That works at the top end of the political food chain but rarely matters when you are researching a city commissioner, for example. Depending on state and local ethics laws though, a vote to help a business associate get a permit may be a violation that, when exposed, leads to a career ending defeat in an election. The problem of course is to find such a connection and others in the massive thicket of names, associations, and official actions that pile up in even a few years in office.
I agree, that is true. If they do not have notoriety they will not be “out there” and documented on the net. And some on a global scale have made sure they have no connections or searchable information. There are some entities very globally important yet they don’t even have a wikipedia page. So you have to dig harder in places where they may have forgotten to cover their tracks. Places they are proud of like having their name on a college alumni list or community project donor list then work backwards. College alumni lists are great for them bragging about their bio background and who they worked for/with and such.