- Accredited means a business meets the Standards for Trust and is monitored against them. It is a commitment, not a quality rating.
- The seal signifies accreditation, not a grade. A business can be accredited with a lower grade, or hold an A+ and not be accredited.
- BBB says as a matter of policy it does not endorse any product, service or business, accredited or not.
- Check status on the business's BBB profile, because a seal shown elsewhere may be out of date or used without permission.
- If you are accredited, describe it accurately. Use the seal only under license and only while the status is current.
On this page
The Plain Meaning of BBB Accredited
A BBB Accredited Business is one that meets the BBB Standards for Trust and is monitored against them, and it pays dues to take part.
BBB's own description of the term is short. An accredited business has made a commitment to eight published standards: build trust, advertise honestly, tell the truth, be transparent, honor promises, be responsive, safeguard privacy and embody integrity. BBB says it monitors Accredited Businesses against those standards and can revoke accreditation when one stops meeting them. BBB's FAQ adds that accreditation is voluntary and separate from the rating.
Three words in that definition matter most. Voluntary means no business has to join. Paid means dues fund BBB's work. Monitored means the status is conditional and can be lost, which we cover in why accreditation gets revoked. The rest of this guide shows what those words do and do not tell you. It sits inside our BBB accreditation hub.
What the Seal Tells You, and What It Does Not
The seal tells you the business holds accreditation, and it does not tell you the grade, the quality of the work or BBB's opinion of the product.
What accredited tells you
- The business applied and BBB accepted it
- It certified that it meets the eight standards
- It is monitored against those standards
- It meets the rating minimum of a B, at least when accredited
- It holds a license to use BBB's marks
What it does not tell you
- The letter grade, since the seal signifies accreditation and not a grade
- That the product or service is good
- That BBB endorses the business, since BBB says it endorses no business
- That the business will never get a complaint
- That the business is better than a non-accredited one with the same grade
The point about endorsement is easy to miss. BBB states that, as a matter of policy, it does not endorse any product, service or business. Accreditation is therefore a statement about meeting standards, not a recommendation. Reading it as a recommendation is the most common mistake we see.
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We will check every published rating element on your file and tell you exactly what is costing you points. Free, and honest about what can and cannot change.
Seal, Profile Status and Grade Are Three Different Things
A BBB profile shows accreditation status and the letter grade separately, and the seal is only a mark that points to the first.
| Item | What it is | Where to confirm it |
|---|---|---|
| The seal | The mark BBB issues, which an accredited business may display | Only on the business's BBB profile. A seal elsewhere may be out of date or used without permission |
| Accreditation status | Whether the business is accredited, which every profile states clearly | The BBB profile |
| The letter grade | A+ to F, based on the seven rating elements in the business's BBB file | The BBB profile, and our guide to how ratings work |
BBB says accreditation is not one of the seven elements that make up a rating. The rating is based on the business's complaint history and its interactions with customers, not on whether it pays dues. Customer reviews are not used in the grade either. That is why a business can be accredited and carry a lower grade, or hold an A+ without being accredited. We compare the two side by side in BBB rating versus accreditation.
Standards You Can Check Yourself as a Customer
Several of the eight standards produce things a customer can see, which turns the seal into a short checklist.
| Standard | What you can look for |
|---|---|
| Be responsive | Complaints on the profile that were answered, with the status shown |
| Be transparent | Contact details, a refund policy and the total cost shown before you pay |
| Tell the truth | Clear terms, with material conditions disclosed rather than buried |
| Safeguard privacy | A privacy notice and respect for your phone and email preferences |
| Honor promises | Whether the business fulfilled earlier contracts, as the complaint history shows |
| Build trust | Required licenses held and a rating of at least a B |
None of that guarantees how your job will go. It does give you something concrete to check beyond the logo. If a site displays the seal but hides its refund policy or total cost, that mismatch is worth noticing, and the BBB profile is where to confirm the status.
Can an Accredited Business Still Have Complaints?
Yes, because nothing in BBB's published standards says accredited businesses never receive complaints.
