How we verify — the methodology

PER-CATEGORY SOURCES · CHECK CADENCE · DISPLAY RULES · PUBLIC CORRECTIONS

This page explains exactly how LocalVerity verifies what it publishes — so you can evaluate our work for yourself. It is the standard we hold ourselves to on every listing, in every category, in every neighborhood.

The sources, by category

Plumbing, HVAC & refrigeration, hydronics, electrical: Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board (OCILB) state contractor licenses, checked against the state’s own eLicense records and roster exports — license number, status, expiration, and the qualifying individual are shown on the listing with the check date.

Funeral homes & crematories: Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors license records, including per-location licenses, crematory licenses, and board-action status — checked against the state’s licensure records and the official statewide licensure dataset.

Concrete & masonry: Ohio has no statewide license for this trade. The checkable credential is City of Columbus contractor registration (Building & Zoning Services, Columbus Building Code Ch. 4114 — $25,000 surety bond plus liability insurance). Our listings say precisely that, rather than implying a license that doesn’t exist.

Identity & services: drawn from each business’s own published information, with the source and review date shown. We do not copy aggregator data — in our checks, aggregators routinely disagree with state records on addresses and status.

The display rules

Nothing is shown as verified before it is verified. A listing awaiting a check says “verification in progress” — visibly, not in fine print. The Verity-Verified mark is never for sale at any price, on any surface; paid profiles buy presentation and functionality, never trust signals. Placement is alphabetical, always. Ownership transparency is a platform standard: listings state “Part of [parent]” when a business’s own statements confirm it, “Independently owned” only when verified, and “Ownership not verified” otherwise — facts only, never editorializing. License history is handled neutrally: where state records show a board action on a prior license, the listing carries one sourced, neutral line and states the current license’s status precisely — never interpretation, never omission.

Cadence & corrections

License data is re-checked against state records on a monthly cycle, and any change — expiration, status change, board action — updates the listing. Every correction we make is logged publicly on our corrections page. If you find an error, email [email protected] — corrections are free, fast, and acknowledged in the log.

Why publish this?
Because “verified” is only as good as the method behind it — and a method you can’t inspect is a claim, not a standard.