Free · eight questions · nothing is sent anywhere
How strong is your published-material evidence?
Most applicants find out their press is thin when their attorney reads the file, which is late and expensive. Eight questions you can answer from memory, a score, and the specific gaps ranked by how much they cost you.
Is there any published article that is substantially about you, rather than about your company?
A funding announcement naming your company is evidence about the company.
Do you have three or more such articles?
One piece rarely carries a criterion on its own.
Would a stranger recognise at least one of the publications?
National masthead, major trade title, or a real metropolitan daily.
Does each piece carry a real author byline and a publication date?
An undated, unattributed page is hard to enter as an exhibit.
Is it reporting or an authored feature, rather than a press release you distributed?
Material you paid a wire to distribute is weak on this criterion.
Are all of them still live and findable in Google today?
Some publishers delete paid articles after six months.
Is the coverage in your actual field rather than general lifestyle press?
Relevance to the field does real work here.
Do you have circulation or readership evidence for each publication?
Attorneys usually have to ask for this afterwards.