Better calls.
Clearer choices.
Lead Generator Certification. Standards for honest introductions, responsible advertising, and respect for the person seeking care.
Explore the standardsEvery introduction
should start with honesty.
For participating lead generators and the call centers and partners acting on their behalf.
Seven standards.
Every caller.
Be open, transparent, and honest.
Make ownership, websites, provider relationships, and compensation clear. Describe services accurately and disclose relationships before recommending care or transferring callers.
Practice responsible advertising.
Follow marketing, privacy, consent, and referral rules. No conquest advertising, impersonation, misleading domains, borrowed branding, or false affiliations to divert another provider’s callers.
Begin with a clear introduction.
Begin with a clear script or recording introducing your organization, what you do, and whom you represent. Help callers understand whom they’ve reached before the conversation continues.
Say who you are and what you do.
Disclose your intermediary role and represented providers before collecting sensitive information or recommending care. Make the same role clear on your website and advertising.
Respect whom the caller meant to reach.
If a caller is trying to reach another provider, clearly explain whom they’ve reached and any relationship. Offer a transfer with consent or verified contact details. Respect their choice.
Make sure there is another way forward.
Cannot help? Offer U.S. callers a SAMHSA transfer with consent, or its number and FindTreatment.gov. Elsewhere, offer local public referrals. Urgent safety needs come first.
SAMHSA’s National Helpline · 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
Remove the clock from compensation.
No call-duration payment thresholds. Never prolong calls, delay transfers, or pressure callers to earn payment. The introduction must never become a payment trigger.
A conversation
backed by evidence.
We review actual practices, explain concerns, and make room for correction.
Apply openly.
Tell us who you are, how you work, and where you are improving. Submitting an application is not certification.
Review the real experience.
Our team reviews your disclosures, advertising, call handling, and compensation practices against all seven standards. We may ask for redacted policies, scripts, and contract terms or a demonstration.
Resolve questions together.
We explain concerns, welcome corrections, and reconsider decisions as practices improve. Every review leaves a path forward.
Earn and maintain recognition.
A certification badge may be used only after written approval covering the named business, websites, and operations. Approval must state the review date, scope, and renewal date. Continued use requires meeting the standards and reporting material changes. If those conditions are not met, badge use must pause while the concerns are reviewed.
Clear standards.
Room for improvement.
Certification reviews business practices. It does not buy referrals or endorse clinical care.
Trust & safety