Verification Methods
A reader needs two facts about a metric: how the number was produced, and who examined it. Every verification on Metric Verification Network states both, in the terms defined here, so anyone reading a metric can weigh it for themselves.
1. What a verification contains
A verification of a metric is a confirmation of its definition, formula, unit, and value for a specific period against objective evidence.
- Definition
- What the metric means to the subject company.
- Formula
- The standard variables and operations needed to calculate the metric.
- Period
- The time for which a value is measured.
- Method
- How the verification was conducted.
- Data Sources
- The systems and tools where the data comes from.
- Submitted by
- The name and job title of the person who submitted the metric.
- Reviewed by
- The person at Metric Verification Network who reviewed the verification before it issued.
2. Where a certificate lives
Each verified metric has a certificate, a page on metricverification.com served by Metric Verification Network (section 3 of the Terms of Service). The certificate shows the verifications of the metric as they stand at the moment it is opened. A certificate passed on as an image or pasted into a document is a reproduction of that page at the time it was taken. The link is the way to read the certificate.
Users control the visibility of each certificate, ranging from individuals, organizations, and the public. Public certificates are viewable to anyone with the link, including AI assistants.
3. The methods
For each verification, we ask to see all reasonable evidence that the company calculated the metric according to its declared definition and formula, under a strict chain of custody of the data from the systems that store it. The company shows us that chain in a Witnessed extraction, or gives us read-only access so that we compute the metric ourselves in a Direct extraction. Users select the verification method for each of their metrics. Each method is complete on its own and mitigates risks differently.
- Witnessed extraction
- The company shows us how it pulls the records from its data sources and computes its number. We observe the extraction live on a video call, or in the company's own screen recording, which it makes and provides on metricverification.com. Either way, the company navigates to the records, shows the query, its filters, dates and states, reads the counts and sums off the system, and exports them. Screenshots are not accepted.
- Direct extraction
- The company gives us read-only access to its data sources, and we pull the records directly and compute the number. On the record page at metricverification.com, the company can give a read-only API key beside the step of each system. When each system of a metric has a key, the company does not record that metric. Other read-only access is arranged with Metric Verification Network before the verification begins. Section 4 of the Terms of Service states how we hold each key. We retain the query and its results, and no personal information beyond the working file.
With any method, the company can name a second system that holds the same events, one of its own or an outside party's such as its bank, and we may cross-check against it. This would be named on the Data Sources line as "(cross-check)" next to the system.
4. Dates and updates
Every verification carries a verification date. On a plan, the company may record one update of each verified metric in each month of the plan, and each verification we issue from an update carries its own date. When a plan stops, each certificate keeps the date of its last verification. Sections 2 and 9 of the Terms of Service state the plan.
5. Review and withdrawal
Where material provided for a verification may be false or misleading, Metric Verification Network places the certificate under review and asks the company for more evidence.
A company may withdraw the certificate of any of its metrics at any time.
6. The working file
Every Witnessed extraction leaves an observation log: what was opened, the query as shown, the figures read, the calculation, and the time of each. We write the log, from the live video call or from the screen recording. The company confirms the definition, the formula and the unit on metricverification.com before it first records the metric, and again after each change of them. On a live video call, the company sees the log on the shared screen as we write it, and the email of the issued certificate carries the whole log. The company can ask for a change of the log at hello@metricverification.com, and the person who reviews the verification decides it. The log and the extracts and images that support the findings are hashed and held by Metric Verification Network as the working file, together with the hashes that identify a screen recording. A screen recording is deleted on the schedule in section 8 of the Privacy Policy, and the working file stays. Other records provided for the verification are returned or deleted when the verification issues. We do not record verification sessions. Section 4 of the Terms of Service binds us to this.
Each verification records a digest of its evidence, a value computed from that evidence that changes if the evidence changes. For a screen recording, the digest is computed from the recording as Metric Verification Network received it. For a live video call or a Direct extraction, it is computed from the observation log. We give the working file to a third party only with the company's written consent or when the law requires it.
7. Independence
Each verification is paid in advance through the plan of the company. A party other than the company, such as a reader, may pay for the plan of a named company. The fees, the method, and the findings do not depend on who pays, and the fees are the same whatever the findings. Metric Verification Network holds no interest in any company it examines, and charges nothing to read a certificate. The metric is examined as the company defines it. Metric Verification Network gives no advice on the definition or on the value.
8. What a verification is not
A verification is not an audit opinion, a guarantee, an endorsement, or a recommendation of any company. It makes no statement about matters not examined. The Terms of Service state this posture in full.
Version 1.2 · 2026-11-01