For decades, entrepreneurs searching to buy an existing business have largely relied on public listing websites and business brokers. While those channels continue to play an important role in the market, they also present familiar challenges. Public listings can attract large volumes of unqualified inquiries, sellers often struggle to maintain confidentiality, and serious buyers may find themselves competing over opportunities that have already been widely marketed.
A growing number of companies are exploring a different model, and one of the newest entrants is BusinessLocating.com, an AI-powered marketplace founded by CEO Gallant Dill and focused exclusively on off-market, service-based businesses across the United States.
Rather than functioning as an open directory of businesses for sale, BusinessLocating.com operates as a members-only marketplace where buyer qualification, concierge support, and private introductions are central to the transaction process. Dill says the platform is designed to reduce unnecessary friction by connecting acquisition-ready buyers with business owners before opportunities become broadly available.
The company’s early growth has attracted attention within the business acquisition industry. BusinessLocating.com reports that it surpassed 4,000 off-market listings during its first 30 days while continuing to add between 20 and 100 new service-business opportunities each day. Dill’s expansion strategy centers on building inventory rather than relying solely on traditional brokerage relationships.
Unlike marketplaces that emphasize maximum public exposure, BusinessLocating.com’s platform prioritizes controlled access. Buyers begin by browsing available opportunities before requesting additional information on businesses that fit their acquisition criteria. From there, a concierge team reviews buyer readiness and prepares a structured buyer profile before introducing interested parties to sellers.
That screening process represents one of the platform’s most significant differentiators.
Business owners considering a sale often face a difficult balancing act. Publicly advertising a company can create concerns among employees, customers, suppliers, and competitors if news of a potential sale spreads too early. By limiting access to qualified buyers, Dill aims to provide sellers with greater privacy throughout the early stages of a transaction while reducing unsolicited inquiries from casual shoppers.
The marketplace also incorporates artificial intelligence into several parts of the acquisition process. According to Dill, AI assists with opportunity matching, listing summaries, risk scoring, document generation, and other workflow tools intended to help buyers evaluate businesses more efficiently. At the same time, the company’s terms state that AI-generated information should not replace independent due diligence, emphasizing that buyers remain responsible for verifying all financial, legal, and operational information before completing any acquisition.
Another aspect of the platform is its focus on service-based businesses.
Instead of attempting to serve every industry equally, BusinessLocating.com concentrates on sectors such as HVAC, plumbing, landscaping, roofing, pest control, electrical services, restoration, cleaning, garage door services, and other essential home and commercial service businesses. These industries often generate recurring customer relationships and represent a substantial portion of the privately owned small-business economy in the United States.
The company also offers features designed to organize the acquisition process beyond simply displaying listings. Members can create BuyBox profiles that specify preferred industries, geographies, deal sizes, and acquisition criteria. Higher membership tiers include earlier access to newly sourced opportunities and temporary deal-lock functionality that allows buyers additional time to evaluate a business before wider member visibility. Concierge representatives coordinate introductions between buyers and sellers throughout the process.
BusinessLocating.com’s growth strategy is also notable because Dill states the company has expanded without outside private equity funding. He points to proprietary data, direct outreach to business owners, and a nationwide sourcing network as the tools used to identify businesses that may not otherwise appear on public marketplaces.
Whether this approach ultimately reshapes the broader business acquisition landscape remains to be seen. Long-established marketplaces and brokerage firms continue to hold significant positions within the industry, and sustained growth will depend on Dill’s ability to maintain listing quality, successfully facilitate transactions, and continue attracting both qualified buyers and motivated sellers.
Even so, the company’s emergence reflects a broader trend toward technology-enabled acquisition platforms that emphasize curated opportunities over public volume. As business owners increasingly seek privacy during succession planning and buyers look for more targeted deal flow, platforms built around structured introductions and controlled access may continue to occupy a growing role within the business-for-sale ecosystem.
For entrepreneurs evaluating acquisition opportunities or owners considering an eventual exit, the evolution of platforms like BusinessLocating.com illustrates how Dill is using technology to influence one of the oldest processes in business: connecting the right buyer with the right company at the right time.
