How We Verify Credentials
Customers, banks, and AI need to verify you're legitimate before recommending you. Here's exactly how we measure your verifiability.
Why Verification Matters Now
When a customer asks "are you licensed?" or a bank needs proof of insurance—you need something to show them. Not just a document on the wall. Portable proof they can verify instantly.
AI is making this even more critical. When someone asks ChatGPT "who's a good plumber near me?"—it recommends businesses with verifiable credentials. If it can't confirm your license or insurance, it skips you entirely.
Our verification measures exactly what customers, banks, and AI look for when deciding whether to trust you.
The Verification Score
We score businesses from 0-100 across three categories. Each point is earned by meeting specific, verifiable criteria.
Identity
25 PTSCan customers confirm who you are? We check if your business exists on Google Maps, has a physical address, phone number, and website. These are the basic signals that prove you're a real, operating business.
Credentials
35 PTSAre you properly licensed? We analyze your reviews, verify your information is consistent across sources, and check for license/insurance signals. These prove you're established and reliable.
Verifiability
40 PTSCan anyone verify you instantly? We scan for structured data that makes your credentials machine-readable. This allows instant verification by customers, banks, GCs, and AI.
How Points Are Earned
Every point in our scoring system maps to a specific, verifiable signal. Here's the complete breakdown.
Identity Signals
25 pts maxGoogle Maps Listing
Your business appears on Google Maps with a verified location
Physical Address
A real street address is listed (not just a service area)
Phone Number
A contact phone number is publicly listed
Website URL
A website is linked (own domain earns full points; template sites like Wix earn 1 pt)
Legitimacy Signals
35 pts maxGoogle Rating
4.5+ stars with 50+ reviews = 7 pts · 4.0+ stars = 5 pts · 3.0+ stars = 3 pts
Requires at least 3 reviews to count
Review Volume
100+ reviews = 7 pts · 10+ reviews = 5 pts · 5+ reviews = 3 pts
Data Consistency
We cross-check your website against Google Maps: matching phone (+3), business name (+3), and location (+2)
Professional Website
Your own domain (e.g., yourbusiness.com) vs. a template site (e.g., yourbusiness.wixsite.com)
License Verification
Active license confirmed with state licensing board
Coming soon for verified members
Verifiability Signals
40 pts maxStructured Data (JSON-LD)
Your website includes machine-readable code that defines your business name, phone, address, services, hours, and service area
High quality (complete info) = 20 pts · Partial = 10 pts
LocalBusiness Schema
Your structured data uses specific business types (Plumber, Electrician, HVAC, etc.) that AI recognizes
With complete data = 15 pts · Partial = 7 pts
Social Metadata (OpenGraph)
Your website has proper sharing tags so it displays correctly when shared on social media and in AI summaries
Note: Template website builders (Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy Sites, etc.) typically don't include proper structured data. Businesses using these platforms score 0 in Readability unless they manually add the code.
What We Look For in Structured Data
When we scan your website, we extract specific fields that AI systems use to understand and recommend your business.
Business Identity
- Business name
- Phone number
- Email address
- Street address
- GPS coordinates
- Website URL
Services & Expertise
- Service catalog / offerings
- Areas of expertise
- Service area / cities served
- Price range
- Payment methods accepted
- Languages spoken
Trust & Credentials
- Licenses & certifications
- Professional memberships (BBB, trade associations)
- Year founded
- Number of employees
- Customer reviews & ratings
- Social media profiles
Rich Content
- Business description
- Logo image
- Photos
- Operating hours
- Individual customer reviews
- Aggregate rating
The more of these fields your website includes in structured data, the higher your Readability score—and the more confidently AI can recommend you.
Where We Get Our Data
Google Maps
We pull your business listing, address, phone number, website, reviews, and rating directly from Google Maps—the same source AI assistants use.
Your Website
We scan your website's source code to find structured data (JSON-LD), verify information consistency, and check for AI-readable markup. We don't store your content—just analyze what AI can see.
State Licensing Boards
For verified members, we check active license status with state regulatory databases. This is the gold standard for contractor verification and will soon contribute to your Legitimacy score.
What This Score Measures
The Verification Score measures how verifiable your business data is—not the quality of your work. A contractor with 30 years of experience and zero online presence will score lower than a new business with complete credential documentation.
A low score means customers, banks, and AI can't confidently verify your credentials—not that you're a bad contractor. Our goal is to help you prove you're legit.
Get Verified Today
Get your credential page. Prove you're licensed, insured, and responsive—to anyone who asks.
One-time verification. 30-day money-back guarantee.