Brand statuses, explained
About a 2-minute read.
A brand carries two pieces of status, and it helps to know the difference:
- A lifecycle status, where the brand is in its life: Pending, then Active (or Deleted).
- An identity status, the result of the registry's identity check: Self-declared, Verified, Vetted Verified, or Unverified.
The identity status is the one that gates whether you can register campaigns. Here's what each value means and what to do at each stage.
Pending (lifecycle)
What it means: Your brand has been filed and the registry is checking your legal name and EIN against IRS records.
How long: Usually under an hour, occasionally a few hours.
What to do: Wait. Don't re-register the same brand, that creates duplicate records. You can't register a campaign yet.
Self-declared (identity)
What it means: The registry accepted your submission but hasn't confirmed your business identity against IRS records yet, or couldn't fully match it. The brand exists, but it isn't Verified.
What to do: Usually this resolves to Verified on its own shortly after filing. If it stays Self-declared, it generally needs the same fixes as Unverified, most often a legal-name correction. See Fix an Unverified brand.
What you can't do yet: Register a campaign. Campaigns require an identity status of Verified or Vetted Verified.
Unverified (identity)
What it means: The registry couldn't confirm your business. The usual cause is a mismatch between the legal name you entered and what the IRS has on file; the second most common is an EIN too new to be in the IRS lookup yet.
How long: It stays Unverified until the underlying issue is fixed.
What to do: Read Fix an Unverified brand. The fix is usually a quick name correction. For a brand-new EIN, there's an appeal path we handle for you.
Verified (identity)
What it means: The registry confirmed your business. You're in.
What you can do: Register campaigns, attach phone numbers, and send once a campaign is approved.
Your throughput at this stage is set by AgentMessage's send-rate tier (which rises automatically as you send more) together with the carriers' own caps for your brand. See How throughput works, you don't set this manually.
Vetted Verified (identity)
What it means: Your brand is Verified and it has completed external carrier vetting that produced a trust score, which can unlock higher carrier throughput tiers.
How you get here: External vetting isn't a self-serve button in the dashboard today. If your volume genuinely needs the higher carrier ceilings that vetting unlocks, contact us and we'll coordinate it.
What you can do: Everything a Verified brand can, with higher carrier-side limits.
Transitions you might see
- Pending → Verified, the normal path. No action needed.
- Pending → Self-declared → Verified, also normal; the identity check completes shortly after filing.
- Pending → Unverified, usually a name mismatch. Fix it and we re-file.
- Verified → Vetted Verified, external vetting completed.
A note on public companies
If you registered as a Public for-profit brand, there may be an extra public-company verification step tied to your stock ticker. This confirms public-company status and can strengthen your standing; it's not an ID-photo or selfie check. The dashboard will prompt you if it applies.