What the standards require is how a business behaves when a complaint arrives. Be Responsive asks for a professional response that addresses significant issues, includes supporting evidence and explains why requested relief cannot be granted, plus participation in dispute resolution and honoring any settlement. So the useful question about an accredited business is not whether it has complaints but how it answered them. Our guide to how to respond to a BBB complaint shows what a strong answer includes.
Read the complaint list and statuses on the profile. An Answered or Resolved complaint tells you more about conduct than a clean sheet with no history.
What Accredited Means to Different People
The same label carries different weight for a customer, an owner and a business buyer.
| You are | What accredited usually means to you | What to check beyond it |
|---|---|---|
| A customer | The business has committed to published standards | The grade, complaint history and reviews |
| An owner thinking of joining | A paid, ongoing commitment, with standards you must keep meeting | Whether your buyers look for it and whether your rating qualifies |
| A buyer or procurement team | A documented standards commitment that you can verify on bbb.org | Licensing, insurance and references, which BBB does not replace |
We cannot say how much weight your customers give the seal. That is a question about your market, and our decision table shows how to answer it.
How to Say It Truthfully in Your Marketing
If you are accredited, describe it accurately, use the seal under license and never imply endorsement.
| You can say | You should not say |
|---|---|
| We are BBB Accredited, when your profile shows it | BBB recommends us or BBB endorses our work |
| We hold an A+ rating, when it is current | Our accreditation is our rating |
| We commit to the BBB Standards for Trust | BBB guarantees our service |
| Displaying the seal in line with BBB's usage policies | Using the seal after accreditation has ended or before approval |
BBB's trademark page says that use of its marks by others must have the express, written permission of the International Association of Better Business Bureaus, and that it takes action against unauthorized use. Standard 2 also ties your use of BBB's trademark and affiliation statements to the license and the usage policies in effect. State grade and accreditation as two separate facts. For example, Reputation Resolutions, our parent company, is BBB Accredited with an A+ rating, and we say it that way because they are two different claims.
Where the Skeptic Has a Point
BBB is paid by the businesses it accredits, and the honest response is to say so and show you how to verify the rest yourself.
BBB says dues fund its work, so the accredited businesses are also its funders. BBB says in the same FAQ that dues do not buy a rating and do not remove a complaint. You do not have to take either statement on faith. The seven rating elements are published, and none of them is a payment. You can read them on BBB's overview of ratings page and test any profile against them.
You also do not have to like the BBB to use what it publishes. A seal is a prompt to check the profile, not a reason to stop checking.
Questions to Ask When You See the Seal
Five quick questions turn a logo into useful information, and each one can be answered from the business's own BBB profile.
- Does the BBB profile state that the business is accredited, or is the seal the only evidence?
- What is the letter grade, and is it shown separately from the status?
- How many complaints are there, and what are their closing statuses?
- Did the business respond to its complaints, as Be Responsive requires?
- Are refund terms, total cost and contact details easy to find on its own site?
A made-up example helps. For example, a plumber's website shows the seal and the profile confirms accreditation with a B plus. The complaint list shows three complaints, all answered, and the site states its refund terms. That is a consistent picture. Now imagine the seal on a site whose BBB profile says not accredited. That mismatch is exactly what BBB warns about when it says a seal shown elsewhere may be out of date or used without permission. Neither example is a real business, and neither tells you how your own job would go.
What We Cannot Tell You
We cannot confirm a business's status, grant accreditation or say what the seal is worth to your customers.
Only the BBB profile shows the current status, and only your local BBB decides who is accredited. We can help you understand your own profile and the rating behind it through a free BBB audit, or work on the grade through BBB rating improvement. We are not affiliated with the BBB.
Anthony Will
Founder and CEO, Reputation Resolutions
Anthony Will founded Reputation Resolutions and has worked in online reputation management since 2013. Reputation Resolutions is BBB Accredited with an A+ rating and is a Google Partner. Business Rating Fix is its Better Business Bureau rating division.
- In online reputation management since 2013
- Reputation Resolutions: BBB Accredited, A+ rated
- Google Partner
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Fact-checked against bbb.org · Updated November 2026
