Why this matters
Trust claims are high-risk facts. A stale badge, expired certification, incomplete insurance note, or old award blurb can be copied into AI answers long after the original page should have been updated. This worksheet creates one owner-approved source card before those claims spread across pages, PDFs, proposals, directories, and AI tools.
STOP PUBLISHING: do not let AI write, summarize, or syndicate license, certification, insurance, award, affiliation, partner, guarantee, or expert-status claims until a named owner verifies the source, current status, expiration date, allowed wording, and removal/rollback plan.
Copy/paste credential source card
| Field | What to capture | Review rule |
|---|---|---|
| Claim type | License, certification, insurance, bond, award, review badge, partner status, training completion, trade membership, or staff credential. | Separate each claim; do not bundle unrelated trust signals into one vague paragraph. |
| Canonical proof source | License lookup URL, certificate PDF, insurer/broker note, awarding body page, partner directory URL, badge terms, or owner-approved evidence file. | If proof is private, write a public-safe summary and keep the internal source path for owner review. |
| Status and dates | Current/expired/pending/limited status, issue date, renewal date, expiration date, next review owner, and rollback date. | AI must not turn pending, lapsed, or limited credentials into active unrestricted claims. |
| Approved wording | Exact public phrase, required disclaimer, location/service limits, named staff member, and where the claim may appear. | Use precise wording; avoid “certified,” “licensed,” “insured,” “award-winning,” or “official partner” unless the source supports it. |
| Surfaces to update | Homepage, service pages, about page, footer, schema, PDFs, proposals, directory profiles, GBP, social bios, helpdesk macros, and chatbots. | Update or remove stale copies everywhere, not just on the canonical page. |
| Do-not-invent list | License scope, coverage amount, expiration, jurisdiction, ranking, guarantee, affiliation, staff credentials, partner approval, and award meaning. | AI can identify missing proof; it cannot invent authority, coverage, status, or endorsement. |
Safe public wording starters
Credential summary: Current credential/source: [canonical proof or page]. Approved public wording: [exact phrase]. Applies to: [location/service/staff/scope]. Last reviewed by [owner] on [date]. Next review: [date].Stale-claim correction: This page replaces older license, certification, badge, partner, insurance, or award language. If another page, PDF, directory profile, or AI answer says something different, use [canonical URL] and ask [owner] to review before publishing.AI audit prompt
Act as a cautious AI-search trust-claim reviewer for a small business. Use only the proof facts below. Do not invent license status, certification level, insurance coverage, bonds, awards, rankings, affiliations, partner approval, expert status, jurisdiction, renewal status, guarantees, or endorsements. Return: 1) unsupported claims, 2) stale/expired claims, 3) missing proof fields, 4) public-safe wording, 5) surfaces to update, and 6) STOP PUBLISHING items.
Credential facts:
- Claim type:
- Canonical proof source:
- Current status:
- Issue / renewal / expiration date:
- Scope / jurisdiction / location / staff owner:
- Approved public wording:
- Surfaces that repeat the claim:
- Claims AI must not invent:
- Next review owner/date:Fast QA before AI or search engines quote it
- Search the website, PDFs, directory listings, schema, proposals, social profiles, and chat macros for old credential language.
- Check whether each credential is business-wide, location-specific, staff-specific, service-specific, or simply a historical award.
- Remove or rewrite claims that are expired, pending, limited, not public, not transferable, or only true for one employee or location.
- Set a calendar review before renewal dates and after staff changes, insurance changes, partner-program changes, or brand/site redesigns.
Related free assets: AI Search Trust Center Checklist, Claims Inventory Checklist, and Service Page Proof Checklist.
Disclosure: Horizon Flow is Andrew Burton's digital product catalog. This worksheet is useful without purchase; product links are labeled and UTM-tagged. This is an operations/marketing worksheet, not legal, insurance, licensing, or compliance advice.