The pursuit of understanding and detecting close-binary supermassive black hole binaries (CB-SMBHs, with subparsec mutual separation) is essential for progressing theories of galaxy formation and pinpointing potential sources of nanohertz gravitational waves. This endeavor necessitates an amalgamation of various observational techniques and simulation models. Initially, the current observational strategies employed for CB-SMBH detection are presented, with an emphasis on the combination of diverse time-domain techniques. Following this, the potential of comparing observational and simulated data of CB-SMBHs through the phase space of system dynamics is discussed. Highlighted next are quasar light curves from the Vera C. Rubin Legacy Survey of Space and Time AGN Data Challenge database (Richards & Yu, 2021, 2022). The analysis concludes with an examination of specific features that might be indicative of microlensing events, and a demonstration of the application of a time-domain technique for periodic variability mining, which could be informative for simulations. It is envisaged that the synergy be-tween observational data and insights gleaned from simulations will accelerate the discovery and understanding of CB-SMBHs in the coming years.