What are Connectively Verification Signals?
Connectively’s Verification Signals are seven automated checks shown on public expert profiles that confirm specific information journalists otherwise have to look up themselves.
The signals cover your professional identity, company affiliation, LinkedIn profile, external professional references, headshot, company information, and profile visibility.
Only the signals you’ve confirmed are shown to journalists. Unconfirmed signals are visible only to you, so you can see exactly what information is missing from your profile.
You do not need all seven signals to use Connectively or respond to publisher requests.
What are the seven Verification Signals?
| Verification Signal | What it checks | How to earn it |
| Identity found in a professional database | A matching record exists for you in People Data Labs, a third-party professional database. | Use your real full name, current company, and business email. Keep your professional information current. |
| Profile email verified | Your profile email matches your name and company domain. | Use a business email such as firstname@yourcompany.com. Personal Gmail addresses and info@yourcompany.com emails do not meet this check. |
| LinkedIn profile verified | The LinkedIn profile associated with your Connectively account is live and matches your professional information. | Keep your name, title, and company consistent between LinkedIn and Connectively. Update your LinkedIn URL if it has changed. |
| Verification link provided | An external page gives journalists additional information about your professional identity or expertise. | Add a relevant professional link such as a company bio, author page, speaker profile, professional association listing, personal website, or published article. Avoid sales pages. |
| Real-person headshot | Your profile photo shows a real person rather than a logo, placeholder, group photo, or AI-generated image. | Upload an actual photograph of yourself. AI-generated or heavily AI-edited headshots do not pass the check. |
| Valid company anchor text | Your company name matches the linked website and does not use keyword phrases commonly used for link building. | Enter your company’s actual name and homepage. Avoid keyword-stuffed names such as “Best Plumbing Services Denver.” |
| Public profile | Your Connectively profile is publicly viewable to journalists. | Turn on your public profile in your profile settings. |
How do I get verified on Connectively?
You can strengthen your Verification Signals by completing the information Connectively uses for each check.
Start by reviewing your profile and making sure your:
- Full name is accurate and consistent with your professional profiles
- Business email uses your name and company domain
- LinkedIn URL is current
- Company name and website are accurate
- Profile photo is an actual photograph of you
- Verification Link points to a relevant professional page
- Connectively profile is set to public
You don’t have to complete everything at once. Each confirmed signal appears on your public profile as it is confirmed.
Why do Verification Signals matter to journalists?
Journalists often evaluate several potential sources for the same story. A typical Connectively publisher question receives 42 expert responses, giving journalists dozens of unfamiliar sources to consider.
Before contacting or quoting an expert, a journalist may search LinkedIn, visit a company website, look for an author page, or search for other information that confirms the expert’s professional background.
Verification Signals put some of that information directly on your Connectively profile.
They do not replace a journalist’s own research or editorial judgment. They show journalists what Connectively has confirmed about your profile, giving them additional information to consider when evaluating you as a potential source.
How common are Verification Signals on Connectively?
As of September 2026, 70,523 active expert profiles had been evaluated for Verification Signals.
66.8% of active profiles have four or more confirmed signals, including 21.4% with five or more.
Four confirmed signals is the most common profile level, representing 45.4% of active profiles.
That means having multiple confirmed signals is already common across the Connectively expert base. If your profile has fewer signals, reviewing the missing information can show you exactly where you have opportunities to strengthen your profile.
What information can cause a signal not to be confirmed?
Some profile information can prevent a signal from being confirmed even when you are a legitimate expert.
Your email does not match your professional identity
The Profile email verified signal requires an email that matches your name and company domain.
For example, firstname@company.com can qualify.
Personal email addresses and generic company addresses such as hello@company.com, info@company.com, or contact@company.com do not meet the check because they do not identify the individual expert.
Your company name is keyword-stuffed
Connectively checks whether your company name matches your linked website and flags keyword phrases commonly used for link building.
Use your company’s actual name rather than a search-oriented description such as “Best Plumbing Services Denver.”
Your headshot is not an actual photograph of you
The Real-person headshot signal is intended to confirm that the profile photo represents a real person.
