How to reclaim a Trustpilot profile: the complete guide
When a domain expires, its Trustpilot profile can survive it. Reclaiming a Trustpilot profile requires proving a legitimate link to the business. Here is the process, the requirements and the mistakes to avoid.
Why a Trustpilot profile outlives a domain
What happens to the page when the site shuts down
Trustpilot, a review platform founded in 2007 in Copenhagen, links every profile to a business and its website. When a domain expires, the review page does not disappear automatically.
The profile keeps the full review history, the average rating and the replies published by the previous owner. This public record stays viewable on trustpilot.com as long as nobody asks for its removal.
The link between a profile and a domain name
On Trustpilot, a business's identity is first tied to its domain name. This technical signal lets the platform attach every review to the right company, without confusion between two companies.
Direct consequence: whoever holds the expired domain can present themselves as the new rightful owner. The claim still goes through verification checks.
How the claim process works
Going through Trustpilot Business
The claim is made on business.trustpilot.com, the space reserved for professionals. Opening a business profile there is free, before any paid option.
You have to create an account, then search for the business by its name or domain. The platform then shows the profile and offers the "claim this business" action.
The documents requested
Verification first relies on an email address at the business's domain name. An email such as name@domain.com is the first criterion considered.
When the email is not enough, Trustpilot asks for official documents proving the link to the company: an extract from the trade register, a recent invoice or proof of identity.
The special case of the expired domain
Profile tied to the domain or to the business
After an expiration, everything depends on what remains tied to the domain. If the profile points to an offline site, the claim restarts from an identity to be rebuilt from scratch.
An expired domain grants no automatic right over the associated profile. The platform checks the real link between the applicant and the business.
Can the previous owner object
A previous owner can dispute a claim if they consider they are still the business in question. Trustpilot decides based on the evidence produced by each side.
The prudent approach is to claim only profiles with no recent activity. A business still in operation legally remains the first rightful owner of its profile.
An asset or a liability of reputation
Claiming a profile tied to a former activity also opens access to its history. Earlier negative reviews remain visible and linked to the profile.
Before acting, you must read the existing overall rating and review volume. A poorly rated profile does not become a reputation asset, but a liability to manage.
Check the value before acting
Read the rating and the review volume
The first read focuses on the average rating shown on the profile page. A small number of reviews makes that rating fragile against a single negative review.
The review volume reflects the site's age and past activity. A profile active over several years tells of a real, ongoing activity, not an empty shell.
Cross-check with the domain history
The profile always reads in relation to the domain history: former site, former activity, backlinks. These elements combine to estimate the real value of the whole.
A Trustpilot profile consistent with the domain's past forms a trust signal useful for SEO and conversion. The consistency between the reviews and the past activity strengthens the credibility of the whole.
Should you buy the domain first?
The logical order of operations
Claiming a profile cannot be done without a concrete link to the business in question. The domain name remains the simplest signal to prove.
Buying the expired domain first, then claiming the profile, follows the logical order of the process. The domain then serves as proof of legitimacy with Trustpilot.
The domain, key to legitimacy
A working email at the domain name is the most direct proof of your link to the business. Without it, verification becomes longer and more uncertain.
The choice of the expired domain therefore conditions the claim. A clean domain, without dispute or penalized history, makes every step of the process easier.
Best practices and pitfalls to avoid
What to prepare
Before the claim, gather the proof of domain ownership and a working email at that domain's name. These two elements speed up verification.
Also document the domain's past: former site, former activity, backlink volume. This prior reading informs the decision to reclaim the profile or not.
The missteps that block you
Impersonating a business that is still active exposes you to legal risk and leads to rejection of the claim. Never claim a profile you cannot legitimately link yourself to.
Multiplying requests with inconsistent information alerts Trustpilot's moderation. A clean claim, submitted once, remains the most reliable method.