Methodology

How we collect & display license data

License Status Verify mirrors public records from official state regulators. This page documents our ingestion, normalization, and freshness methodology.

01

Data collection

We collect license data from official state regulating authorities through bulk CSV downloads from licensing board websites, public API endpoints where available, and official public records.

02

Snapshots & events

Each time we sync data from a source, we create a snapshot of all records. We also track events when changes are detected between syncs:

  • Status changedLicense moved from active to expired (or vice versa)
  • Expiration updatedLicense expiration date was updated
  • New licenseNew license record added

03

Freshness calculation

We display freshness indicators to help you understand how current our data is:

  • FreshData synced within the last 48 hours
  • Slightly staleData is 3–7 days old
  • StaleData is more than 7 days old

04

Status normalization

Each regulating authority uses different status labels. We normalize these to a standard set:

  • ActiveLicense is valid and in good standing
  • ExpiredLicense has passed its expiration date
  • SuspendedLicense has been temporarily suspended
  • RevokedLicense has been revoked
  • InactiveLicense is not currently active

05

Ambiguous matches

When searching by name, multiple licenses may match. We display all potential matches and recommend verifying with the license number for exact matches. Common name variations (e.g., "Bob" vs "Robert") may result in multiple results.