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July 2, 2026Reputation & TrustTrustFuel editorial1 min read

Why verified reviews beat open review platforms

Verified reviews win with Benjamin König comparing verified and unverified review cards

Every founder knows the fear: a claim becomes public before the customer relationship is clear, the score moves immediately, and the business has to prove the missing context after the damage is visible. Open submission models can create exactly that sequence.

Customers need a better standard too. Praise and criticism are more useful when people can understand where a review came from, whether a real relationship existed and which checks were completed.

One clear label, with the source preserved

TrustFuel presents every published customer voice as a Verified Review. Text, video and result screenshots stay connected to their customer record and consent trail. Reviews submitted directly on a company profile require email confirmation and a customer or purchase check before verification.

The format changes, but the public language stays simple. TrustFuel still keeps the verification path visible instead of pretending every route provides identical evidence.

Direct reviews receive an additional fairness protection after verification. The business can reply publicly, but cannot rewrite, hide or delete that review through TrustFuel. Honest praise and honest criticism follow the same rule.

Why this matters for your score

A public total counts each underlying Verified Review once. Only entries with a star rating contribute to the displayed average, so an unscored video or screenshot does not silently change the score.

That creates a reputation layer that is easier to understand and easier to explain. See the full TrustFuel model, or start collecting Verified Reviews.

Imprint

Last updated: July 16, 2026

This is a translation for convenience. The legally binding version is the German original at https://trustfuel.ai/de/legal/impressum.

Information pursuant to § 5 DDG

ScaleFaktor L.L.C.

30 N Gould St, Ste N Sheridan, WY 82801 United States

Represented by

The management of ScaleFaktor L.L.C.

Contact

Email: [email protected] Website: https://trustfuel.ai Application: https://app.trustfuel.ai

Register entry

Registered as a Limited Liability Company (L.L.C.) in the U.S. state of Wyoming, USA (Wyoming Secretary of State).

Value added tax

As a company established outside the European Union, we do not hold a VAT identification number pursuant to § 27a UStG.

Responsible for content pursuant to § 18 (2) MStV

ScaleFaktor L.L.C.

30 N Gould St, Ste N Sheridan, WY 82801 United States

Service

TrustFuel is a software service for collecting, managing, verifying, and displaying testimonials and customer reviews.

Consumer dispute resolution

We are neither obliged nor willing to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.

Liability for content and links

The contents of this website were created with the greatest care. However, we assume no liability for their accuracy, completeness, or timeliness. The operators of external links are solely responsible for their content. At the time of linking, no legal violations were apparent. Mandatory legal rights remain unaffected.

Questions about this imprint: [email protected]

Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 17, 2026

ScaleFaktor L.L.C. operates TrustFuel. This policy explains how we handle personal data when you visit our website, create an account, use the service, submit content, or interact with a public TrustFuel profile or widget.

The data we process depends on how you use TrustFuel. Mandatory privacy rights under applicable law are not limited by this policy.

1. Who is responsible

ScaleFaktor L.L.C., 30 N Gould St, Ste N, Sheridan, WY 82801, United States, is responsible for the TrustFuel website, accounts, billing relationship, and operation of the platform.

When a business uses TrustFuel to collect or publish customer content, that business may be the controller for the collection and use of that content. Depending on the context, TrustFuel acts as its service provider or processor. The business remains responsible for its collection purpose, notices, permissions, and lawful use of customer content.

2. Data we collect

We collect information you provide, information generated through use of the service, and limited technical information needed to operate and protect TrustFuel.

  • Account and team data, such as name, email address, authentication records, role, and language preference.
  • Checkout lead data entered before account creation, such as normalized email address, selected plan and billing interval, language, optional referral path, and checkout progress. This operational record is not marketing consent and does not trigger marketing messages.
  • Company and public profile data, such as company name, website, logo, address, support contact, profile settings, and plan.
  • Testimonials, reviews, ratings, names, email addresses, text, images, uploaded files, and links to video or other media that users submit.
  • Verification and consent evidence, such as confirmation status, timestamp, IP address, user agent, the wording accepted, signature data where used, and purchase evidence supplied for verification.
  • Billing and subscription data. Payment card details are handled by our payment provider and are not stored by TrustFuel in full.
  • Usage, security, and support data, such as page and widget events, log data, approximate location derived from IP, device information, support messages, and abuse-prevention signals.

