3 min read
LinkedIn is accelerating toward a future where verification becomes the norm for its more than one billion members, with the goal of becoming the world’s most trusted professional network. By late 2025, the platform had verified over 100 million users, meeting a target first set in 2023, and it continues to expand free verification options to counter the growing problem of fake profiles, scams, and AI generated impersonation.
LinkedIn’s data shows verified members get significantly more profile views and interactions. The company is responding to a clear rise in abuse driven by generative AI, which has made it cheaper and easier to create convincing fake accounts. These tools have fueled recruitment scams, executive impersonation, and misinformation. LinkedIn removes millions of fake accounts every year, but the company sees large scale verification as the most effective long term solution. Oscar Rodriguez, LinkedIn’s vice president of product for trust, said in 2025 that it is becoming increasingly easy to pretend to be someone else online. Verified profiles already demonstrate stronger performance, with significantly higher views and interaction rates, reinforcing the idea that trust drives engagement.
LinkedIn introduced verification in April 2023 through partnerships that enabled government ID checks, workplace verification using professional email addresses or enterprise identity systems, and education confirmation. In 2025, the company added mandatory verification for recruiters and users with senior titles such as vice president or executive director in an effort to curb job related scams.
Unlike paid verification programs on other social platforms, LinkedIn’s process is completely free. The company emphasizes privacy protections, stating that it does not store biometric data or full identification details. Verification partners handle and delete sensitive information under strict security and regulatory standards. Publicly, users only display a verification badge, and they retain full control over its visibility.
Throughout 2025, LinkedIn expanded verification further by opening company page verification to premium subscribers and allowing verified badges to appear on external platforms through integrations. By mid year, verified users had already surpassed earlier milestones.
To celebrate reaching 100 million verified users, LinkedIn has teamed up with Zoom. Now, users can showcase their LinkedIn verification status right within the Zoom app. Companies like Adobe, G2, UserTesting, and TrustRadius are already on board with this feature.
LinkedIn executives continue to frame authenticity as essential to professional networking, arguing that unchecked anonymity undermines hiring, sales outreach, and meaningful connections. While there is no confirmed timeline for mandatory verification, it is understood that LinkedIn will continue to crackdown against bogus profiles.
You can verify your LinkedIn here (better to use a desktop for this).
