Start with the legal operator and exact domain
Find the legal business name, licence number and regulator named in the site’s footer or terms. Record the domain in the browser, including any redirect. A brand name alone may be shared across different businesses or regional services.
Open the regulator’s official website independently. Do not rely only on a badge that links to a page made to look like a register. For Great Britain, start with the Gambling Commission’s public register.
Match the record rather than recognising the name
Check these fields where the register provides them:
- Legal business and trading names.
- Exact website or authorised domain.
- Current licence status and permitted activities.
- Any relevant conditions or published regulatory action.
A search result is not enough. Registers may retain historical or ended licences, so open the record and read its status. A valid licence number copied onto another domain does not authorise that other site.
Check the service for your location
A company can hold several licences, each for a different service or market. Match the operator named in the terms presented to you with the relevant authority for your location. A website being reachable is not evidence that you may legally use it.
For a fictional example, a familiar brand’s international domain may name company A, while its local domain names company B. Finding company A on a register does not settle whether the service offered by company B is authorised. Resolve that mismatch before sending money or documents.
Save enough detail to repeat the check
Keep the register URL, legal business name, licence reference, website address and date you checked. Record the status you actually saw rather than writing only “licensed”. A screenshot of a logo on the casino page is not the register result.
If the name or domain changes later, repeat the comparison using the terms then presented to you. Do not carry a previous check across to another brand or regional account. If the register does not show enough detail to resolve a mismatch, mark it unresolved and contact the regulator through its own site.
Know what this check cannot prove
A current register entry helps identify an accountable operator. It does not verify every bonus, guarantee payment or remove the possibility of gambling harm. Our licence-protection guide explains the limits.
Likewise, a comparison site’s score, studio logo or payment icon is not a substitute for the register. CasinoSherpa’s supplied comparison fields need independent checking against the operator’s current information.
Stop if a detail cannot be reconciled
Ask the operator or regulator through its official contact route. Save the URL, licence details and the question you asked. Do not make a small “test deposit” to investigate an uncertain identity.
Once the operator and service are clear, use our pre-deposit checklist to review the account, offer and withdrawal conditions separately.