Logos, placeholders, group photos, and AI-generated images do not qualify. If you’re using an AI-generated or heavily AI-edited professional headshot, use an actual photograph instead.
Your identity cannot be matched to a People Data Labs record
The Identity found in a professional database signal requires a matching record in People Data Labs (PDL), a third-party professional database. Not every legitimate professional will have a PDL record, so this signal will not appear on every profile.
PDL builds its database from public and proprietary sources and uses information such as names, companies, emails, and professional profiles to match people to records. Some professionals simply are not represented in its dataset or do not have enough matching information to be identified.
For example, even Connectiely’s CEO does not have this signal because he is not currently represented in the PDL database. The signal is useful evidence when present, but its absence is not evidence that someone is illegitimate.
Your LinkedIn profile cannot be confirmed
The LinkedIn profile verified signal requires a valid personal LinkedIn profile associated with your Connectively profile.
The signal may not be confirmed if the LinkedIn URL is invalid, no longer exists, points to a company page rather than a personal profile, or contains professional information that does not sufficiently match your Connectively profile.
You do not have a verification link
The Verification link provided signal is optional. Not every expert has a personal website, company bio, author page, or other professional link to include.
If you choose to add one, the link must be a qualifying external HTTPS link that gives journalists additional context about your professional identity or expertise. Examples include a company bio, personal website, author page, professional association profile, speaker page, or portfolio.
If you do not add a verification link, you simply will not receive this signal. It does not affect your ability to use Connectively or receive other Verification Signals.
Your profile is not public
The Public profile signal confirms that your Connectively profile is publicly accessible outside of the platform. Making your profile public is optional.
If you opt out of a public profile, your profile will not be indexed by search engines, included in the Connectively expert directory, or generally discoverable through external search and AI tools. However, journalists can still view your profile and its confirmed Verification Signals when you send them a pitch.
If you choose not to make your profile public, you simply will not receive this signal. Your other confirmed Verification Signals remain visible to journalists who view your profile through a pitch.
What should you do if you are missing a Verification Signal?
Verification Signals are designed to give journalists more useful context about your professional identity, not to create a pass-or-fail score.
If a signal is missing, review what information that signal checks and decide whether you have additional information you can provide. Some signals, such as a verification link or public profile, are optional. Others depend on information that may not be available for every expert, such as a matching record in a third-party professional database.
The goal isn’t to collect all seven signals. It’s to give journalists more context about your professional identity and expertise.
Review your Verification Signals and update your profile with the information that helps showcase your expertise.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is a Verification Link?
A Verification Link gives you a dedicated place to point journalists to additional information about your professional background.
It does not have to be LinkedIn or your company website. You can use a relevant external page such as:
- A company bio or About page
- Your personal website
- An author page
- An article you wrote
- An article that features you
- A professional association profile
- A speaker or conference profile
- A portfolio or professional profile
The goal is to give journalists another useful reference point when they want to learn more about your background and expertise.
Do I need all seven Verification Signals?
No.
You can use Connectively and respond to publisher requests without having all seven signals.
Each signal confirms a different piece of information about your profile. A profile with fewer confirmed signals is not automatically less credible than one with more.
The signals simply show journalists which specific pieces of information Connectively has confirmed.
Will journalists see which signals I am missing?
No.
Journalists see the confirmed signals on your public profile. Unconfirmed signals are visible only to you.
This means your profile does not display a public score or a list of things you failed to verify. You can use your private signal information to identify what you can add or update.
Why don't I have the professional database signal?
The Identity found in a professional database signal is based on a matching record in People Data Labs.
If the information in your Connectively profile does not match the information in the database, or no matching record is found, the signal will not be confirmed.
How often are Verification Signals checked?
When a profile is created, Connectively checks all seven Verification Signals. After that, when you update your profile, Connectively only rechecks the signals affected by the information you changed. For example, if you update your headshot, only the Real-person headshot signal is rechecked; the other signals are not.
Where can I review my Verification Signals?
You can review your current Verification Signals from your Connectively profile.
Use the information shown there to identify missing profile details, then update your information where appropriate.