Guide
Is this company legit? How to check a business before you buy
Checking whether a business is trustworthy is not one lookup — it is six. Here is the process professional due diligence follows, and how Trust Report AI runs the same checks for you in a single search.
Want the short version? Generate a free AI trust report on any company and get a 0–100 score with the evidence, sources and confidence level behind it.
Check a company free1. Confirm the company actually exists
Look up the business in the relevant national or state registry. Check the registration number, incorporation date and registered address, and confirm they match what the website claims. A company that has traded for years under the same name is a different risk profile from one registered last month.
2. Read customer sentiment across several sources
One review platform is easy to game. Compare feedback across review sites, forums and social media, and read the pattern rather than the extremes: what do people complain about repeatedly, and does the company respond? A burst of five-star reviews posted in the same week is a signal worth noting.
3. Check legal and regulatory records
Search for regulator actions, licence status in regulated industries, and any publicly reported disputes. Absence of records is not proof of good conduct, but a documented pattern of enforcement is meaningful evidence you should weigh before paying.
4. Inspect the website and how it handles your data
Check the domain's age, whether HTTPS is properly configured, and whether real refund, privacy and terms pages exist. Look for a physical address, a working phone number and a named team. Payment methods matter too: bank transfer or crypto-only checkout offers you no recourse.
5. Look for independent coverage and employee feedback
News articles, trade press and employee reviews often surface issues months before customers notice. Check whether coverage is genuine reporting or recycled press releases, and whether staff describe the operation as stable.
6. Ask the right questions before you commit
Ask for the registered entity name, written terms, a refund policy, references from existing customers, and what happens if the service is not delivered. A legitimate business will answer these in writing without hesitation.
Warning signs worth pausing on
- No registered entity, address or named people behind the business.
- A domain registered very recently for a company claiming a long history.
- Pressure to pay quickly, or only by bank transfer, gift card or crypto.
- Reviews that are overwhelmingly positive and posted in a narrow time window.
- Missing or copy-pasted refund, privacy and terms pages.
- Complaints about the same issue repeating for months with no response.
None of these on their own proves wrongdoing. Treat them as reasons to verify further, not as a verdict.
How Trust Report AI runs these checks
Enter a company name or website and Trust Report AI gathers publicly available signals across company verification, customer sentiment, legal and regulatory records, financial stability indicators, website and security posture, news coverage and employee feedback. Each report shows a 0–100 trust score, a breakdown of how that score was reached, strengths and potential concerns side by side, a confidence level, and links to the sources behind each point — so you can check the reasoning rather than trusting a number.