Glossary · ENCheck a domain

Domain verification

Domain verification is a check that asks someone to prove control of a domain before a service grants access or links that domain to an account. A service may ask the person to add a DNS record, place a file on the website, or make another change that only someone with the relevant control can make. Verification confirms control for that service's purpose; it does not transfer the registration or prove legal ownership in every context.

How does DNS verification work?

A service may give the domain administrator a unique value and ask them to publish it in a TXT record. The service then looks up that record. Finding the expected value is evidence that the person can change DNS for the domain. The value is specific to the service and must be entered at the name the service provides.

For example, a site owner wants to add example.com as a domain to manage (a domain property) in a webmaster tool. The tool gives them a TXT value. They add the value in the DNS records actually published by the responsible servers for example.com, then ask the tool to check again. If the value is visible, the tool can verify the property; if the owner edited DNS at a provider that is not serving the domain's zone, the check may not find it.

What does verification prove, and what does it not prove?

Verification proves only what the particular service says it proves. For example, Google's Search Console domain property requires DNS verification and covers the root domain and its subdomains; verifying only a subdomain does not verify its parent domain. Another service may use a different check or grant control over a different set of names or features.

Passing a verification check does not by itself show that the website is secure, that email is configured, or that the person is the legal owner of a business or trademark. It also does not register a domain. Keep the verification value in place if the service requires it to maintain verification, and remove it only when the service's instructions say it is no longer needed.

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