Eligibility standard
Type A is the bar a business must clear before AI Verified publishes a public passport. It is selective by design — not a scrape of every Google listing.
Directories accept almost anyone. That creates noise: thin pages, mixed categories, and nothing trustworthy for answer engines to cite.
Type A flips the model. Organizations earn classification against a defined track. Scale becomes social proof that others made it through the gate — so more businesses want in.
Coherent public identity for the organization’s track, for example:
• Clear business name
• Public contact path (phone and/or website)
• Location or service-area association
• Source-observed signals from maps/web — not paid placement
Exact signals vary by track (local storefront, service-area, ecommerce, marketplace, national, SaaS, nonprofit, religious).
• Not a “best of” ranking
• Not a state license certificate
• Not a paid directory boost
• Not an invitation to claim an empty page
Bronze means Public Record Verified. Gold means the owner later attests domain control and can take the higher attestation path.
A forensic SHA-256 passport is published. Category hubs may list the organization when density thresholds are met. Owners can embed the badge and elevate to Gold via domain attestation.