How to Add and Manage Business Credentials in Openleet

Openleet credentials let a business present public facts about licences, certifications, accreditations, permits, professional memberships, and insurance coverage. A credential card can identify the issuing organization, validity dates, jurisdiction, and an official verification link.

Credentials can help visitors understand a business's qualifications, but they also require unusually careful handling. A public credential summary is useful; a public copy of a valuable or sensitive document can create privacy, fraud, and impersonation risks.

1. Understand what the credentials feature is for

Use the credentials area to publish a limited, factual summary that customers can verify. It is not a secure document vault and it is not intended to hold confidential evidence.

Supported credential types include:

• business licence;
• professional licence;
• certification;
• accreditation;
• permit;
• professional membership; and
• insurance coverage.

Each profile can contain up to 20 credentials. Add only credentials that are current, relevant to the business, and appropriate for public presentation.

2. Open the credentials manager

1. Sign in to Openleet.
2. Select the business you want to manage.
3. Open Profile.
4. Choose Licences & credentials.
5. Select Add credential, or choose Edit on an existing credential.

Credentials are self-reported unless Openleet has explicitly verified them. Adding an issuer name or verification link does not by itself change that status.

3. Check the issuer's credential policy first

Before entering text or uploading a logo, review the current public-display policy of the organization that issued the credential. Depending on the issuer, this may be called a:

• credential-use policy;
• certification mark policy;
• brand or trademark guideline;
• member logo agreement;
• licensee advertising rule;
• accreditation representation policy; or
• digital badge policy.

Confirm that the policy allows your business to use:

• the exact credential or designation name;
• the issuer's name;
• professional letters or abbreviations;
• the issuer's logo, seal, badge, or certification mark;
• a public credential number;
• a verification link; and
• wording about the scope and current status of the credential.

The issuer's policy—not Openleet—determines whether you have the authority to display its name, logo, badge, or designation.

4. Choose the correct credential type and name

Select the type that matches the issuer's description. Do not describe a membership as an accreditation, a course-completion certificate as a professional licence, or insurance coverage as a government approval.

Enter the official credential name without adding promotional claims. For example:

• District of Squamish Business Licence
• Red Seal Carpenter Certification
• Professional Association Membership
• Commercial General Liability Insurance

Use the Issuing organization field for the legal or public name of the body that issued or administers the credential.

Do not use words such as approved, endorsed, certified, licensed, or accredited beyond the scope the issuer actually grants.

5. Protect licence and credential numbers

The licence or credential number is optional and is hidden publicly unless Show credential number publicly is selected.

Before publishing a number, confirm that:

• the issuer treats it as a public identifier;
• it is already intended for lookup in a public registry;
• publishing it does not expose an account, application, policy, payment, or personal identifier; and
• the issuer's rules permit it to be used in public advertising or profiles.

Never enter or publish:

• a password, access code, PIN, or recovery code;
• a government personal identifier;
• a payment or banking number;
• a private insurance policy or account number;
• an application or renewal reference that can be used to access an account;
• a document barcode, QR code, or machine-readable security element; or
• any number the issuer instructs holders to keep confidential.

When uncertain, leave the number empty and provide an official verification URL instead.

6. Add dates and validity area accurately

Add the issue and expiry dates exactly as recorded by the issuer. The expiry date must be after the issue date.

Use Valid in to describe the actual jurisdiction or scope, such as British Columbia, Canada. Do not imply that a municipal, provincial, national, or professional authorization applies outside its stated area.

The dashboard identifies credentials that are active, expiring within 60 days, expired, or have no expiry date. Expired credentials are excluded from the public credential list, but you should still renew, update, make private, or remove them promptly.

Do not select or imply No expiry merely because the expiry date is unknown. Confirm the status with the issuer.

7. Use an official verification URL

When available, link directly to the issuer's public registry or credential-verification page. A useful verification link lets a visitor confirm current standing independently.

The URL should:

• use https:// or http://;
• belong to the issuer or its authorized credential provider;
• open without access to your private account;
• point to the correct business or professional record when direct links are supported; and
• contain no private invitation, session, or access token.

