How we verify Featured listings
Every Featured (paid) listing goes live once Stripe confirms the payment. Separately, we check the firm against official public registries. Only if every check passes does the listing show a Verified badge, with the date we checked. Paying does not buy the badge: every Featured firm gets the same check, and no one can pay for a faster or different result.
What “Verified” means
On the date shown, we confirmed all four of these:
- License match. The license or registration number on the listing is in the official registry, under the same firm or professional name.
- Active, no public discipline. The registry shows the license as active or in good standing, with no public disciplinary action or restriction shown.
- Website match. The listing's website belongs to the same licensed business (for example the registry or regulator lists it, or the site names the same licensed entity and number).
- Business exists. The business appears in an official business or company registry (for example Florida's Sunbiz, a US Secretary of State, the UK's Companies House, or Panama's Registro Público).
Where we check
| Category | Registry we use |
|---|---|
| CPAs and enrolled agents | The state board of accountancy's license lookup (or CPAverify.org for participating states); for enrolled agents, the IRS enrolled-agent status check. Outside the US, the national accountancy or tax-adviser register. |
| Residency lawyers and agents | The bar or law society where the lawyer is admitted (for example a US state bar's member search, or Panama's Colegio Nacional de Abogados and the Supreme Court's register). For non-lawyer agents, the licensing or registration body where they operate, if one exists. |
| Brokers and investment advisers | SEC Investment Adviser Public Disclosure and FINRA BrokerCheck in the US; the national financial regulator's register elsewhere (for example the UK FCA register). |
| Bitcoin-backed lenders | NMLS Consumer Access or the state financial regulator in the US; the national financial regulator's register elsewhere. |
| International health insurance | The insurance regulator where the insurer or broker is licensed (in the US, the state insurance department's license lookup). |
For each check we record the registry, the pages we looked at, the date and the result.
What “Verified” does not mean
- It is not a recommendation, endorsement or ranking.
- It doesn't rate the quality of the firm's work, its fees, its results or whether it suits you.
- It only reflects what the official registries showed on that date. Registries can be incomplete or out of date.
Dates and rechecks
- New Featured listings show “Not yet checked” until we've done the check, usually within a few days.
- The badge shows the date of the last check. We recheck every 12 months; if a listing isn't rechecked within 12 months, the badge comes off automatically.
- If a check fails, the listing doesn't get the badge (or loses it). It stays labeled Featured (paid); a failed check on its own doesn't remove a listing.
Spotted a problem?
If a license looks wrong or has lapsed, tell us and we'll check it again. Featured listings are advertising; see our disclosure and listing content rules.