Profile Verification on Featured

Verified Profiles Are Here — Here’s How It Works

We’re excited to announce that Profile Verification is now live on Featured! Verified profiles get a Featured checkmark to show journalists you’re a trusted, confirmed expert — making it easier to stand out and get published.

So, how does profile verification work?

Once you’ve created a profile and added a valid profile email, our system gets to work behind the scenes. We run a few smart checks to confirm your identity and make sure everything lines up — like your name, email, company, LinkedIn, and headshot. If everything checks out, you’re verified. Simple as that.

In cases where your account email doesn’t match your profile email — or if you’re representing a client or colleague — you’ll be prompted to send a quick verification email to the profile email. With one click, they can confirm consent. It’s fast and ensures everyone is aware and on board.

For experts, getting verified means more visibility and credibility. For journalists, it’s one more way Featured helps surface real people with real expertise — no digging required.

Verification is just one more step toward making expert–journalist connections smoother, smarter, and more trustworthy.

Verification Steps for Individuals

Step 1: Create an Expert Profile and Add a Valid Profile Email

To begin the verification process, you must add a valid profile email to your Expert Profile.

This email must either:

• Match the email to a corresponding PDL (People Data Labs) profile, or

• Be a professional email that clearly aligns with your name and company domain — for example:
  Sarah@company.com, SG@company.com, or SGriswold@company.com

Note: If the email you used to log in is different from the profile email, refer to Step 2 under “Verification Steps for Teams”.

Step 2: Automatic Verification if All Checks Pass

If your profile passes all verification checks, it will be automatically verified and marked with a blue check icon on your Featured profile.

Step 3: View Any Issues If Checks Fail

If your profile does not pass verification, a new tab will appear on the Profiles page called “Profile Verification & Holds.”
This tab will explain what prevented verification.

Step 4: Make the Suggested Updates and Request Review

Follow the listed suggestions to correct your profile. Then, click the “Request Manual Review” button in the Actions column to submit your profile for review by the Featured team.

Step 5: Manual Review by the Featured Team

The Featured team will review your updated profile. If everything is in order, your profile will be verified. If not, you’ll receive a profile hold along with clear instructions on what still needs to be updated before verification can be granted.

 

Verification Steps for Teams

Step 1: Create an Expert Profile and Add a Valid Profile Email

To begin the verification process, you must add a valid profile email to your Expert Profile.

This email must either:

• Match the email to a corresponding PDL (People Data Labs) profile, or

• Be a professional email that clearly aligns with your name and company domain — for example:
  Sarah@company.com, SG@company.com, or SGriswold@company.com

 

Step 2: Preview and Send the Profile Verification Consent Email

Use the platform’s built-in preview to confirm the consent email looks correct, then send it to your client or colleague.

Step 3: Client Clicks “Verify My Profile”

Ask the recipient to click the “Verify My Profile” link in the email.

This step is required to trigger the rest of the verification checks.

 

Step 4: Automatic Verification if All Checks Pass

If the profile passes all verification checks, it will be automatically verified and display a blue check next to the expert’s name.

 

Step 5: View Any Issues If Checks Fail

If verification fails, a “Profile Verification & Holds” tab will appear on the Profiles page.

This tab outlines the reason(s) the profile couldn’t be verified.

 

Step 6: Make Suggested Edits and Request Manual Review

Follow the listed suggestions to update the profile. Once complete, click the “Request Manual Review” button in the Actions column.

Step 7: Featured Team Review and Next Steps

The Featured team will review your updated profile. If everything is in order, your profile will be verified. If not, you’ll receive a profile hold along with clear instructions on what still needs to be updated before verification can be granted.

 

FAQs

Why should I get verified?

Verified profiles get priority placement in the expert directory, and quote submissions appear first for journalist queries. They give journalists and publishers extra confidence that you’re a real, credible source which can lead to more publications.

How do I start the verification process?

It’s automatic. Just complete your profile and add a valid profile email — the verification process kicks off behind the scenes from there.

How do I verify my clients?

If you’re setting up a profile on behalf of a client or colleague, simply enter their professional email in the profile email field. You’ll be prompted to preview and send a verification email to them. Once they click the link to confirm consent, the rest of the verification process will continue automatically.

What steps does Featured take to verify a profile?

We start by confirming that the profile email either:

• Matches a People Data Labs (PDL) profile that aligns with the Featured profile, or

• Contains a username that matches the expert’s name or initials and a domain that matches their company website (if applicable).

If at least one of those checks passes, we’ll prompt the account holder to send a quick email to the expert for consent (this step is skipped if the account email and profile email are the same). Once consent is confirmed, we’ll check:

• Whether your job title and company appear on your LinkedIn profile (using PDL data)

• If your headshot meets our requirements (view headshot guidelines here)

• That your company name and URL are accurate (no keyword-stuffed or overly optimized anchor text allowed)

If all checks pass, your profile gets verified.

How do I check my verification status?

On the profiles page, verified profiles will have a Featured blue checkmark next to the profile name.

Unverified profiles will show in the “Profile Holds & Verification” tab. On that tab, you will see the reason verification did not pass and actions to edit the profile or request manual review for verification.

Do I have to pay to be verified?

Nope! Verification is free for all Featured users. We believe trust and transparency should be built-in — not paywalled.

I need help with profile verification. What do I do?

Reach out to our support team at community@featured.com.