How to Verify AWS, GCP, and Azure Certifications

Unlike a paper diploma, a cloud certification comes with a built-in public verification URL. AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure all use Credly, the largest Open-Badge-compliant digital-credential platform. Each certification becomes a badge: a cryptographically signed JSON-LD object hosted on credly.com, with a public page that anyone can open without an account.

The badge URL is the authoritative artifact. Everything else (PDF certificates, LinkedIn icons, email screenshots) is context, not evidence. The 2026 best practice is to ask for the badge URL upfront and skip the PDF entirely.

AWS issues every certification as a Credly badge through its AWS Certification Account. The verification flow:

• ·Ask the candidate to share their Credly profile or the specific badge URL (format: credly.com/badges/[uuid]).
• ·Open the URL. The page shows the certification name (e.g., AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Associate), the earn date, the expiry date, and the issuing organization (Amazon Web Services).
• ·Confirm the issuing organization. A badge issued by “AWS Training and Certification” is real. Badges from any other org claiming to certify AWS knowledge are not the same thing.
• ·Check the certification status. Credly shows “active” or “expired” based on the metadata.

AWS certifications expire after three years. An expired badge is still authentic but no longer current. For roles requiring active certification, treat expired as a non-credential.

Google Cloud routes through Credly via the Google Cloud Credential Wallet. The flow is functionally identical to AWS:

• ·Ask for the Credly badge URL or the candidate’s Credential Wallet share link.
• ·Open the URL. Confirm issuing organization is Google Cloud, the certification name matches (e.g., Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect), and the badge is active.
• ·GCP certifications expire after two years. Cloud Digital Leader expires after three years.

Google also exposes a per-certification verification lookup directly via the Cloud Skills Boost profile. When the candidate has not enabled Credly sharing, a Skills Boost profile URL is the fallback.

Microsoft uses both Credly and its own Microsoft Learn profile. The Learn profile is the primary source:

• ·Ask for the candidate’s Microsoft Learn transcript URL or a shared Learn certification link.
• ·Open the URL. The transcript lists certifications with completion dates, expiry dates, and any in-progress renewals.
• ·Microsoft certifications carry a shareable certification number that can be looked up through the Learn portal for an independent confirmation.
• ·Microsoft also issues Credly badges; the Learn profile is the more complete source.

Most Azure certifications expire after one year, renewable via an online assessment. The transcript shows the renewal status.

The reason this works across providers is the Open Badge standard maintained by IMS Global (now 1EdTech). Open Badges 2.0 defined a JSON-LD object with cryptographic signing and embedded metadata; Open Badges 3.0 (2026 state) added W3C Verifiable Credentials compatibility, so a Credly badge can also be presented as a VC in a digital wallet.

For verifiers, the practical implication is consistency: the same verification flow works for AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, CompTIA, and most other major technology certifications. The badge URL is the cross-provider lingua franca.

Three patterns recur:

• ·PDF certificate, no URL. The candidate sends only a PDF, claims they have not set up Credly. The simple mitigation is to require the URL. Most forgeries die here.
• ·Look-alike domain. A URL that looks like credly.com but is not (cred1y.com, credly-aws.com). Always confirm the URL host is credly.com or learn.microsoft.com, not a similar domain.
• ·Stolen badge claim.The candidate links someone else’s public badge URL. Confirm the badge owner’s name on the Credly page matches the candidate.

For any candidate-supplied PDF without a badge URL, run forensic AI. The engine checks producer metadata, ELA, font kerning, and template patterns. AI-generated and Photoshopped certificates fail here. See our photoshop detection guide for the underlying methods.

For teams that hire dozens of cloud engineers a quarter, a simple intake change cuts verification time by 90 percent:

• ·Add a required field to the application: “Credly profile URL or per-certification badge URL.”
• ·Reject PDFs at intake. State this in the candidate instructions. PDFs are accepted only as context, not as proof.
• ·Automate the badge URL check: a small script can hit the Credly API and confirm active status, issuer, and expiry. No human time required for the happy path.
• ·Route exceptions to a recruiter for manual review. Exceptions cluster on candidates without Credly profiles, which is increasingly rare in 2026.