About claimed practice profiles
How claimed-practice verification works
A claimed profile is more than a marker on the Independent Vet map. It means someone representing the practice submitted ownership information, certified their authority to do so, and the submission was approved after an Independent Vet review.
Claimed
A person identifying themself as an owner or authorized practice representative submitted the practice claim and accepted our submission terms.
Verified independent
Independent Vet reviewed the available ownership evidence under our definition of independent ownership. Verification may consider information submitted by an authorized practice representative. When no claim has been submitted, we use a higher evidentiary threshold and verify only when the practice's website and other public sources clearly and consistently support independent ownership.
What the practice representative submits
The claim form asks the representative to identify themself, explain their relationship to the practice, name the owner or owners, and provide business contact and ownership information. The representative must certify that they are authorized to submit the claim and that the information is accurate.
A claim may also include supporting links, a public ownership statement, social-media accounts, and a description of the practice. Private contact details supplied solely for verification are not intentionally published.
What Independent Vet reviews
Approval is not automatic. An Independent Vet reviewer considers the claim, the existing practice record, the claimant’s apparent authority, and available supporting evidence. Depending on the claim, this may include:
- The practice website, especially its team, ownership, and about pages.
- Public professional profiles and practice social-media accounts.
- Submitted ownership statements or supporting links.
- Publicly available state or local business registries, Better Business Bureau profiles, veterinary license databases, and other professional directories where useful.
- Known veterinary group lists, acquisition announcements, corporate websites, and other signs that a parent organization may own or control the practice.
- Whether the owner, contact, address, and practice details are internally consistent.
We perform multiple checks for evidence that conflicts with a claim of independence. No single database is treated as definitive, and claiming a profile is not proof by itself. However, genuinely independent practices are often willing to identify their owners publicly and put that ownership claim on the record.
Independent Vet may request clarification, decline a claim, or leave it pending when the information is incomplete or conflicting. The broader criteria used to classify every marker are described in the Independent Vet map methodology.
A trust-and-attestation process
Public sources can be incomplete or out of date. Business and license databases vary by jurisdiction, may show a registered entity or license holder rather than the practice’s ultimate beneficial owner, and may not yet reflect a recent sale. It is not feasible to obtain and individually inspect complete company records for every practice that claims a profile.
When the representative’s attestation is credible, the available public information is consistent, and our checks uncover no sign of corporate ownership, we may approve the claim in reliance partly on that attestation. This makes the process trust based as well as evidence informed; it is not a legal audit or a guarantee that an undisclosed ownership interest does not exist.
If ownership is important to your decision or anything appears uncertain, ask the practice directly who owns and controls it.
What appears on an approved profile
An approved profile may display the practice name and location, verified-independent status, approved owner names, verification dates, a practice-supplied description, and public business links. The focused profile is designed to document that practice’s ownership without presenting nearby alternatives.
Only practices with approved claims receive these focused public profiles. A practice can be listed as verified independent on the main map without having a claimed profile.
Ownership can change
Verification reflects the information available at the time of review. If a practice is sold, joins a corporate group, or its ownership otherwise changes, its profile and related jobs may be updated or removed. Practice representatives and community members can report a change through the map.
What verification does not mean
This is an ownership review. It is not a medical accreditation, inspection, ranking, endorsement, or recommendation. It does not guarantee clinical quality, pricing, safety, licensing status, or regulatory compliance. Pet owners should evaluate those matters separately and confirm important information directly with the practice or the appropriate licensing authority.