3. Why we use personal data

We use personal data to provide accounts and product features, publish content selected by customers, verify reviews, document permissions, process subscriptions, send transactional messages, provide support, measure product performance, prevent abuse, secure the service, comply with law, and establish or defend legal claims.

Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, our legal bases include performing a contract, taking requested pre-contract steps, consent, compliance with legal obligations, and legitimate interests such as operating, improving, measuring, and protecting TrustFuel. Where a business controls the data, its own legal basis also applies.

4. Testimonials, reviews, and verification

A customer record may appear on a public profile, widget, or other page when the relevant publishing settings allow it. Public profiles present text, video, screenshots, and direct reviews under the clear label Verified Reviews while retaining the source and verification evidence attached to each record.

Reviews submitted directly on a public profile follow email and customer or purchase verification. After verification, the reviewed business can reply but cannot hide, rewrite, or delete that direct review through the product. Permission-backed testimonials collected or imported by a business remain subject to that business's publication controls. The common public label does not remove this distinction.

The exact permission or rights statement shown in a collection form governs the permission granted for that submission. We retain the associated evidence so the submitter, collecting business, and TrustFuel can document what was accepted. Requests involving content should be addressed to the collecting business and may also be sent to us.

Purchase evidence used for verification is treated as private verification material and is not displayed publicly unless the submitter independently chooses to publish it elsewhere.

5. Payments, AI features, and embedded media

Our payment provider processes subscription and transaction information. TrustFuel receives information such as customer, subscription, invoice, payment status, and limited payment method details needed to administer the account.

Some optional AI features use an API key supplied by the account owner. We protect stored keys and send the requested content to the selected AI provider only to perform that feature. The provider's terms and privacy practices also apply. TrustFuel does not use customer content to train its own general-purpose AI model.

For automatic public-profile translation, TrustFuel may send only the public text fields that require translation to OpenAI through a platform-managed API connection. A public text field can include a person or brand mentioned by its author, but we do not add separate author, contact, or account names to the translation request. We also do not include email addresses, private purchase evidence, uploaded media, or other private verification material. The translated output is stored by TrustFuel so later page views do not repeat the request. Translation requests use the API option store: false. OpenAI's API data controls and legally required security processing still apply. The original language remains the source record because automated translations can contain errors.

Content may link to or embed third-party media services such as YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, or Loom. Loading that media can disclose technical data to the provider and is governed by the provider's policies.

6. Functional storage and external media

TrustFuel uses functional cookies or similar browser storage only where they are needed for authentication, security, language and interface preferences, referral attribution, and service delivery. The marketing website does not load advertising or analytics tags.

Embedded media, bot protection, checkout, and other features requested by you may connect to their respective providers. Browser controls can limit cookies and browser storage, although blocking functional storage may prevent parts of TrustFuel from working.

7. Service providers and disclosures

We use service providers for database, authentication, file storage, hosting, content delivery, bot protection, transactional email, payments, AI translation, analytics, and support. Current core providers include Supabase, Stripe, Cloudflare, Vercel, OpenAI where automatic translation is enabled, and our transactional email provider. Optional features may also involve the AI or media provider selected by the account owner.

We disclose data only as needed to operate the service, at a customer's direction, in a corporate transaction with appropriate safeguards, to comply with valid legal requests, or to protect users, TrustFuel, and others. We do not sell personal data for money.

8. International transfers, retention, and security

TrustFuel is operated by a United States company and uses providers that may process data in the United States or other countries. Where required, we rely on lawful transfer mechanisms and contractual safeguards appropriate to the transfer.

We retain data for as long as needed to provide the service, maintain the account, document permissions and verification, meet legal and accounting duties, prevent abuse, resolve disputes, and enforce agreements. Retention can vary by data type and context. Backups and security records may remain for a limited period after deletion from active systems.

An operational checkout lead is assigned an expiry 90 days after its latest checkout interaction. After that date, the record is eligible for deletion. TrustFuel deletes expired records in bounded batches during later checkout-lead activity or another authorized cleanup run. If no such cleanup is triggered, deletion may occur after the 90-day date rather than exactly when it is reached. The short-lived checkout draft in the browser expires after 30 minutes.

We use technical and organizational safeguards designed to protect data, including access controls and encryption where appropriate. No online service can guarantee absolute security.

9. Your choices and rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, or receive your personal data, object to certain processing, withdraw consent for future processing, or complain to a data protection authority. Some rights are subject to legal exceptions and the responsibilities of the business that collected the data.

