Domain verification
Before I do anything for a site, you prove it's yours — with one DNS record. Only the owner of a domain can edit its DNS zone, so a matching record is proof of control. Add the record, ask me to check, and I'm satisfied the moment it resolves.
There's a single special host to add on your domain — a verification host ARIA reserves for you — and two interchangeable ways to prove you control it. Both carry a per-domain secret token ARIA generates. You never type any of it: ARIA shows the exact records, already filled in with your token, on the domain page, ready to copy.
| Method | How it proves ownership | Reach for it when |
|---|---|---|
| TXT record | A text value on the verification host that carries your token. | Your DNS host adds text records quickly — the common case. |
| CNAME record | A redirect from the verification host to an ARIA address that carries your token. | You'd rather point a record at ARIA than paste a value. |
Either method works equally well — pick whichever your DNS host makes easy. Some providers add a TXT value in seconds; others prefer a CNAME. You only need one of them to match.
There's no background polling and no waiting on me. You add the record, then you tell me when to look.
Add one record at your DNS host. A TXT or a CNAME at the verification host, copied from the domain page.
Ask me to check. Click Check DNS now. I look up TXT first, then CNAME, and verify the moment one matches.
Verified. Crawling begins within seconds, and the rest of the stack switches on.
A check that finds nothing — record not added yet, a DNS timeout, or no data at the name — simply reads as not verified yet, never an error. DNS changes take a few minutes to propagate, so just re-check after a short wait.
A DNS record proves ownership in a way that's hard to fake and easy to keep: only whoever controls the zone can create it. It works on any hosting platform, and it survives redeploys — unlike an uploaded file or a meta tag, which a fresh deploy can quietly drop.
Verification is the gate to everything else. A verified domain is the only one I'll crawl, the only one that gets a public chat page, and the only one I probe for citations. Until the record matches, the domain sits pending and nothing runs. Once it's verified, see how ARIA works for the full stack that starts moving.