Before you take the client
LegitScript certification, a practical guide for agencies
The private gate in front of healthcare advertising: what it verifies, what it costs, and how to pass it fast.
LegitScript is the third-party certification that Google, Meta, and Microsoft require before running addiction or many healthcare ads. It verifies licensing, ownership, and claims. Budget several weeks and roughly one to three thousand dollars in fees for a treatment facility, then annual renewal. Lead generators and referral resellers cannot get it, which is the point.
LegitScript is a private certification company, not a government body, but it functions as the toll booth for regulated advertising. Since 2018 Google has required its certification before an addiction-treatment provider can buy search ads in the United States, and Meta and Microsoft adopted the same gate rather than adjudicate clinical licensing themselves; LegitScript verifies the operator's state licensing, ownership, business practices, and advertising claims. It is a filter with teeth: lead generators, call centers that resell admissions, marketers who refer patients for compensation, and sober living homes without licensed clinical services are not eligible. Nor is it a one-time badge, since LegitScript monitors certified merchants on an ongoing basis and can pull certification if licensing lapses or the site's claims drift, so the client must keep the pages compliant, not just pass once.
In the United States, advertisers must be certified as an addiction services provider by the LegitScript certification program before promoting recovery-oriented drug and alcohol addiction services.
Budget both money and calendar, and confirm the current numbers before you quote a client, because LegitScript revises its fees. As of mid-2026 a treatment facility should expect an application fee in the low thousands of dollars and a separate, often higher annual certification fee, with individual-practitioner tiers priced lower; healthcare merchant certification, a different product used to keep payment processing, carries its own application and annual fees per website, so do not confuse the two. On timeline, plan several weeks from a complete application to a decision, commonly four to eight weeks, and longer when licensing, accreditation, or the website's claims need cleanup; a rejection and a second cycle can push a launch past two or three months, so start at the very beginning of an engagement. Certification renews annually and LegitScript re-reviews the operator, so the fee and the diligence recur.
Fees and processing times are set by LegitScript and revised periodically. Confirm the current application fee, annual fee, and review timeline on LegitScript's certification pages before relying on any figure quoted here.
Use this to get a client application-ready before it ever reaches LegitScript, since missing items are the main reason timelines slip. Line up current state licensure for the facility and its clinical staff, with copies ready to upload; accreditation where the state expects it, such as Joint Commission or CARF; ownership disclosed honestly, with no hidden ties to lead generators or referral resellers; a website whose claims already match the law, no guarantees, no fabricated success rates, clear privacy and contact information; verifiable business details, a physical address, and staff credentials that match the license records; and one named owner of the application inside the client, so LegitScript's follow-up questions get answered fast. Clear these first and the review runs at the short end; leave them for LegitScript to catch and every gap becomes another round trip.
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Pre-Trip is a rigorous screen, not legal advice. Counsel decides; we help you arrive prepared.