Account owners can manage much of their company and content data in the product. Review authors and testimonial submitters may contact the collecting business or TrustFuel. A request to remove personal data can be evaluated separately from the continued existence of a lawful aggregate rating or non-identifying record.

10. Children and policy changes

TrustFuel is intended for businesses and is not directed to children. Do not submit personal data about a child unless you have the authority and lawful basis to do so.

We may update this policy when the service, providers, or legal requirements change. We will post the revised version with a new update date and provide additional notice when required.

Privacy questions or requests: [email protected]

Terms of Service

Last updated: July 16, 2026

These Terms of Service form an agreement between the person or organization using TrustFuel and ScaleFaktor L.L.C. as the operator of TrustFuel. By creating an account, purchasing a subscription, or using TrustFuel, you agree to these terms.

If you use TrustFuel for an organization, you confirm that you have authority to bind that organization. Mandatory rights that cannot lawfully be waived remain unaffected.

1. Eligibility and accounts

You must be at least 18 years old or the legal age required to enter a binding agreement. You are responsible for accurate account information, authorized team access, and activity under your account. Protect login links, codes, API keys, and connected accounts, and notify us promptly of suspected unauthorized access.

2. The service

TrustFuel provides tools to collect, manage, verify, organize, and display testimonials and reviews through forms, public profiles, widgets, and related features. Features, limits, and availability depend on the active plan. We may improve or change the service while preserving the material value of an active paid plan.

Subscriptions are generally assigned per company. You may not use one company subscription to operate unrelated companies unless the plan or a written agreement expressly allows it.

3. Plans, billing, and cancellation

Current plans, included features, billing intervals, and prices are shown in the pricing section on the TrustFuel homepage or in a written offer. Checkout information presented at purchase forms part of the order. Prices exclude applicable taxes unless stated otherwise.

Paid subscriptions renew for the selected monthly or yearly interval until canceled. You authorize our payment provider to charge the payment method on file. You may cancel future renewal through the account or available support channel. Access normally continues through the paid billing period. Refunds are provided only where stated at purchase or required by law.

We may change future pricing with advance notice appropriate to the circumstances. A change does not alter a billing period already paid for.

4. Customer content and permissions

You retain ownership of content you upload or control. You grant TrustFuel a non-exclusive license to host, copy, process, adapt for technical presentation, and display that content only as needed to provide, secure, support, and improve the service and as directed by your product settings.

You must have all permissions and lawful bases needed to collect, upload, publish, and use content and personal data. You are responsible for your forms, notices, claims, publishing decisions, and use of exported or embedded content.

For content submitted through a collection form, the exact rights and consent wording displayed and accepted in that submission controls the permission between the submitter and the collecting business. TrustFuel may retain evidence of that acceptance and make it available to the relevant parties.

5. Honest proof and verified reviews

You may not create, purchase, fabricate, manipulate, or solicit deceptive testimonials, ratings, or reviews. Incentives must not require a positive statement or specific rating and must be disclosed where law or platform rules require it.

Verified reviews use TrustFuel's verification workflow. A reviewed business may respond but may not hide or delete a verified review through the product. TrustFuel may investigate, withhold, label, or remove content that is fraudulent, unlawful, violates these terms, infringes rights, exposes sensitive information, or cannot be reasonably verified.

6. Optional AI and third-party services

Optional AI features may use credentials and providers selected by you. You are responsible for your right to send the input, reviewing generated output, and complying with the provider's terms. AI output may be inaccurate and must not be treated as verified fact without review.

TrustFuel may link to or interoperate with third-party services, payment providers, media hosts, and websites. Their terms, availability, and data practices are outside our control. We are not responsible for third-party services except where applicable law provides otherwise.

7. Acceptable use

You may not use TrustFuel to break the law, infringe rights, harass or deceive people, distribute malware or spam, expose sensitive data without authority, interfere with security or availability, bypass limits or verification, scrape the service in an unauthorized manner, resell access without permission, or reverse engineer the service except where the law expressly permits it.

8. TrustFuel intellectual property

TrustFuel, its software, visual system, documentation, trademarks, and content supplied by us are owned by ScaleFaktor L.L.C. or its licensors. These terms give you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use the service during your authorized access. They do not transfer ownership of TrustFuel intellectual property.

