Our standards
How stories on Proofpoints work
Proofpoints is where customer stories live. We’re not a review site, and we’re not an independent certifier. We’re a publishing platform with rules; and we think the rules matter more than the claims.
Here’s what every story published on Proofpoints must meet.
Every story features a real, named person
Stories on Proofpoints feature a named individual at a named organisation. No anonymous quotes, no composite customers, no “a leading enterprise in the financial sector.” If a story is here, you can see who’s behind it.
Every story is approved by the person it features
Before a story is published, the customer featured in it reviews the full text and gives explicit approval through our platform. We record when that approval was given. The “Customer-approved” mark on a story means exactly that: this person read this story and signed off on it.
Vendors are disclosed
Stories on Proofpoints are created by or on behalf of the companies they describe. Those companies are Proofpoints clients. We say this plainly because pretending otherwise would be the opposite of what this platform stands for. What we add isn’t independence; it’s accountability: a named customer, a recorded approval, a permanent home.
Approvals have dates, and stories have history
Every story shows when it was published and when it was last approved. If a story is materially updated, it goes back to the customer for re-approval. Stale claims don’t get to hide behind old approvals.
What we don't do
We don’t fact-check the performance claims, metrics, or outcomes described in stories. We don’t rank, score, or rate vendors. We don’t accept payment to alter our standards. A story being on Proofpoints means it met the rules above; nothing more, and nothing less.
Built to be found
Every story on Proofpoints is optimised for AEO and GEO – answer-engine and generative-engine optimisation. Each one carries a canonical URL, structured schema.org markup (the named customer, their approval, the quotes, the results), and a machine-readable FAQ, so search engines and AI assistants can read, cite, and surface it accurately. A customer story that no one can find isn’t doing its job; we make sure yours can be found and quoted – on the record, with the customer’s name on it.
Questions or concerns
If you believe a story on Proofpoints misrepresents you or breaches these standards, contact us at standards@proofpoints.com. We review every report.