CertScore

How CertScore verifies your credentials

At CertScore, trust is everything. When you add a professional certification to your profile, we don't just take your word for it. We verify it directly with the credential provider. This page explains exactly how that process works, what each verification status means, and why some credentials receive a higher trust level than others.

Last updated: October 2026

The three verification tiers

Verified (gold standard)

What it means: We have confirmed the credential belongs to you through the issuing platform.

How it works: When you submit a credential, we check it against the platform that issued it (Credly, Accredible or Microsoft Learn). If ownership can be confirmed, the credential is marked as verified. A verified certification that later expires or is retired keeps its full points.

Points awarded based on certification tier. Course completions and training badges earn 0 points.

Self-reported

What it means: Ownership was not confirmed through the issuing platform. This includes uploaded files, photos and manual entries, and credentials we found on a public page but could not tie to an email you own.

How it works: We fetch the credential from the provider's public page and check that the name matches your profile. This confirms the credential is real, but anyone can view a public verification page, so name matching alone isn't enough to prove ownership.

0 points awarded. Visible on your profile but does not count toward your CertScore.

Rejected

What it means: We could not verify the credential, or the identity information didn't match.

This happens when the name on the credential doesn't match your CertScore profile, the credential URL is invalid, or the credential has been revoked.

Platform-by-platform breakdown

Credly (Acclaim): Verified

Credly is the gold standard for credential verification. Here's how it works:

  1. You submit your Credly badge URL
  2. We fetch the badge data from Credly's public API, confirming it exists and is valid. An expired badge still counts and keeps its full points
  3. We confirm the credential belongs to you by matching proof tied to your verified account against proof stored by Credly
  4. If ownership is confirmed, the credential is marked as verified and counts toward your CertScore

This means that even if someone knows your badge URL, they cannot claim it on CertScore without access to the email associated with the badge.

Result: verified, with the certification's tier points.

Accredible (credential.net): Verified or self-reported

Accredible supports credential verification, but not every credential includes the data needed to confirm ownership. The flow:

  1. You submit your Accredible credential URL
  2. We fetch the credential data from Accredible's API
  3. We check whether ownership can be confirmed against the issuing platform
  4. If confirmed: The result is verified
  5. If not: We confirm the credential is real but can't confirm ownership, so the result is self-reported

The result depends on how the issuing organization configured their Accredible account. Many issuers enable full ownership verification, but some do not.

Microsoft Learn: Verified or self-reported

Microsoft certifications are not issued as Credly badges, so we confirm them through your Microsoft Learn transcript. One link brings in all of them. The flow:

  1. You turn on transcript sharing in Microsoft Learn and paste the share link
  2. We read the certifications and Applied Skills on that transcript from Microsoft Learn
  3. We check that the email shared on the transcript matches a verified email on your CertScore account
  4. If it matches: The result is verified. Expired and retired certifications keep their full points
  5. If not: The result is self-reported (0 points) until you share a matching email and import again

Exams, courses and learning paths on the transcript are not imported. A transcript can be linked to one CertScore account only, and we do not store the transcript's email.

EC-Council (ASPEN): Self-reported

EC-Council certifications (CEH, CCISO, CND, etc.) are among the most respected in cybersecurity. Unfortunately, EC-Council's ASPEN verification system does not currently offer a programmatic way for third parties to confirm credential ownership.

  1. You submit your ASPEN verification URL
  2. We fetch the public verification page and parse the credential details (certification name, cert number, dates)
  3. We check that the name on the credential matches your CertScore profile. Mismatches are rejected
  4. If the name matches, the credential is imported as self-reported

Why not verified? ASPEN is a public, read-only webpage. It provides no mechanism for a credential holder to programmatically prove ownership to a third-party platform.

Until ASPEN supports programmatic verification, all EC-Council credentials on CertScore are marked as self-reported and award 0 points.

Result: always self-reported, 0 points.

Why this matters

  • For employersA verified credential means the person demonstrably holds the certification. No ambiguity.
  • For credential holdersVerified status gives your credentials more weight and earns points toward your CertScore ranking.
  • For the communityThe leaderboard reflects genuine, verified expertise, not just claimed certifications.

What we're doing about it

  • CredlyFull verification support
  • AccredibleFull verification support (when issuers enable ownership verification)
  • Microsoft LearnFull verification support (when your transcript shares an email on your CertScore account)
  • EC-CouncilWe've formally requested programmatic verification support. We'll update this page when ASPEN supports it.

If you're an EC-Council certification holder, we understand this is frustrating. Your CEH, CCISO, or CND certification is just as valuable. The limitation is purely technical on EC-Council's end.

Our commitment to transparency

CertScore is built by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We have no financial incentive to favor one credential provider over another. Our verification standards are based solely on what each provider's technology allows us to prove.

Every verification request is logged, rate-limited (15 per hour per user), and monitored. Our infrastructure is monitored 24/7 via our status page.

Questions about how your credential was verified? Reach out at [email protected].