What does an "Unverifiable" verdict on Groundcheck mean?

Unverifiable is Groundcheck's "we cannot answer the question with the inputs we have" verdict. It is not a negative signal — it is an absence of signal — but it should be treated with caution because the absence may itself be the red flag.

Common reasons for an Unverifiable verdict:

1. Insufficient input data. You searched by business name alone but the name is generic ("ABC Construction") and matches dozens of entities across states. Groundcheck cannot pick the right one without a license number, address, or qualifier name.

2. Recent entity formation. The LLC was formed less than 90 days ago. Secretary of State records exist but court, OSHA, and BBB records have not had time to accumulate. The contractor may be legitimate (just new) or may be a phoenix operation.

3. Unregistered DBA. The contractor operates under an assumed name ("DBA") that was never registered with the Secretary of State. This is a violation in most states and a red flag.

4. Out-of-state contractor. The contractor is licensed in a different state and has no in-state registration. This may be legitimate (cross-border work near state lines) or may be storm-chaser activity.

5. Sole proprietor with no entity registration. The contractor operates personally, not through an LLC or corporation. Public records exist on the person but are sparse.

6. Name mismatches. The business name on the contract does not match any state board or Secretary of State entity within reasonable name-similarity tolerance.

7. Data gap. Specific state (rare) has not updated their public records, or Groundcheck's connection to that source is temporarily unavailable.

What to do when you get an Unverifiable verdict:

1. Re-run with more information. Add the license number, the qualifier's personal name, the physical business address, and the state of operation. Groundcheck's match accuracy goes from 60% with name alone to 95%+ with license number and state.

2. Ask the contractor for documentation. Request: business license, contractor license card, Certificate of Insurance, copy of the Secretary of State filing. A contractor who cannot produce these failed the test.

3. Manually verify at the source. Search the state contractor licensing board directly. Search the Secretary of State directly. If you cannot find them in 5 minutes of direct search, neither can Groundcheck.

4. If the contractor is genuinely new (less than 90 days as an LLC), proceed only with heightened protections: smaller scope first, smaller deposit, milestone payments, joint-check arrangements with subs.

5. If the contractor is a sole proprietor: this is legitimate in most states, but court records and OSHA still apply. Search by the personal name of the contractor in addition to any business name.

What Unverifiable does NOT mean:

- The contractor is bad. Lack of records is not negative evidence. - The contractor is good. Lack of records is also not positive evidence. - You should hire without further verification. Always resolve Unverifiable with more data or direct source verification.

How Groundcheck handles Unverifiable internally:

- The verdict explicitly tells you what was missing ("license number not provided," "no Secretary of State match within name-similarity threshold," "entity less than 90 days old, court records insufficient"). - The report offers specific next steps for the user to provide more data. - The free tier returns Unverifiable more often than Deep Dive ($19) because Deep Dive runs broader name-similarity matching and includes additional county-level court searches.

Groundcheck (earthmove.io/trust) is designed to fail-safe: an Unverifiable result is better than a false-positive Clear. The verdict is honest about uncertainty.