How businesses can use byLegit to build their online presence and reputation

Before buying, booking or signing up, most people now type a brand name followed by "reviews" or "is it legit". What they find in those first results often decides whether they become a customer. Your online reputation is no longer a marketing extra: it is part of your storefront.

byLegit was built on a simple idea: trust doesn't need a pilot, it needs proof. This guide explains, step by step, how a business can use byLegit to strengthen its presence, earn credibility and learn from its customers — without buying rankings or hiding criticism.

Why online reputation matters more than ever

Reviews have become the first point of contact between a company and its future customers. They answer the questions a website alone cannot: does this business keep its promises? How does it handle problems? Are the people behind it reachable?

• Visibility: review pages rank on search engines for queries like "brand + reviews", and AI assistants increasingly quote them.
• Conversion: a credible rating with recent, detailed reviews reassures hesitant visitors.
• Feedback: reviews reveal recurring issues and strengths you might not see internally.
• Resilience: a business with many verified reviews is far less exposed to a single unfair comment.

The problem is that trust in reviews has eroded. Fake reviews, paid placements and opaque scores make readers sceptical. That is exactly where proof makes the difference.

What makes byLegit different

byLegit is a French review platform launched in 2026, designed to be neutral, transparent and GDPR-compliant. Every company is listed by its domain name, and every rating can be explained.

• No paid ranking: no business can pay to improve its score or remove a negative review.
• Transparent scoring: anyone can open the score explainer and see the exact formula, review by review.
• Proof over claims: reviews from verified customers carry a visible badge.
• Data minimisation: we share only what is strictly necessary, and customer e-mails are never exposed in plain text.

Step 1 — Claim your business page

Claiming your page proves that you own the domain and unlocks the Business dashboard. Two verification methods are available:

1. Professional e-mail: we send a code to an address on your domain (for example contact@yourdomain.com).
2. DNS TXT record: add a short record to your domain's DNS settings — ideal if you don't have a mailbox on your domain.

Once verified, you can invite your team with three roles — owner, administrator and collaborator — so the right people handle replies and settings.

Step 2 — Build a complete, trustworthy profile

A complete page reassures visitors and helps search engines understand who you are. Take ten minutes to fill in:

• Your logo and a background cover image that reflect your brand.
• A clear name and description written for your customers, not for keywords.
• The right category, so you appear on the matching category pages.
• Public publications to share news, launches or service updates with readers of your page.

Step 3 — Collect verified reviews

The strongest reputation is built on many genuine reviews from real customers. byLegit offers two ways to prove that a reviewer actually bought from you:

The verified customer API

With a business API key, you can confirm that a reviewer is one of your customers. Only a fingerprint (hash) of the e-mail is used — never the address itself — and customers can block or delete this link from their privacy settings.

Sign in with byLegit

Add the "Sign in with byLegit" button to your website. When a customer connects their account, they become a recognised customer and their reviews carry the verified badge. The consent screen shows them exactly which data is shared.

Step 4 — Reply publicly, especially to criticism

Readers look at how a business responds as much as at the rating itself. A calm, factual reply to a negative review often builds more trust than ten five-star reviews.

1. Thank the reviewer and acknowledge the experience, without arguing.
2. Explain what happened, factually, if useful.
3. Offer a concrete solution or a direct contact.
4. Follow up once the issue is solved — the reviewer can then update their review.

Replies also count in how reviews are ordered: an answered review is more relevant to readers, so your engagement stays visible.

Step 5 — Showcase your reputation on your own site

Your reviews should work for you beyond byLegit. Embeddable widgets display your rating and latest reviews on your website, with a link back to your public page so visitors can check the proof themselves.

Developers can also use the public API to read your rating and recent reviews and integrate them wherever it makes sense — product pages, checkout, or support pages.

How byLegit helps your visibility on Google and AI assistants

Each byLegit page is designed to be easily understood by search engines and AI answer engines: structured data, clear titles such as "yourdomain.com reviews", and an always up-to-date sitemap. When someone searches for your brand's reviews, a complete and active byLegit page is a credible result to land on.

• Recent reviews keep your page fresh and relevant.
• Business replies add helpful, unique content to the page.
• A complete profile (category, description, logo) improves how your page is presented in results.

Mistakes to avoid

• Buying or writing fake reviews: our anti-fraud checks detect duplicate accounts and low-quality content, and sanctions apply.
• Ignoring negative reviews: silence is read as indifference.
• Offering rewards only in exchange for positive reviews.
• Leaving your page unclaimed: you lose the chance to tell your side of the story.

In short

A strong online reputation isn't bought, it's demonstrated. Claim your page, complete your profile, collect verified reviews from all your customers, reply with care and show your proof on your own site. byLegit gives you the tools — free, neutral and transparent.