Feedback may be used to improve TrustFuel without restriction or payment, provided we do not identify you publicly as its source without permission.

9. Suspension and termination

You may stop using TrustFuel and cancel renewal at any time. We may suspend or terminate access when payment is overdue, the account creates a security or legal risk, use violates these terms, or continued service would expose TrustFuel or others to material harm. Where practical, we will provide notice and a chance to cure.

After termination, your right to use the service ends. Provisions that by their nature should survive, including payment obligations, licenses needed for prior operation, intellectual property, disclaimers, liability limits, and dispute terms, remain effective. Data handling after termination follows our Privacy Policy and legal obligations.

10. Availability and warranties

We work to keep TrustFuel reliable and secure, but do not promise uninterrupted or error-free operation. Maintenance, provider failures, internet conditions, security events, and changes outside our control can affect availability.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, TrustFuel is provided as available and without implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, or guaranteed business results. Nothing in these terms excludes a warranty that cannot lawfully be excluded.

11. Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, neither party is liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive loss, or for lost profits, revenue, goodwill, or data, arising from the service. ScaleFaktor L.L.C.'s aggregate liability arising from TrustFuel is limited to the amount paid for the affected service during the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim.

These limits do not apply where liability cannot legally be limited, including liability for intentional misconduct, fraud, or other mandatory categories under applicable law.

12. Governing law and changes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Wyoming, United States, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Disputes may be brought before a court with competent jurisdiction in Wyoming, unless mandatory law gives a party the right to use another forum.

We may update these terms to reflect product, provider, security, or legal changes. The updated terms will show a new date. For a material change affecting an active paid subscription, we will provide notice appropriate to the circumstances before the change takes effect.

Questions about these terms: [email protected]

Copyright

Last updated: July 16, 2026

This is a translation for convenience. The legally binding version is the German original at https://trustfuel.ai/de/legal/urheberrecht.

Rights holder: ScaleFaktor L.L.C. Website: https://trustfuel.ai Application: https://app.trustfuel.ai Contact: [email protected] Version: July 16, 2026

§ 1 Copying is not tolerated

(1) The contents of the TrustFuel website and application are not freely available building material for competitors, copycats, or operators of AI-powered copying tools.

(2) All legally protected contents and components, including source and compiled code, texts, advertising copy, graphics, photographs, illustrations, videos, animations, icons, logos, brand elements, individual user interfaces, creative design elements, documentation, and other assets, are owned by ScaleFaktor L.L.C. or lawfully used by us. All rights are expressly reserved.

(3) Protected components may not be copied, extracted, reproduced, adapted, rebuilt, published, distributed, sold, sublicensed, stripped of rights notices, or commercially exploited without prior written permission, unless a statutory permission applies.

(4) You may view and use TrustFuel materials only for legitimate use of the service and internal evaluation. A subscription, account, or website visit does not transfer ownership of our materials.

§ 2 Customer and reviewer content

(1) Testimonials, reviews, logos, images, videos, and other content supplied by customers, testimonial submitters, or review authors remain owned by their respective rights holders. Their appearance on TrustFuel does not make that content public domain or transfer it to ScaleFaktor L.L.C.

(2) Use of this content is governed by the permission granted by its rights holder, the relevant TrustFuel terms, and the exact rights or consent wording accepted in the collection form. Public visibility is not permission for unrelated third parties to reuse the content.

§ 3 AI does not turn a copy into an original

(1) The restrictions in this notice expressly apply when generative AI, AI website builders, scraping systems, automated browsers, design-reproduction tools, or comparable technologies are used.

(2) Anyone who uses our website, application, or individual protected components as a template and has the result regenerated, rewritten, redesigned, or technically reconstructed by an AI system does not thereby obtain permission to use it. AI-assisted reproduction can also infringe rights. The person who commissions, publishes, distributes, or economically exploits it remains responsible.

(3) A claim that a tool newly generated the code, copy, or design does not shield anyone from legal consequences when protected content or forms of expression were in fact adopted without authorization.

§ 4 We enforce our rights

(1) Established or sufficiently substantiated infringements are not treated as trivial. ScaleFaktor L.L.C. reserves the right to preserve evidence, demand information and cessation, send warning notices or takedown notifications, inform hosting and platform providers, and consistently assert all available claims.