Test the link in a private browser window. If the issuer does not provide public verification, explain the credential factually without inventing a verification route.

8. Write a limited factual description

Use the description to explain what the credential covers in plain language. Keep it within the credential's actual scope.

For example, state the service, profession, jurisdiction, or standard covered. Do not claim that the issuer guarantees your work, recommends your business, or supervises every service unless the issuer explicitly says so.

Avoid copying long passages from an issuer's website or policy. Write an original factual summary and link to the official source where appropriate.

9. Never use valuable documents as public images

The Public badge or issuer logo upload is displayed publicly when the credential is public. It is not private supporting proof.

Do not upload images of:

• a business or professional licence document;
• a certificate or diploma;
• a permit;
• an insurance certificate or policy page;
• a membership card;
• a wallet card or identity document;
• a signature, seal impression, barcode, serial number, or QR code;
• a document showing an address, date of birth, email, phone number, or account detail; or
• any proof that could be copied, altered, or reused to impersonate the holder.

Cropping or blurring part of a valuable document may still leave reusable details or recoverable metadata. The safer choice is not to upload the document at all.

Openleet's current credential form does not provide a private evidence upload. Keep original documents in your own secure record system, following the issuer's retention and security requirements.

10. Use logos and badges only with authorization

An issuer logo, accreditation mark, or digital badge may be protected by copyright, trademark, contract, or professional rules. Use it only when the issuer's current policy grants your business the necessary right.

Follow all applicable requirements, including:

• using the official file supplied by the issuer;
• preserving required colours, proportions, clear space, and minimum size;
• not stretching, recolouring, cropping, redrawing, animating, or combining the mark;
• not placing the mark where it implies sponsorship or endorsement;
• pairing it with required wording, registration symbols, disclaimers, or links;
• displaying it only for the authorized business, person, service, product, location, or certification scope;
• stopping use when the credential expires, is suspended, or the agreement ends; and
• removing an obsolete badge when the issuer replaces it.

Do not download a logo from a search result or another member's website. Use the issuer's official asset portal or request written permission.

Some digital credentials require an embedded verification link or prohibit uploading a static copy. In that case, follow the issuer's method rather than recreating the badge in Openleet.

11. Choose Public, Featured, and display order

New credentials have Public selected by default. Before saving, turn it off unless every text field, identifier, image, and link is safe and authorized for public use.

• Public makes an unexpired credential eligible to appear on public Openleet surfaces and in supported structured data.
• Featured on homepage gives a public credential priority in homepage presentation.
• Show credential number publicly separately controls whether the identifier is exposed.
• Display order uses lower numbers first after featured credentials.

Openleet shows a confirmation when a credential is becoming public. Treat that confirmation as a final disclosure review, not a substitute for checking issuer rules.

12. Save and inspect the public result

Select Save credential, then review the saved card. If Public is enabled, inspect every surface where it appears.

Where public credentials appear

Current public credentials can appear on the Openleet business profile and on an eligible Openleet website. Featured credentials can be prioritized on the tenant homepage.

Depending on the credential type, public details may also be represented as structured credential or certification information. This helps software understand the visible facts but does not mean Openleet, a search engine, or an AI service independently verified the credential.

Public cards are labelled as self-reported unless Openleet has explicitly completed a separate verification process. Visitors are encouraged to use the issuer link to confirm current standing.

Edit, make private, or delete a credential

Return to Profile → Licences & credentials and select Edit.

• Update dates, scope, issuer details, or verification links when they change.
• Turn off Public immediately if the credential is suspended, disputed, or under review.
• Use Remove current badge when permission to display a logo ends or the issuer changes its mark.
• Turn off public identification if the credential number should no longer be exposed.
• Delete the record when it is incorrect or should no longer be retained in Openleet.

Removing a public item from Openleet does not instantly remove copies already held by search engines, archives, screenshots, or other third-party caches. This is another reason never to publish a valuable credential document or sensitive identifier.

FAQ