Sourcing standards

Evidence states

• Indicative — an AI-compiled cluster example, not a verified business. It is non-indexable and has no exposed contact details.
• Sourced — a public business domain was found in live search research. Identity, facilities, claims, and commercial terms still require checks, so the profile remains non-indexable.
• Pending — a self-applied record awaiting moderation and evidence.
• Verified — GreenFlip has recorded legal-entity, online-presence, capability, and reference evidence. Only this state is eligible for an indexable supplier profile.

Checks required for verification

Each check is stored as a dated record naming what was seen, the source, and who performed it. The resulting evidence table is published on the supplier profile.

1. Legal entity — registration number matched against the issuing registry in the supplier's jurisdiction, and the trading name reconciled with it.
2. Domain and email control — the business demonstrably controls the domain and address we publish.
3. Physical address — a production or trading address that exists and matches the entity.
4. Production capability — current workshop or factory evidence, distinguishing owned production from aggregation or trading.
5. Certifications — certificate number, scope, site, issuer, and expiry validated with the issuing body. Required whenever a profile lists any certification.
6. Buyer or peer reference — a reference contacted and confirmed.
7. Commercial terms — a dated MOQ, quotation, lead time, sample policy, payment terms, and Incoterm for a defined specification. Required before any of those figures is published.

How the state is enforced

Verification is derived from the evidence store at build time, not set by hand on a record. A profile that asserts verification without a passing check for every applicable item is demoted automatically, and the outstanding checks are named in visible copy on the profile. Each check lapses after 365 days; when one expires the profile reverts to unverified until it is refreshed. Missing, undated, failed, and stale evidence all resolve the same way — not verified.

AI-sourceable data

GreenFlip does not expose an unverified certification as a validated structured-data claim. Supplier pages state their evidence status in visible copy; non-verified profiles are marked noindex and excluded from the sitemap. Verified records may expose supported organization and commercial fields for search and AI agents.