Table of Contents
- Business Account Setup
- Profile Management
- Content Moderation
- Understanding and Responding to Reviews
- What's Not Allowed
- Building Trust
- Dispute Resolution
- Enforcement
- Contact
1. Business Account Setup
1.1 Claiming Your Profile
VerSquare may list your company based on publicly available information (state business registries, industry directories, and other public sources). You do not need to claim your profile for it to appear on the platform.
To claim and manage your profile, create a Business Account:
- Register at versquare.com
- Accept the Business Account Terms
- Verify your association with the business using your work email address
- If your email domain cannot be automatically matched, our team may request additional documentation to confirm your authority to manage the profile
1.2 Self-Registration and Curation
If your company is not already listed on VerSquare, you may submit a new listing request through the Business Account registration process.
New listing requests are reviewed for:
- Legitimacy of the business entity
- Relevance to VerSquare's marketplace categories
- Accuracy of submitted information
Approval is at VerSquare's discretion. We do not guarantee listing of all submitted businesses.
1.3 Ongoing Compliance
You must maintain:
- Valid professional licenses where applicable
- Current state business registrations
- Accurate profile information
Notify us within 7 days of changes to license status, business address, services offered, ownership structure, or compliance status.
We conduct periodic re-verification. Failure to complete re-verification may result in profile suspension.
2. Profile Management
2.1 Self-Service Profile Editing
Business Account holders can directly update:
- Business description and service details
- Team member profiles and bios
- Service area and specializations
- Photos and media
- Licensing and credential information
All profile edits are subject to content review (see Section 3).
2.2 Profile Content Standards
Your profile content must:
- Be accurate and truthful
- Comply with advertising regulations (federal and state)
- Not make misleading or false claims about rates, terms, or services
- Not violate intellectual property rights
Not allowed:
- Guaranteed outcomes ("100% approval rate")
- Misleading rate quotes without required APR disclosures
- False claims of credentials, awards, or affiliations
- Disparaging comparisons with named competitors
- Testimonials without FTC-required disclosures
2.3 Professional Profile Management
Individual professionals listed on VerSquare may:
- Claim their professional profile through a Professional Account
- Update their professional information, credentials, and bio
- View and respond to reviews attributed to them personally
Professional profiles are linked to their current employer but maintain review history across employers (portable reputation).
When a professional changes employers:
- Their review history remains on their professional profile
- Reviews are labeled with the employer at the time of the reviewed experience
- The professional can update their current employer affiliation
3. Content Moderation
3.1 How Content Is Reviewed
VerSquare uses a combination of automated and human review for provider-submitted content:
- Automated screening checks profile content for prohibited material, regulatory red flags, and formatting requirements
- Human review is applied to flagged content, new listings, and significant profile changes
- Ongoing monitoring identifies content that may have become inaccurate or non-compliant over time
3.2 What We Screen For
- Prohibited claims (guarantees, misleading rates)
- Missing required disclosures
- Competitor disparagement
- Inappropriate content
- Accuracy of claimed credentials (spot-checked against public registries)
3.3 Moderation Timelines
- Routine profile edits: typically reviewed within 24-48 hours
- New listings: 3-5 business days
- Flagged content: expedited review within 24 hours
3.4 Disagreements
If your profile content is modified or rejected:
- You receive an explanation of the issue
- You may revise and resubmit
- You may appeal to support@versquare.com
4. Understanding and Responding to Reviews
4.1 What Reviews Are
Reviews are:
- Individual users' personal experiences and opinions
- Protected expression under Section 230 and the First Amendment
- Not verified for accuracy of subjective opinions
- An opportunity for feedback and improvement
Reviews are NOT:
- VerSquare's opinions or endorsements
- Grounds for legal action against VerSquare (we are not liable for user-generated content under Section 230)
- Subject to removal simply because they are negative
4.2 Right of Response - Company
Company Business Account holders may respond to any review on their company profile:
- One response per review
- Responses may be edited at any time
- Responses appear below the review on the company profile
- Responses are public
4.3 Right of Response - Individual Professional
Individual professionals with a Professional Account may respond to reviews attributed to them:
- The professional's response appears under the review on their professional profile
- If the review appears on both a company profile and a professional profile, both may respond independently
- A company response does not substitute for a professional response, and vice versa
4.4 Response Standards
All responses must:
- Be professional and respectful
- Address the substance of the review
- Not contain personal information about the reviewer beyond what the reviewer disclosed
- Not be promotional or marketing-focused
- Not threaten legal action or demand review removal
- Not reveal confidential client information
Do not:
- Attack or insult the reviewer
- Offer incentives for review changes or removal
- Threaten litigation
- Reveal financial details, credit information, or transaction specifics
- Use the response as an advertisement
4.5 Responding to Accusations of Misconduct
If a review contains accusations of criminal conduct, fraud, or professional misconduct:
Do:
- Respond calmly and professionally
- State your perspective factually without confirming or denying specific client details
- Note if the accusation is being or has been reviewed by relevant authorities
- Invite the reviewer to contact you directly to resolve concerns
Do not:
- Confirm or deny confidential client details to "prove" your side
- Counter-accuse the reviewer of criminal conduct
- Threaten defamation litigation in your public response
If you believe a review is defamatory, use the dispute process (Section 7), not public responses or threats.
