How to get verified on TikTok: the official requirements and the request path, without paying anyone

To get verified on TikTok, you apply inside the app: Profile, the Menu button, Settings and privacy, Account, Verification, then Start. TikTok checks four things before it grants the blue check: that the account is recognized, active, authentic and notable. It does not count followers or likes, it does not charge anything, and it says it will notify you of the result within 30 days.

That is the whole official process. Everything else you will be offered, from “verification agents” to guaranteed badges, sits outside it. This guide walks through what TikTok actually checks, where applications usually fall short, and how to tell a real path from a paid fake.

The short answer

• Where: Profile, Menu, Settings and privacy, Account, Verification, Start.
• What TikTok checks: a complete profile with at least one public post, a login within the past 6 months, identity or business verification, and coverage in multiple news sources.
• What it ignores: follower and like counts.
• What to attach: credible written media coverage, such as news articles.
• How long: a result through TikTok notifications within 30 days.
• Cost: none. Anyone selling TikTok verification is, in TikTok’s words, not affiliated with it.

What the badge means, and what it does not

TikTok’s verified accounts help page describes the badge as a sign that the account has been reviewed and represents the person, business or brand associated with it. It exists to help people identify notable and authentic accounts. It applies to individual creators, businesses, institutions, nonprofits and official brand pages.

What it is not: an endorsement, or a shield. TikTok says plainly that a verified badge does not imply endorsement, that verified accounts must follow the Community Guidelines and Terms of Service like any other account, and that repeated or severe violations are one of the reasons it removes a badge. The same is true on Instagram, which we cover in our guide to whether a verified badge protects an account from bans. The badge confirms identity. It does not buy leniency.

The four requirements, in TikTok’s words

TikTok says it considers a number of factors, such as whether the account is active, authentic, notable and unique. Its help page then lists four account requirements:

1. Recognized. The account must include a name, a profile photo, a bio and at least one public post.
2. Active. The account must have logged in to TikTok within the past 6 months.
3. Authentic. The account must represent a real person, business or institution, and the check depends on the type of verification. Personal verification requires identity verification. Business verification requires a Verified Business Account (VBA) or an Organization Account (OA). Institution verification requires official proof of affiliation.
4. Notable. The account must be featured in multiple news sources. TikTok does not consider sponsored or paid media, social media posts, or outdated or irrelevant articles.

TikTok’s Creator Academy guide to verification adds one more item under a “Secure” heading: two-step verification turned on. The help page does not list it, but switching it on costs nothing and protects the account anyway, so do it before you apply.

The first three are housekeeping. Most accounts can meet them in an afternoon. The fourth is where most applications are decided.

Notability is the real test

“Featured in multiple news sources” sounds simple until you look at what TikTok excludes. In our experience reviewing verification requests, the coverage that people send usually fails for one of these reasons:

• It was paid for. Sponsored articles, advertorials and “featured in” packages are paid media, which TikTok says it does not consider. We would also not count on a press release pushed through a paid distribution service: it is paid placement by design.
• It is social, not editorial. Posts about you on other platforms, including large accounts and podcasts that only exist as social content, are social media posts.
• It is old or off topic. A single profile from years ago, or an article that mentions your name once in a list, is the kind of outdated or irrelevant coverage TikTok rules out.
• There is only one source. The requirement is multiple news sources. One good article is a start, not a qualification.

What tends to hold up is independent written coverage, in publications with an editorial process, that is about you or your brand rather than mentioning it in passing. If that coverage does not exist yet, no form, agency or wording will create it. That is the honest part of this process, and it is also why nobody can promise you a badge.

How to request verification

TikTok’s help page gives the request path as:

1. In the TikTok app, tap Profile at the bottom.
2. Tap the Menu button at the top, then select Settings and privacy.
3. Tap Account.
4. Tap Verification.
5. Tap Start, then follow the steps to submit the request.

TikTok says you must provide credible written media coverage, such as news articles, to support the application. After you submit, it notifies you of the result through TikTok notifications within 30 days. If the request is rejected, TikTok says you can check the rejection reason and resubmit after the waiting period it indicates. It does not publish one fixed waiting period on that page, so read the period shown to you rather than relying on a number from a forum.

One exception: accounts registered as Government, Politician, or Political Party Accounts can only apply for institutional verification.

Before you press Start

A short checklist we use before any request goes in:

• Name, profile photo and bio are filled in, and at least one post is public.
• You can complete the identity check yourself, or the business is set up as a Verified Business Account or Organization Account.
• You have links to several independent news articles about you, none of them sponsored, none of them years old.
• The account has no recent run of violations. TikTok lists repeated or severe violations among the reasons it removes a badge, so an account in poor standing is the wrong account to submit.
• Nothing in the account’s growth was bought. TikTok reserves the right to deny or revoke verification for accounts that meet its criteria through artificial or inauthentic activity.

Nobody can sell you the badge

TikTok is direct about this: it does not charge to verify you, and any entity claiming to sell TikTok verifications is not affiliated with it. TikTok also says it does not contact people by email, direct message or other channels to ask them to apply for a badge, with one exception for Government, Politician, or Political Party Accounts. If you receive a message that asks you to verify your account, TikTok asks you to report it.

In the cases we see, the paid verification pitch follows one pattern. The seller takes a fee, asks for your login details “to submit the request”, and either disappears or uses access to the account for something else. If an account was verified through that kind of activity, TikTok can revoke the badge anyway. Our guide to scam messages that target account owners shows the patterns, and they transfer to TikTok almost word for word.

How a badge is lost

TikTok says it may remove a verified badge at any time and without notice. The reasons it lists include:

• changing the username directly instead of submitting a username update request;
• transferring ownership of the account, so the verification is no longer authentic;
• losing Verified Business Account or Organization Account status;
• repeated or severe violations of the Community Guidelines or Terms of Service.

If you plan to rebrand, request the username update through TikTok rather than editing the name yourself. It is the most avoidable way to lose a badge.

When to get help

Most people can apply for TikTok verification on their own with the steps above, and it costs nothing. Help is worth it when you are not sure your press coverage meets the notability bar, when a business account needs to be set up correctly before applying, or when a request has already been rejected and you want to know why before trying again. Our TikTok account recovery and verification service starts with a free case review. We check your profile and coverage against TikTok’s published requirements, we tell you honestly if the coverage is not there yet, and we never submit anything on your behalf or promise a badge. We are not affiliated with TikTok, and only TikTok decides who is verified.