How to get verified on every platform: the 2026 map

Instagram

Facebook

Threads

"Your Instagram username and verification will carry over, with the option to customize your profile specifically for Threads," Meta said when Threads launched (5 Jul 2023, updated 14 Aug 2024). Get verified on Instagram and the badge follows you to Threads.

Every Meta plan, what the badge costs over a year, and the free route step by step: Meta Verified cost

TikTok

• Active: the account is in use, with a recent login and at least 1 public post.
• Authentic: a real person, business or organization, with a name, profile, content and documents that match.
• Complete: public, with a profile photo, account name, bio and at least 1 public post.
• Notable: TikTok may review independent media coverage and other reliable public information.
• Secure: a verified phone number and email address, with two-step verification on.
• Coverage that helps comes from an independent, recognized outlet, is mainly about you, is dated and is not sponsored, paid or promotional. Press releases, personal blogs and social posts do not count; submit direct links to the original articles.
• Apply in the app: Profile, Menu, Settings and privacy, Account, Verification. Pick personal, business or institution verification; the wrong type can delay review.
• Not approved? You can apply again once eligible. Changing your username or account type, or handing the account to someone else, removes the badge.

How to get verified on TikTok

YouTube

• 100,000 subscribers. Below that, the Verified badge tab does not appear in YouTube Studio.
• 2-step verification on the Google account, and a complete channel: banner, profile picture, description and at least 1 public video.
• Apply in YouTube Studio on a computer: Settings, Channel, Verified badge, Apply. Only channel owners or managers can apply.
• YouTube checks the channel is authentic and complete, and may ask for more information or documents.
• Changing the channel name removes the badge; changing the handle does not.
• YouTube may verify channels under 100,000 subscribers that are well known outside YouTube, on its own initiative.

Snapchat

• Apply with Snap’s Snap Star form. It is for creators and public figures; general interest accounts are not eligible.
• Snap weighs account engagement, regular stories for a public audience, authenticity, notability and cultural relevance, and content quality.
• "No one is entitled to a Snap Star, regardless of the size of the account's audience."
• "Snap does not charge fees or accept money for verification. No entity does so on Snap's behalf."
• The black Snapchat+ star only marks a paid subscriber. Snap says such badges do not indicate identity verification.

LinkedIn members

• Identity: through CLEAR in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, with a valid government ID and a personal phone number from those countries; through Persona with a valid NFC-enabled passport; or with DigiLocker credentials.
• Workplace: a work email, Microsoft Entra Verified ID, a company LinkedIn Learning license or a LinkedIn Recruiter license, where the company is eligible.
• "Verifications and adding a verification to your profile is available with no additional cost." The name you verify must match the name on your profile.
• LinkedIn says the information used for verification, such as the details on your ID, is not visible to anyone.

LinkedIn Pages

• Eligible Pages see the option to request verification in Settings on desktop. Eligibility may come from engagement, such as posting regularly, or from a commercial relationship with LinkedIn.
• "Premium Company Page subscriptions, or Pages with paid products, such as Jobs or Ads, are automatically eligible for verification." Free trials of Premium Company Page are not.
• LinkedIn checks data such as location and website URL, that the Page is claimed and policy compliance. It says the process can take up to 10 days, because it receives a high volume of requests.
• Once a Page is verified, its employees can verify their workplace.

Google Business Profile

• Google describes verification as gaining ownership of your Business Profile, so you can edit your business information and reply to customers.
• Google picks the methods you can use: phone or text, email, a live video call, a video recording or a postcard. You cannot change them.
• Reviews take up to 5 business days. Postcard codes usually arrive within 14 days and expire after 30.
• "Google will never ask for your verification code." Do not share it, even with people who manage your profile.
• Verifying your website in Search Console can verify a profile instantly in some cases.

Want the box Google shows for your brand or name? That is a Knowledge Panel, a separate thing: How to get a Google Knowledge Panel

Before you pay anyone

• Is the badge free on this platform? TikTok, Snapchat and LinkedIn member verification are, and YouTube mentions no fee.
• Do they want your password, a verification code or your ID? Never hand those to a third party.
• Do they promise approval? Every platform here decides for itself.
• Do they sell paid articles as notability evidence? Meta and TikTok exclude paid coverage.
• Will you apply from your own account, through the platform’s own route? If not, walk away.