5. What's Not Allowed
5.1 Fake Reviews and Review Manipulation
Absolutely prohibited:
- Posting reviews about your own business (from any account)
- Having employees, contractors, or agents post reviews without disclosure
- Paying third parties for positive reviews
- Creating fake accounts to post reviews
- Encouraging friends or family to post reviews without genuine experience
5.2 Review Gating
Prohibited:
- Selectively inviting only satisfied clients to review
- Creating different feedback processes for satisfied vs. dissatisfied clients
- Filtering review invitations based on satisfaction indicators
- Making it easier for happy clients to review than unhappy ones
You may:
- Ask all clients equally for honest reviews (without incentives)
- Include a link to your VerSquare profile in post-service communications sent to all clients
- Thank clients who review (without offering compensation)
5.3 Non-Disparagement Clauses
You may not include in your client agreements any provision that:
- Prohibits or restricts clients from reviewing your services on VerSquare or any other platform
- Imposes penalties or fees on clients for leaving reviews
- Requires clients to transfer intellectual property rights in their review content to you
Such provisions are void under the Consumer Review Fairness Act (15 U.S.C. Section 45b) and are a violation of these Provider Guidelines.
Exceptions recognized by CRFA:
- Provisions protecting genuinely confidential information or trade secrets
- Provisions prohibiting submission of unlawful content (actual defamation, threats)
5.4 Retaliation Against Reviewers
Strictly prohibited:
- Denying services to clients because of a negative review
- Increasing prices or reducing service quality for reviewers
- Threatening legal action to suppress honest reviews
- Attempting to identify reviewers to pressure them
- Harassment or intimidation of any kind
Retaliation results in immediate account termination.
5.5 Confidentiality in Responses
In your public responses, do not disclose:
- Confidential client information (loan amounts, credit scores, financial details)
- Private communications with clients
- Information protected by privacy laws (GLBA for financial institutions)
- Client names or personally identifiable information beyond what the reviewer disclosed
5.6 Incentivizing Reviews
You may not offer compensation, discounts, gifts, preferential treatment, or any other benefit in exchange for reviews (positive or negative).
5.7 Platform Abuse
Do not:
- Create multiple Business Accounts for the same entity
- Manipulate search rankings or ratings
- Abuse the flagging system (filing false reports against legitimate reviews)
- Scrape data or use automated tools against our Terms of Service
- Spam users with unsolicited messages
6. Building Trust
6.1 Earn Reviews, Don't Manufacture Them
The best reviews come from consistently good service. Focus on:
- Clear, proactive communication
- Realistic expectation setting
- Responsiveness to client needs
- Delivering on commitments
- Professional handling of problems
6.2 Appropriate Review Solicitation
Sample appropriate request:
"Thank you for choosing [Company Name]. We'd appreciate your honest feedback on VerSquare to help other business buyers make informed decisions. Whether your experience was positive or you have suggestions for improvement, we value your input. [Link to VerSquare profile]"
This request must go to all clients equally, not selectively.
6.3 Respond to All Reviews
Responding to positive, neutral, and negative reviews demonstrates that you value feedback and engage professionally with clients.
7. Dispute Resolution
7.1 When to Dispute a Review
You may dispute a review if you believe it:
- Is fake or fraudulent (not a genuine client)
- Contains provably false factual statements (not subjective opinions)
- Violates the Review Guidelines (harmful content, privacy violations)
- Is posted on the wrong company or professional profile
- Contains illegal content
You may not dispute a review because:
- It is negative or critical
- You disagree with the reviewer's opinion
- You do not like the rating
- It describes a negative experience
7.2 Dispute Process
- Flag the review with specific reason and evidence
- We investigate (commercially reasonable timeframe, typically within 20 business days)
- Decision communicated to both parties
- Appeal available within 30 days with additional evidence
During investigation, the review remains visible unless it contains illegal content. You should respond professionally if you have not already.
7.3 Defamation Claims
If you believe a review is defamatory:
- Use our dispute process first
- Consult with an attorney knowledgeable about defamation and Section 230
- Consider that legal action may draw more attention to the review (Streisand Effect)
- Consider that a professional public response may be more effective
We will:
- Cooperate with valid legal processes (subpoenas, court orders)
- Not remove reviews solely based on threats of legal action
- Evaluate reviews against our guidelines, not legal pressure
8. Enforcement
8.1 Graduated Response
- First minor violation: Warning, education, opportunity to correct
- Second violation: Temporary suspension (7-30 days), profile warning
- Third violation or severe single violation: Permanent termination, platform removal
8.2 Immediate Termination
- Fake review schemes
- Incentivizing reviews
- Retaliation against reviewers
- Legal threats to suppress reviews
- Serious confidentiality violations (GLBA violations)
- Illegal activity
8.3 Profile Warnings
Providers with active violations may display a warning visible to users. Warnings remain until the issue is resolved or a probation period passes (typically 90-180 days).
8.4 Appeal
Suspended or terminated providers may appeal within 30 days to support@versquare.com. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to review appeals within 20 business days.
9. Contact
For all provider-related inquiries, including verification, disputes, and feedback:
Email: support@versquare.com