Verification and listing standards
Working policy for Middleeast.directory — pending final legal and operational approval. It explains the evidence, review and correction principles that apply before any public verification programme is activated.
The principle
Imported is not verified. Claimed is not verified. Evidence plus human approval is verification.
A public directory entry may be sourced from a permitted source or submitted by a business. Neither route earns a verification badge automatically. Payment cannot buy verification, review treatment or organic visibility.
What evidence can support verification
Each approved verification needs a primary legitimacy record and a separate check that the claimant controls the business channel.
Primary legitimacy evidence
A matching trade licence or commercial-registration record checked through an official registry; a current, legible registry extract or licence document; or a matching chamber or association record where a recognised partnership exists.
Control of a business channel
A business-domain email, a reply or OTP through a public business phone, an authorised signed letter on business letterhead, or a DNS/website token for web-first businesses.
Human approval
Automation may help detect formats or name differences, but a verified status requires a named human reviewer, a dated decision and an audit record.
Listing and claim states
The intended state model is deliberately simple and auditable.
- Unclaimed: a public record with source and last-checked information where appropriate.
- Claimed pending: a claimant has completed the secure claim route and submitted evidence; review is still pending.
- Verified: evidence has passed human review and the badge may be shown.
- Suspended or closed: internal, human-approved statuses for exceptional cases.
Public records are not deleted automatically when a claim or verification expires. Unless a source licence or legal obligation requires removal, the record returns to the unclaimed state and the verification badge is removed.
How review and renewal work
Evidence references, registry route, review date and reviewer are kept in a restricted claim audit record; documents and internal notes are not published on listing pages. A business should not be asked to send passwords, financial details or unnecessary identity documents through an ordinary public form.
For licence-based verification, re-checking is due at the earlier of the business renewal cycle or 24 months. A re-verification request moves the record to a pending review state without automatically removing the public listing. If evidence is not renewed after the defined grace period, the listing remains public but the verification badge and owner benefits are removed.
Claims, refusals and corrections
Secure claims
Claim links are designed to be single-use, time-limited and logged. Claimants create or reset their own password through WordPress; no password is emailed by the directory.
No shortcuts
No bulk verification, no verification based only on imported data and no paid shortcut. Suspicious claims are paused, logged and may require enhanced evidence.
Corrections and takedowns
Businesses and the public can report inaccurate, outdated, privacy-sensitive or potentially unlawful information. Each request is recorded and handled through a documented review route.
What the badge means — and does not mean
A verification badge indicates only that Middleeast.directory completed the defined evidence and human-review process at the stated time. It is not a recommendation, quality guarantee, assurance of financial standing, legal opinion, government endorsement, compliance certification or promise that a business is suitable for a particular transaction.
Users should still carry out their own commercial, legal, credit, regulatory and procurement checks. Businesses may request a correction when their information changes.