(2) To the extent legally permissible, matters may be handed directly to legal counsel without prior informal contact. ScaleFaktor L.L.C. expressly reserves the right to pursue every available claim and admissible measure to the fullest extent permitted by law. This may include cessation, removal, information, accounting, surrender or destruction of infringing materials, damages, disgorgement of profits, reimbursement of enforcement costs, interim relief, and other civil, administrative, or criminal measures provided by law.

§ 5 International legal enforcement

(1) An infringer's domicile or residence outside the country of ScaleFaktor L.L.C. does not prevent legal enforcement. Where permitted by the applicable law and where the relevant court has international, territorial, and subject-matter jurisdiction, ScaleFaktor L.L.C. expressly reserves the right to assert claims in any competent jurisdiction, including the infringer's domicile, habitual residence, or place of business, the place of infringement, or any other legally available forum.

(2) If an infringer is located in Germany and German courts have jurisdiction, enforcement may take place in Germany. If an infringer is located in the United States and courts there have jurisdiction, enforcement may take place in the United States. The same principle applies to other states and jurisdictions.

(3) ScaleFaktor L.L.C. reserves the right to engage local attorneys, investigation service providers, platform procedures, and judicial measures in the relevant country. A cross-border infringement will not be ignored or pursued less consistently merely because enforcement requires additional effort.

(4) No one should assume that an infringement will remain without consequences merely because it appears small, was carried out automatically, affects only part of a page, or was disguised with AI.

§ 6 Brands and identity

(1) TrustFuel, associated logos, product names, brand elements, trade dress, and other indications of origin may not be used without permission. This applies particularly to uses that suggest a connection, approval, partnership, sponsorship, endorsement, or economic affiliation with ScaleFaktor L.L.C. or that may cause confusion.

(2) Other names and logos displayed through customer or reviewer content belong to their respective owners. Their display does not imply that ScaleFaktor L.L.C. grants permission to use them.

(3) Unauthorized use of our brand identity is pursued consistently.

§ 7 Active 24/7 monitoring and digital markers

(1) ScaleFaktor L.L.C. continuously monitors the publicly accessible internet for possible unauthorized adoption of protected content, code structures, design elements, brand components, and digital assets. Automated search, comparison, and notification systems may be used for this purpose.

(2) Certain components of our code and digital assets contain individual identifiers, markers, or other characteristics that support recognition and attribution of possible unauthorized adoption. These measures support documentation, preservation of evidence, and technical analysis of suspicious publications.

(3) Anyone who believes that code snippets, structures, design elements, copy, or assets can be adopted unnoticed, slightly modified, or regenerated by an AI system should not assume that such use will remain hidden.

(4) When possible matches are detected, our systems generate notices and alerts. These are reviewed professionally, including with AI-assisted analysis where appropriate, to assess whether protected content or forms of expression may have been adopted. Substantiated cases may be forwarded promptly to the responsible internal team and, where necessary, external attorneys for legal assessment and enforcement.

(5) Technical measures support detection and evidence preservation. Legal assessment always depends on the specific facts and available evidence. We do not claim that a technical characteristic alone can reliably identify the particular tool used in an infringement.

§ 8 No permission through silence

(1) Public accessibility does not mean that content may be copied or commercially rebuilt. A failure to take immediate action does not constitute consent, a license, or a waiver of existing rights.

(2) This notice claims no rights in mere ideas, general concepts, facts, standard functions, public-domain content, or other elements not protected under applicable law. Legally permitted uses and validly granted licenses remain unaffected.

§ 9 Open-source and third-party materials

Open-source software and third-party materials remain subject to their own licenses and notices. Those licenses control where they conflict with this notice.

§ 10 Permissions and infringement reports

(1) Requests for permission and notices of possible infringement should be sent to [email protected].

(2) If you believe content available through TrustFuel infringes your rights, identify the protected work, the disputed material and its location, your contact information, and the basis for your claim. We may request additional information needed to assess the notice.

(3) Rights holder and postal contact: ScaleFaktor L.L.C., 30 N Gould St, Ste N, Sheridan, WY 82801, United States.

§ 11 Concluding legal note

(1) The scope of protection, available claims, forums, and admissible measures are determined by the applicable law and the circumstances of each case. No wording in this notice limits broader rights or claims held by ScaleFaktor L.L.C.

© 2026 ScaleFaktor L.L.C. All rights reserved. Unauthorized copying and AI-assisted rebuilding are not tolerated.

Copyright and rights notices: [email protected]