What Is Business Invoice Verification on The Trust Search?

The Trust Search strives to make sure all reviews are genuine. This means ensuring that reviews come from real customers who spend their money to buy from your business.

To achieve this goal, we take several steps that help us prevent fake reviews, including initial AI-based verification of invoices and then human-led in-depth examination.

A third step we take to minimize fake reviews is ensuring the invoices attached in reviews are original. We do this by matching the reviewer’s invoice format with that of your business. While our automated system processes the initial matching, human auditors still cross-check invoices’ formats manually for further accuracy. This allows us to prevent reviews with altered or random invoices from being posted and affecting your rating.

In other words, we try to make sure that an invoice actually belongs to a business before approving a review being published on its profile.

This guide explains invoice verification in detail: why it’s required, how it works, and how to get your business invoice samples verified.

What Is Invoice Verification on The Trust Search?

Invoice verification is the process of getting your official business invoice verified on the platform.

It involves uploading a sample of your invoice, which you use when printing invoices, receipts, or other types of transaction bills for your customer or client.

At least 1 sample is required for invoice verification, but you can upload more samples of the same or different formats, up to a total of 5. Samples with the same format help make review verification for your business more accurate, whereas samples of different invoice formats can help you add multiple formats that can be accepted from reviewers.

“Invoice verification“ doesn’t strictly mean verification of “invoice-type” bills. It simply means verification of the transaction record your business uses, as long as it qualifies as a valid proof of purchase under IRS business recordkeeping guidelines and contains billing details related to customers’ transactions with you. Learn more in our guide: types of transaction evidence that help us verify reviews.

Why Do We Collect Invoice Reference Samples?

We collect invoice samples for review verification purposes.

At the Trust Search, our approach to reviews is rooted in ensuring that only authentic reviews get accepted and fake ones are prevented. Because fake reviews mislead buyers and destroy business reputations. In fact, according to the World Economic Forum, fake online reviews cost the global economy over $152 billion annually.

That’s why we’ve implemented a dual-verification system to keep the platform authentic and trustworthy for businesses and buyers alike.

We collect invoice reference samples for the same purpose: to keep fake feedback at bay.

How Are Invoice Reference Samples Used?

Your invoice samples are used to keep a record of your official invoice’s format, which allows us to cross-check reviewers’ invoices with your official invoice to ensure they’re original. This helps us:

• Prevent fake reviews with unoriginal transaction proof that doesn’t match your invoice samples.

• Allow genuine reviews to go live whose transaction proof matches your invoice samples.

How Do Invoice Samples Help Us Prevent Fake Reviews?

Sometimes, reviewers attempt to post fake reviews by fabricating invoices. To do this, they may create a fake invoice or download one somewhere from the internet, alter it using AI or editing tools like Photoshop—a growing digital fraud tactic heavily monitored by cybersecurity experts and federal agencies—and post a review while claiming to be a real customer.

Because The Trust Search is a review platform built around invoice-backed reviews, knowing what a business’s invoice actually looks like in formatting is important in order to prevent reviews that might try to attack that business.

When you provide us with samples of your official invoice, we’re able to keep a record of what your invoice looks like. This way, whenever a review is posted on your business profile, The Trust Search’s system and audit team are able to cross-match the review’s invoice to the original invoice.

If the format of the review invoice doesn’t match, the review may get rejected; otherwise, the review is allowed to go live if it’s genuine and meets our guidelines.

Which Invoices Qualify to be Accepted?

To make verification easy and reliable, we have some general guidelines in place that may otherwise make verification difficult or less reliable.

Businesses are required to ensure that their invoice samples are:

• Clear

• Legible

• Not redacted, blurred, or cut-off

This ensures a smooth verification process. When your invoice samples are clear and high-quality, they’re easier to match with review invoices.

How Many Invoice Samples Do You Need to Upload?

You need to upload at least 1 sample to complete your invoice submission. And optionally, you can attach 4 more invoices if you’d like, but you can’t upload more than 5 samples.

This means you can upload a total of 5 samples, whereas at least 1 are mandatory.

Should the Invoice Samples Be Identical?

It depends. If your business uses only one type of invoice format, you will have to upload 1 sample of the same invoice. But if your business uses 2 different invoices with varying formats, you may upload samples of both types.

For example, you may upload 2 samples of invoice A and 2 samples of invoice B. Since you can upload a maximum of 5 samples, you may attach one image for each invoice type if your business uses 5 different types of invoices.

How to Upload Invoice Samples for Verification?

Submissions regarding invoice verification can be managed directly through your business dashboard after you claim your profile or add the business manually.

Here’s how you can get your business invoice format verified through the dashboard:

1. Go to the “Invoice Verification” tab: In the business dashboard where verification is pending, click “Submit Invoice” on the “Pending Invoice Verification” banner at the top of the screen. This will open the Invoice Verification tab, where you can make uploads. Or you can click the “Invoice Verification” tab to open it directly.

2. Upload a Sample: Click the highlighted area to upload your invoice reference samples. Open your device’s folder or gallery where the samples are stored and select the correct images to upload. As stated, at least 1 is required for successful submission, but you can attach 4 more if needed. Make sure the samples are clear and visible.

3. Click “Submit for Approval”: Once you’re done making the uploads, click “Submit for Approval” to submit your invoice samples for verification.

Make sure the invoice samples you upload are genuine and actually the ones that you use when a customer shops at your business. If you think you’ve uploaded the wrong images, simply discard the current images and make new uploads before submitting them.

The Trust Search team will receive your reference samples for verification. Expect the team’s response within several business days.

What Happens If Your Invoice Verification Fails?

It’s possible that your invoice samples do not meet our standards or have some other issue, which may hinder the verification process.

If The Trust Search team is unable to verify your invoice samples, they will reject your submissions, and a request to upload newer samples will be sent to your account.

If this happens, you will be notified about the rejection and allowed to delete the previous submissions and make new uploads. Simply go back to your business dashboard’s Invoice Verification tab, delete the last uploaded samples, and select newer ones to upload while ensuring that they meet the invoice sample guidelines.

What Happens When Your Invoice Verification Is Complete?

Once your invoice verification is complete, your business will become active, and you will be notified about the completion.

The Trust Search will also re-examine all existing reviews on your profile, which may happen if your business was previously discoverable on the platform as an unclaimed profile. After re-examination, reviews with mismatching invoices may be rejected and removed from the platform, whereas the ones with matching invoices will remain verified and live. Note that rejected reviews will stop affecting your rating as well.

This will ensure a more robust verification of any future review your business receives from a customer of yours.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can I delete my verified invoice reference samples?

No. You cannot delete your invoice reference samples once they are verified and accepted. Deletion is only possible in case the samples couldn’t be verified and get rejected or if you delete the business profile.

2. What if my invoice samples get rejected?

If your invoice samples get rejected, you can simply add new ones for a second round of verification via your business dashboard. The Trust Search will notify you when your samples are either verified or rejected.

3. How to make sure my invoice samples are accepted?

To make sure your invoice samples are accepted, upload clear samples that are visible and legible. Make sure the samples don’t have any redaction or blur anywhere and that they aren’t cut off.