Overview
Profile verification confirms your identity and helps journalists trust your expertise. Once verified, your profile displays a blue checkmark and receives priority placement in directories and search results.
Key benefits
Increase visibility in the expert directory.
Boost trust with journalists and publishers.
Ensure profile accuracy with built-in identity checks.
How to verify your profile
Verification Steps
1. Create the Expert Profile
And add that expert's business email to the Profile Email field. The provided email address must:
Match a People Data Labs (PDL) profile OR
Match the expert’s name and company domain.
For example: johnsmith@company.com, jsmith@company.com, johns@company.com, etc
Shared or general emails such as info@comapny.com are not typically supported. One-off cases are addressed directly by the Featured community team and are subject to discretion.
IF your Profile Email matches a PDL profile or meets our name and domain requirements, the remaining automated checks will run.
If the account email and profile email are different, a confirmation email will be required, and the account owner must manually trigger its send.
2. Verify the Profile Email if it Differs from the Account Email
When the account email address does not match the profile email, the account owner will need to send a one-time verification email to the profile email.
This email is triggered from the Profiles page. To send the email, click the "Preview and Send Email" text under the Profile Email for the respective profile you are looking to verify.
Account Admins can edit their account name from the Preferences page to update the email sign-off.
From that email, the expert must click Verify My Profile to continue.
3. Automatic Verification
The system checks your:
Name
Email
Company
LinkedIn
Headshot
If all the checks are passed, the profile is automatically verified.
4. Check Verification Status
If verification fails, you will see the expert profile in the Profile verification & holds tab with details on what needs to be fixed.
5. Update the Profile
Following the insights shared in the Reason column, please make any necessary updates. After making those changes, click the Request Review button.
6. Manual Review
Our team manually reviews verification as they roll in. If the requirements are met, we verify the profile. If there are still concerns with the profile, a flag may be applied with additional steps to resolve the issue.
FAQs
Why should I get verified?
Verified profiles are more likely to be featured by journalists. They show that you’re a credible, vetted expert — leading to more visibility and publications.
How do I start the verification process?
Just complete your profile and add a valid profile email. Verification begins automatically.
How do I verify my clients?
Enter your client’s professional email into the profile. Then send them the consent email from within the platform. Once they click Verify My Profile, the process continues automatically.
What steps does Featured take to verify a profile?
Verification checks include:
Matching the profile email to a PDL record or professional email format.
Confirming consent if the email is different from the account owner.
Validating LinkedIn job title and company via PDL.
Reviewing the headshot against platform standards.
Checking that the company name and URL are accurate and not overly optimized.
How do I check my verification status?
Verified profiles display a blue checkmark.
Unverified profiles appear in the Profile verification & holds tab with a reason for the hold.
Do I have to pay to be verified?
No. Verification is free for all Featured users.
Why don't I see the verification checkmark on my expert page?
The blue checkmark shows on your profile page right after verification. It may take up to 24 hours to appear on your public expert page in the directory.