Authority and distribution, control 8 of 12
A-08 Use genuine Search profiles and badges
A claimed profile or badge should point to the genuine entity. It is not proof of universal authority or a ranking guarantee.
- Priority
- Optimisation.
- Hard gate
- No
- Change class
- APPROVAL_REQUIRED: Required exact authority must be valid before the consequential action.
- Quality bucket
- Authority and distribution readiness
Why it matters
A profile linked to accounts that the business does not own gives users and search systems a false view of who the entity is. Presenting the profile as a ranking trick also sets the wrong expectations inside the team. Tying it to real identities keeps the entity clear and trustworthy.
Evidence to review
- Ownership evidence, live destination and badge implementation.
How to implement
- Confirm that the profile exists and can be legitimately claimed.
- Connect only correct identities.
- Follow current badge guidance and check the destination.
- Do not create a fictitious profile to fill an audit field.
How UltimateSEO checks this
Partly automated. The scan records information signals only, so this control never becomes PASS or FAIL on its own.
The check looks at: the crawler reports sameAs social profile links as information; profile ownership and Search profile eligibility are confirmed by the business.
States used: PASS, FAIL, UNKNOWN, NOT_APPLICABLE or BLOCKED. UNKNOWN is never shown as a pass. How states work.
Sources
Part of The UltimateSEO Framework v4.3, catalogue dated 2026-10-14. Evidence states, control states and the publish gate are explained on the hub.