How to Claim a Profile the Team Built for You

If the team already built a page for you from public sources, find it in Discover and select Claim This Profile. Add your name and email, tell the team how you’re connected to the profile, and choose how they’ll confirm it’s you. The team reviews the claim and emails a sign-in link to your Creator Studio.

About 5 minutes, not counting team review · Last checked October 25, 2026

Before You Begin

An unclaimed profile is one the team built from publicly available information: your public channels, published work and what you’ve said about yourself in public. It’s marked "Built from public sources" on the page. It doesn’t mean you’ve joined or endorse the Index. Once your claim is approved, the page is yours to edit, and the team only publishes what you submit.

Don’t want the page at all? You don’t have to claim it. Send a request through Corrections, Removal & Privacy Requests and the team will take it down.

1. Find Your Page and Select Claim This Profile

  1. Open Discover and search your name.
  2. On your profile, select Claim This Profile, or the Is this you? Claim this profile link under the public-sources note.
Expected result: the claim page opens with that profile's name and photo at the top, so you can check it’s the right page.
An unclaimed public profile with the Built from public sources note and the Claim This Profile button marked

Expected result: the claim page opens with that profile's name and photo at the top, so you can check it’s the right page.

2. Tell the Team Who You Are

Two short sections are required. Everything else on the form is optional and can be done later in the Studio.

  1. Your full name and the email address you want to sign in with. Every message about the claim goes to this address.
  2. Your relationship to the profile: you’re the person, or you manage the profile for them. Representatives give their own name and role.
Expected result: both required sections are filled in before you get to the confirmation method.
The claim form showing the full name and email fields and the relationship choice, with the required markers

Expected result: both required sections are filled in before you get to the confirmation method.

3. Pick How the Team Confirms It’s You

Choose whichever is easiest for you. The team doesn’t ask for a DD-214, military ID, or other sensitive personnel documents as a standard step.

  • Professional or business email. The team sends a confirmation to an address at your organization or on your own domain.
  • Social account code. The team gives you a short code to place in the bio of one of your public accounts for a day.
  • Direct MIC Index confirmation. You already know the team or met them at an event, and they confirm directly.
  • Other. Tell the team what works for you.
Expected result: picking a method may reveal one extra field, such as the business email or the public account that will carry the code.
The How should we confirm your identity section of the claim form with the four methods and the Submit claim button

Expected result: picking a method may reveal one extra field, such as the business email or the public account that will carry the code.

Check the confirmation boxes, then select Submit claim.

4. What Happens Next

Expected result: a Claim received page. It repeats the email address the claim is tied to, so check it’s right.
The Claim received page listing the next steps: team review, the confirmation step, a sign-in link and editing in the Studio

Expected result: a Claim received page. It repeats the email address the claim is tied to, so check it’s right.

  1. A person on the team reviews the claim and emails you the outcome.
  2. If you chose the email or code method, you complete that step when the email arrives.
  3. Once approved, the team emails a one-time sign-in link to your Creator Studio. There’s no password.
  4. You complete or correct the profile there. Changes are reviewed before they replace the public page.
Expected result after approval: the Studio opens with the profile loaded as your draft and a checklist of what’s still missing.
The Creator Studio overview after a first sign-in, with the completeness checklist

Expected result after approval: the Studio opens with the profile loaded as your draft and a checklist of what’s still missing.

Nothing changes on the public page until the team has reviewed the claim and you’ve submitted edits.

Claimed Is Not the Same as Verified

Claiming confirms that you control the page. The Verified badge is a separate review of your identity, military connection, professional role and public channels. Once you’re claimed you can ask for it: see Get verified.

What Success Looks Like

You receive an email saying the claim is approved, with a one-time sign-in link. The Creator Studio opens with the existing profile loaded as your draft, and the public page now shows the profile as claimed.

Common Problems

  • Wrong email or wrong profile. Write to the team and they’ll correct or withdraw the claim.
  • You submitted twice. The confirmation page tells you the earlier claim is still pending and nothing was duplicated.
  • You can’t complete the confirmation step. Reply to the team’s email and suggest another way. The list isn’t fixed.
  • More fixes in Trouble signing in or claiming your profile?

Questions People Ask

Do I need to send a DD-214 or ID to claim my profile?

No. Claiming confirms that you control the page, and the team does that with a business email, a short code in a public bio, or direct confirmation. Sensitive personnel documents aren’t requested as a standard step.

Does claiming make me Verified?

No. Claimed means you control the page. The Verified badge is a separate review of identity, military connection, professional role and channels, which you can ask for once you’re claimed.

Can someone claim a profile on my behalf?

Yes. A representative gives their own name and role on the claim form, and the team confirms with you or the organization before approving.

What changes on the public page while the claim is pending?

Nothing. The page stays as it is until the team reviews the claim and you submit edits from the Studio.

Find your profile in Discover

Related Guides

Found a step that no longer matches the product? Report an outdated step and the team will re-check it.