending. These dates are the strongest public evidence of who had a name first.

A domain registered long ago is not necessarily a competitor. Check whether it serves anything. An old parked domain with no site is usually a curiosity, not a threat.

Step 3: read what the other site actually does #

Before you write a word about it, read its home page, about page, terms and refund policy. Note what it sells, who processes its payments and how it can be contacted. Save a copy of each page with the date you read it, because sites change and you may need to show what it said. Those three facts give your customers a simple way to tell you apart: a different payment processor on their card statement and a different email domain are hard to confuse.

Step 4: say it once, plainly, on your own site #

Publish a short page stating which domain is yours and which are not, with the dates and the ways to tell you apart. Stick to facts you can show. “Registered on 18 September 2026” and “bills through a different processor” are verifiable. Words like “copycat” or “scam” invite a dispute and add nothing the dates do not already say. Link the page from your footer and your security or contact page so people find it when they are confused, and ask people to report anything that claims to be you.

Step 5: tell search engines and AI answer engines #

Answer engines merge entities that share a name unless something separates them. Two structured-data properties on your Organization node help:

• disambiguatingDescription: a one-sentence statement of who you are and who you are not, for example “CrawlCheck at crawlcheck.io, founded 2026-08-07. Not affiliated with crawlcheck.dev or crawlcheck.com.”
• sameAs: links to profiles that are really yours, such as your code repository, extension listing or Business Profile. Only list profiles that link back to you.

For the wider case, see what entity SEO is and how answer engines resolve names.

Step 6: keep watching #

A one-off check goes stale. Re-run the domain sweep monthly, watch Certificate Transparency logs for new certificates containing your name, and search your trademark office for new filings. Treat every hit as a similar name, not as proof of intent: many shared names are coincidences, and a calm record ages better than an accusation.

What not to do #

• Do not guess dates. “They copied us last month” is an opinion. “Registered on 18 September, 37 days after our domain” is a record anyone can check.
• Do not copy their pages onto yours. Describe what they offer in your own words and name the page you read it on, with the date.
• Do not buy every ending in a panic. Register the endings your customers would actually type; a defensive .xyz rarely stops anyone.
• Do not contact their customers. Put the facts where your own customers will find them and let the notice do the work.

Keep a dated file of what you found: screenshots, the RDAP responses, the pages you read. If the question ever reaches a lawyer or a registrar dispute, that file is the first thing they will ask for.

What this does not replace #

This routine gives you evidence and a clear public record. It is not legal advice. Whether another business’s use of a similar name or mark is something you can act on depends on trademark law where you trade, and that is a question for a lawyer. What we published for our own case is our not-affiliated notice.

Questions this post answers

How do I find out when a domain was registered?

Read its RDAP record, the structured successor to WHOIS, from the registry's RDAP service. It returns the registration date and the registrar.

How can I prove I used a brand name first?

Combine your domain's registration date, your earliest dated published content, and Certificate Transparency records. Dates from a registry and a public log are hard to dispute.

What should a not-affiliated notice say?

Which domain is yours, which are not, the dates, and simple ways to tell you apart, such as your email domain and payment processor. Keep it to facts you can show.

How do I stop AI answers from confusing my business with another of the same name?

Add a disambiguatingDescription and honest sameAs links to your Organization structured data, and publish a clear notice that answer engines can read.

Is a similar domain name a trademark problem?

It depends on trademark law where you trade and on how the name and mark are used. That is a question for a lawyer; this routine gives you the evidence to take to one.

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Writing about this? Facts, live figures and marks — every number on that page is dated and traceable to a scan.

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