GmbHvsAG— What's the difference?
GmbH (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung) and AG (Aktiengesellschaft) are both business entity forms. The core distinction is ownership: GmbH is private while AG is public.
At a glance
Key differences
Where each is used
Both used in
AG only
Normalizing GmbH and AG in your data
When deduplicating company records, both suffixes are noise — “Acme GmbH” and “Acme AG” should resolve to the same entity. The Ambect API strips either suffix at the legal_suffix stage and records it separately:
// "Acme GmbH" → canonical: "acme" // "Acme AG" → canonical: "acme"
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between GmbH and AG?
GmbH is a private limited liability company, while AG is a public limited liability company. The key difference is ownership structure — GmbH is private while AG is public.
Is GmbH the same as AG?
No. GmbH is a private limited liability company (limited liability, private) while AG is a public limited liability company (limited liability, public).
Which countries use both GmbH and AG?
Both suffixes appear in Austria, Switzerland, Germany.
How does Ambect normalize GmbH and AG?
The Ambect API strips both suffixes at the `legal_suffix` pipeline stage, recording each as `legal_type` in the response. This means "Acme GmbH" and "Acme AG" both normalize to the canonical token "acme", enabling cross-suffix deduplication.
Explore each suffix
Need to normalize GmbH and AG records across the same dataset? The Ambect API handles both in a single call.
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