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Cloud & IT Certification Verification

How to Verify a Google Cloud Certification

Google Cloud certifications are issued via Credly and Google's Accredible platform. Unlike AWS or Microsoft, Google does not maintain a standalone public verification portal — verification goes through badge links. Understanding how to read those links protects against fabricated credentials.

· 6 min read

Quick answer

Ask the candidate to share their Google Cloud certification badge URL from either Credly (credly.com/badges/...) or Google's Accredible portal (google.accredible.com). Navigate to the live URL — not a screenshot. The badge page shows the earner name, certification name, issue date, and expiration date. Always verify via the live URL, not a PDF or image.

Google Cloud certification levels

Google Cloud offers certifications at three levels, covering a range of roles from foundational cloud literacy to advanced specializations:

Foundational

No experience required

Cloud Digital Leader — covers Google Cloud concepts, products, and business value. Not a technical role-based certification. Suitable for non-technical stakeholders.

Associate

6+ months experience recommended

Associate Cloud Engineer — deploying, monitoring, and managing Google Cloud solutions. The most common entry-level technical credential. Good baseline for cloud operations roles.

Professional

3+ years industry experience recommended

Professional-level certifications cover specific domains at depth. Key credentials:

  • › Professional Cloud Architect — design, develop, and manage Google Cloud solutions
  • › Professional Data Engineer — data pipelines, BigQuery, ML model management
  • › Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer — CI/CD, SRE practices on Google Cloud
  • › Professional Cloud Security Engineer — cloud security, IAM, compliance
  • › Professional Cloud Network Engineer — VPC design, hybrid connectivity, load balancing
  • › Professional Machine Learning Engineer — ML model development and deployment on Vertex AI

How to verify a Google Cloud certification

Method 1: Credly badge link (most common)

Google Cloud certifications are issued as digital badges on Credly. When a candidate earns a certification, Credly sends them a shareable badge URL in the format: credly.com/badges/[unique-id]

  1. Ask the candidate to send you the badge URL (not a screenshot)
  2. Navigate to the URL in your browser
  3. Confirm the earner name matches the candidate
  4. Check that the certification name is exactly what was claimed
  5. Verify the expiration date — Google Cloud certs expire after 2 years

Method 2: Google Accredible portal

Some Google Cloud certifications are also issued through Accredible at google.accredible.com. Candidates can share a credential URL directly from their Accredible certificate.

The Accredible URL format is typically: google.accredible.com/[credential-id]. The page displays the credential holder, certification name, issue date, and expiration date without requiring login.

Method 3: Google Cloud skills profile

Google Cloud also provides a skills profile page that candidates can make public. Ask the candidate to share their Google Cloud public profile URL, which lists all active certifications associated with their Google account. This supplements badge verification but should not replace it.

Never accept screenshots as verification

Badge images and certificate PDFs can be edited. The only reliable verification method is accessing the live badge URL directly in a browser. A live Credly or Accredible URL cannot be fabricated — it either resolves to a valid credential or it does not.

Expiration and recertification

Google Cloud certifications expire after 2 years from the exam date. Recertification requires passing the current version of the exam — there is no continuing education pathway. An expired Google Cloud certification means the candidate has not kept pace with the platform's evolution.

Google Cloud releases new exam versions when the platform changes significantly. A candidate who holds a Professional Cloud Architect earned in 2022 and has not recertified will have an expired credential — the badge expiration date shows this explicitly.

Google Cloud vs. AWS vs. Azure: verification approach comparison

Platform Primary verification method Expiration
Google Cloud Credly badge URL or google.accredible.com 2 years
AWS aws.amazon.com/verification (validation number) or Credly badge 3 years
Microsoft Azure Microsoft Learn shared transcript link 1 year (role-based)

Verify the degree behind the certification

Many cloud architect and engineer roles require a computer science or engineering degree alongside the certification. Use VerifyED to confirm that a candidate's degree is from a legitimately accredited institution — and catch diploma mill credentials in your cloud engineering hiring pipeline.

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