Reference
Glossary
Canonical definitions of terms used in the Mediary trust verification protocol. These definitions are authoritative — if a term is used differently elsewhere, this glossary is the source of truth.
Mediary's core vocabulary includes 10 defined terms. The Trust Readiness Index (TRI) is the central metric — a score from 0 to 100 derived from 8 independently verified trust signals. Each signal follows the Evidence → Verification → Signal → TRI chain. See how these concepts apply in the business context or the developer integration guide.
- Trust Readiness Index (TRI)
- A score from 0 to 100 representing a business's verified trust state. Derived deterministically from 8 trust signals. Split into Human Trust Readiness (HTR) and Machine Trust Readiness (MTR). The TRI is not a reputation score, popularity ranking, or sentiment metric — it represents verified trust state for decision-making.
- Trust Profile
- A machine-readable JSON document containing all verified signals for a business entity. Accessible via REST API at /entities/{id}/trust.json. Includes TRI score, individual signal statuses, verification timestamps, and confidence level. AI agents query trust profiles to decide which businesses to recommend.
- Trust Signals
- The 8 verifiable indicators that Mediary evaluates for each business: domain ownership, business registration, SSL certificate, DNS configuration, contact information, social presence, legal compliance, and operational history. Each signal is independently verified against authoritative sources.
- Entity
- A business or service being evaluated by the Mediary protocol. Each entity is identified by its domain name. An entity can claim its domain, submit evidence for verification, and publish a trust profile.
- Evidence
- Submitted proof of a claim. For example, a DNS TXT record proves domain ownership. A Companies House registration number proves business registration. Evidence is submitted by the entity and verified by the protocol.
- Verification
- The process of validating evidence against authoritative sources. Mediary checks DNS records against domain registrars, SSL certificates against certificate authorities, and business registration against Companies House and equivalent registries. Verification is automated and repeatable.
- Signal
- An individual trust indicator derived from verified evidence. Each of the 8 trust signals has a status (verified, unverified, or pending) and a verification timestamp. Signals combine to produce the TRI score.
- Human Trust Readiness (HTR)
- The subset of the TRI score that reflects trust signals relevant to human evaluation — business registration, contact information, legal compliance, and operational history. HTR signals are verifiable facts that humans also consider when evaluating businesses.
- Machine Trust Readiness (MTR)
- The subset of the TRI score that reflects trust signals optimised for machine consumption — domain ownership, SSL certificate, DNS configuration, and structured data availability. MTR signals ensure AI agents can technically access and parse trust data.
- Domain Claim
- The process of proving ownership of a domain by adding a DNS TXT record. Similar to domain verification in Google Search Console. Once the DNS record propagates (typically 15 minutes, up to 48 hours), Mediary confirms domain ownership automatically.