The verified badge tells your customers they're talking to the real you, not an impersonator. A quick note before we start: the badge most people still call the "green tick" now appears blue, after Meta unified verification across its apps. Here's exactly who qualifies, the two ways to get verified, the step-by-step process, and what happens if you get rejected.
They are the same badge. WhatsApp's verified business mark used to be green. When Meta unified verification across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, the colour changed to blue. The meaning, the criteria, and the benefits did not change, only the colour and branding. We say "green tick" here because that is what most people still search for.
The WhatsApp verified badge, long known as the green tick, is an official mark displayed next to your business name in WhatsApp conversations. When a customer receives a message from your business, they see a small checkmark, now shown in blue, beside your business name, signalling that Meta has confirmed this is the legitimate, authentic account of that business.
It's WhatsApp's equivalent of Twitter/X's blue tick or Instagram's verified badge. It serves one primary function: trust. Customers know they're not talking to an impersonator, a scam account, or a third party pretending to be your brand.
Without the green tick, your business name still appears, but WhatsApp shows it with a "Business Account" label rather than a verified checkmark. Most customers don't notice this difference, but in high-trust industries (finance, healthcare, e-commerce) it can meaningfully affect response rates.
Meta doesn't publish a precise eligibility checklist, it uses the concept of "notability." A business is considered notable if it is well-known and frequently searched for online. In practice, this means Meta looks for evidence that your business has a meaningful public presence.
There are now two routes to the verified badge, and it is worth knowing both before you apply.
Route 1: Official Business Account (free, notability-based). The classic route. Meta reviews your brand and grants the badge if you are judged notable, that is, well-known with a genuine public presence. It costs nothing but is selective, and the rest of this guide focuses mainly on it.
Route 2: Meta Verified (paid subscription). Meta now also offers a paid monthly subscription that brings the verified badge along with extra protection and support. It is available to a wider range of businesses, including smaller ones that may not yet meet the notability bar, where the subscription is offered. If the free route is out of reach for now, this is the alternative.
Whichever route you take, the basics below still apply. For the free notability route, this is what Meta weighs:
Articles about your business in reputable news sources, industry publications, or major digital media. Not press releases you paid for, earned media.
A verified Facebook Page or Instagram account associated with your business significantly strengthens your application.
Your brand name is searched for directly on Google, indicating that real people know and look for your business by name.
A registered company with a consistent online presence, website, social profiles, Google Business listing – all matching the same business name and details.
Businesses in regulated industries (banking, insurance, healthcare, government) tend to have an easier path to verification because their legitimacy is already established through licensing and regulatory compliance. Consumer brands with large followings, D2C companies with significant revenue, and well-known local enterprises also qualify regularly.
While Meta's exact document requirements can vary by business type and region, the following are consistently required or strongly recommended:
There is no fixed SLA from Meta. In practice:
There is no way to expedite the review. Submitting multiple applications simultaneously does not speed up the process and may flag your account. The only thing that speeds up approval is submitting a complete, consistent, well-documented application the first time.
Based on patterns across many applications, these are the reasons Meta rejects green tick applications most frequently:
WA.Expert guides businesses through the application process, document prep, submission, and follow-up on rejections.
Yes, but it's genuinely difficult without a notable digital footprint. Meta's criteria is centred on notability, and most small businesses, by definition, haven't yet built the kind of public presence that Meta considers notable.
That said, "small" doesn't automatically disqualify a business. A small business with:
...has a reasonable chance. The key is demonstrating that your brand exists and is known beyond your immediate customer base.
If you're a genuinely small local business with no press coverage, the honest answer is that the green tick probably isn't accessible yet. Focus on growing your brand presence first, the tick will follow.
Directly, no, the green tick does not affect WhatsApp's message delivery infrastructure. Messages from verified and unverified business accounts are delivered identically.
Indirectly, yes, in a meaningful way. Customer behaviour changes when they see the verified badge:
The effect is most pronounced in industries where impersonation is a known problem, banking, insurance, e-commerce. In these sectors, the green tick can meaningfully increase customer engagement.
Verification can be revoked if Meta determines that the account no longer meets its standards. To keep your green tick:
Get on the API first. Green tick application assistance included for all WA.Expert customers.