Overview
The Business Website Verification (part of the Online Credibility suite) verifies the validity of a business’s website during the Know Your Business (KYB) process. Powered by AI, it scans and evaluates the live state of a website to help verify digital-first or thin-file businesses whose public registry data may be incomplete.
Why is this verification valuable?
- Automate manual review: Replaces time-consuming manual website checks with automated, real-time analysis to speed up onboarding decisions.
- Prevent impersonation: Highlights fraud signals (e.g., mismatched domains, parked pages) to catch shell companies that pass public registry checks but lack a legitimate web presence.
- Link individuals to businesses: Pair with Email (2FA) Verification to confirm employment. For example, if a user proves they own bill@acme.com and acme.com is verified as ACME Inc.’s legitimate domain, the user is likely associated with ACME Inc.
What checks does this verification provide?
Inputs
The verification returns a “Passed” or “Failed” status based on the following inputs:
- Required: Business name, URL
- Optional (but recommended): Address, phone number, email address
Verification checks
You can configure which of the following checks are required to pass the overall verification:
| Check Name | Description | Possible Failure Reasons |
|---|---|---|
| Valid URL Format Detection | Checks if the provided URL is formatted correctly | Invalid URL format |
| Identity Comparison | Compares website information with provided business details | Domain not resolvable; insufficient content; insufficient match |
| Domain Resolvable Detection | Checks whether the website’s IP address is resolvable and the domain is accessible | Failed to resolve |
| Domain Redirect Detection | Detects if the input URL redirects to another domain | Domain redirected or not resolvable |
| Domain Age Detection | Checks if the domain age meets minimum requirements | Domain is newly created; unable to determine domain age |
| Domain Expiration Detection | Detects if the domain is expired or expiring soon | Domain is expired; domain is expiring soon; unable to determine domain expiration |
| Supported Domain Detection | Verifies the domain platform is supported | Domain is unsupported |
| Sufficient Content Detection | Checks if the site has enough useful information to review | Insufficient content (ex: “Coming soon!”); parked domain/domain is for sale |
| Terms of Service Legitimacy Detection | Detects if the site has a legitimate Terms of Service | Broken link; insufficient content; error page; placeholder text; no URLs found |
| Backlink Detection | Checks if other websites link to this website | Below threshold (not enough backlinks) |
| Malicious Website Detection | Flags if the website is flagged for unsafe content. | Website is reported for malware; social engineering; email spam |
| Privacy Policy Legitimacy Detection | Detects if the site has a clear and valid Privacy Policy | Missing or broken link; not found on homepage/footer |
| Cookie Banner Detection | Detects if the site shows a valid and functional cookie consent banner | Missing banner; broken banner; no reject option |
Configuration options
- LLM Provider Selection: Choose your preferred LLM provider to power the AI-generated Identity Comparison Check. There are no pricing differences based on the selected LLM provider.
- Required Checks: Customize which detection checks are required to pass the verification.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this verification cover the online presence of a business?
It does not verify the full online presence of a business, which could encompass things like social media presence and third party review sites (e.g., Yelp, TripAdvisor). This is covered in the Business Online Presence Report (also part of the online credibility suite).
What should we do if a company’s website fails certain checks?
Investigate the reasons behind the failure. Use this insight to request additional documentation or perform manual review.
What locales and languages do this report support?
The report generally performs well across other languages. No special locale setup is required.