Foundational pillar / check brokerage-license-disclosure
Brokerage identification in advertising
Checks that a real-estate site identifies the supervising brokerage or license, as state advertising rules require.
By Shimon Carroll, Founder, SEO for AI Agents · Last updated
What this check measures
Wording such as "licensed real estate broker", "brokered by", "brokerage", "broker of record", a license number, or "affiliated with" followed by a name.
Why it matters
State commissions set the rule. Maryland (COMAR 09.11.02.01) says a broker may not advertise without disclosing the broker’s name or company name as it appears on the license, and Texas (22 TAC 535.155) requires the broker’s name in every advertisement at a minimum size. When we can infer the state from the page we cite its rule if we have verified it.
How we score it
A review prompt, not a legal verdict. Runs only on residential real estate audits. When the cue is missing the finding is medium severity at medium confidence, which lowers the foundational pillar by about 2.4 points. A pass is informational and never scores. Each finding names who should review it, quotes what we saw on the page, and cites the primary source. Where the page shows a US address we name the inferred state; otherwise the wording is state-agnostic.
Confidence-flag rules
MEDIUM: the check reads the visible page text, links, and JSON-LD directly, so what it quotes is exact, but wording can carry the same meaning in phrasing we do not recognise, and one page does not show the whole site.
Common mistakes
- Team branding so prominent that the brokerage name disappears.
- A brokerage name that does not match the license exactly.
- Agent pages that omit the brokerage entirely.
How to fix it
Show the brokerage name exactly as licensed, and any license number your state requires, in the footer of every page. Check your commission’s size and placement rules with your managing broker.
Primary sources
- COMAR 09.11.02.01, Maryland Real Estate Commission, Relations to the Public
Legal Information Institute (Code of Maryland Regulations)
- 22 Tex. Admin. Code 535.155, Texas Real Estate Commission, Advertisements
Legal Information Institute (Texas Administrative Code)
Changelog
- · New. This rule used to live only in the vertical configuration and never ran. It is now a registered review check with a cited primary source, framed as a prompt to review with a professional rather than a pass or fail legal verdict.