Available on the Free plan
Trust Certification adds a CERTIFIED mark to your storefront Trust Badge when your store passes 4 independent trust checks. It is computed automatically from your store data — there is nothing to set up — and it is continuously re-checked so the mark stays accurate.
Shoppers see the CERTIFIED mark on your Trust Badge. Opening the badge shows a certification box listing the 4 checks Judge.me verified. The mark only appears when your store is certified — shoppers never see an "in progress" state.
How it works
Trust Certification checks 4 pillars:
Transparent review practices — at least 95% of your verified reviews are published (not hidden).
Offers secure payment methods — your store accepts at least one payment provider that gives shoppers a chargeback or dispute path. Manual-only methods (cash, COD, bank transfer) do not qualify on their own.
Transparent shipping and refund policy — your published refund and shipping policies each cover the basics (what is accepted, timeframe, and process for refunds; where you ship, how long, and how for shipping).
Verified store history — your store has been trading for at least 3 months and is in good standing.
To be assessed, your store needs at least 5 verified reviews. When all 4 pillars pass, the CERTIFIED mark appears on the Trust Badge, its transparency modal, and in your Judge.me admin dashboard on Trust Badge card.
How it looks
When your store is certified, the Trust Badge on your storefront displays a CERTIFIED label alongside your verified rating and review count.
When a shopper clicks the badge, the modal includes a Certification box listing the 4 trust checks your store has passed — giving shoppers a clear breakdown of why your store is certified.
Overall and pillar status
Your Trust Badge card on the Judge.me admin Home page shows two levels of status: an overall status at the top of the card, and a status per pillar tile below it.
Overall status
What you see | What it means | What you can do |
Certified | All 4 pillars pass. The CERTIFIED mark is live on your storefront. | Nothing — keep doing what you're doing. Re-checks run automatically to keep this accurate. |
Pending | You have fewer than 5 verified reviews yet, or one of the instant pillars (payment methods, store history) hasn't finished its first check. | Collect more verified reviews. No action needed for the pillar checks themselves — they run on their own schedule. |
Pending review | Your review, payment, and store-history pillars all pass. Your shipping/refund policy is being read and checked — this can take up to 5 business days, often less. | Nothing required. You can still update your policy and click Recheck on that tile if you've made changes. |
At risk | You were certified, but one pillar has since started failing. Your storefront mark is still showing during a 7-day grace period. | Fix the failing pillar (see its tile for which one) before the grace period ends, then click Recheck. |
Paused | Your verified review count dropped below 5 after being certified. Your mark stays up for up to 30 days while you rebuild. | Send more review request emails. Reassessment resumes automatically once you reach 5 verified reviews again. |
Not certified | At least one pillar is failing and any grace period has run out. | Fix the failing pillar(s) shown on the tiles, then click Recheck. |
Pending - access revoked | Judge.me lost a permission needed to run one of the checks. Your storefront mark is hidden immediately — there is no grace period for this one. | See Troubleshooting section below. |
Pillar status
Each of the 4 pillar tiles shows one of these:
Status | Meaning |
Met | This pillar passes. |
Not met | This pillar is failing. Fix the underlying issue, then click the pillar's Recheck icon. |
Pending | Not enough data yet, or (for the policy pillar) still in the review queue. |
Calculating | Review-practices pillar only — the underlying metric hasn't finished processing yet. Resolves on its own shortly. |
How to get certified
Step 1: Reach 5 verified reviews
Trust Certification assessment begins once your store has at least 5 verified reviews.
To check your progress:
From Judge.me admin, find to the Trust Badge card.
If you don't have 5 verified reviews yet, send review request emails to past customers to start collecting them.
Step 2: Pass the 4 pillars
Judge.me checks the 4 pillars automatically. Policy checks (shipping and refund) take up to 5 business days, often less.
If a pillar is failing, its tile on the Trust Badge card shows what to fix and a link to the right place (Shopify Payments, Policies, or Domains; Judge.me Manage Reviews for the transparent review practices pillar).
Step 3: Re-check after a fix
After you update something in Shopify, click the reload icon 🔁 on the failing pillar tile to re-run that check.
When all 4 pillars pass, the CERTIFIED mark appears on your storefront automatically.
Considerations
Certification is automatic and cannot be turned on manually. It is computed from your store data, not a setting.
It is all-or-nothing. A store that passes 3 of the 4 pillars shows no certification mark to shoppers.
Offers secure payment methods is based on your recent orders. A gateway you have set up but not yet taken an order through may not count until an order flows through it.
The refund and shipping check needs permission to read your store policies. If Judge.me has not been granted that access, this pillar stays at "Pending" until you re-grant it.
If your verified reviews drop below 5, an already-certified store keeps its mark for up to 30 days while you rebuild, then reassessment resumes at 5 reviews.
If a pillar slips after certification, your store keeps the mark for 7 days while you fix the issue, then loses it if it is still failing.
The storefront certification box and pillar labels are English only for now. Your dashboard certification status and messages are translated (English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese).
Troubleshooting
My store passed everything but I do not see the CERTIFIED mark
My store passed everything but I do not see the CERTIFIED mark
Issue:
All 4 pillars show as passed on the Trust Badge card, but the CERTIFIED mark is not visible on the storefront.
Why it happens:
The storefront can take a short time to update after the last pillar passes.
How to fix:
Give it a few more minutes.
Reload your storefront.
The mark shows on the Trust Badge widget only.
One pillar says "Pending - access revoked"
One pillar says "Pending - access revoked"
Issue:
A pillar tile shows "Pending - access revoked" instead of a pass or fail result.
Why it happens:
Judge.me lost permission to read the data for that pillar.
How to fix:
From your Judge.me admin, go to Settings > Widgets.
Scroll down to the Trust Badge card, and click Customize.
Click Update permissions.
Once redirect to Shopify, approve the permissions.
I fixed my policy but it still says not certified
I fixed my policy but it still says not certified
Issue:
You updated your shipping or refund policy in Shopify but the pillar still shows as failing.
Why it happens:
Policy changes are not picked up automatically.
How to fix:
Click Recheck on the pillar tile after updating your policy in Shopify.
I disagree with the shipping or refund policy result
I disagree with the shipping or refund policy result
Issue:
You believe your shipping or refund policy meets the requirements but the pillar shows as failing.
Why it happens:
The automated check may not have recognized all the required elements in your policy.
How to fix:
Reach out through the support widget on any dashboard page. Support can trigger a re-review of your policies if your store should have passed.
Resources
See our latest updates:
➡️ Check our Unboxed page to discover newly launched features and improvements from Judge.me. See what's new and start using the latest updates to grow your store.
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