Comprehensive Guide to GoHighLevel A2P 10DLC Registration

The industry of A2P (Application to Person) is quickly changing with the latest A2P 10DLC regulations. As marketers and businesses, having detailed knowledge of the verification process and best practices is imperative. When it comes to GoHighLevel A2P 10DLC registration, even tiny mistakes can lead to rejection.

Understanding A2P 10DLC

A2P is a short form of the term “Application to Person.” It is a system through which applications such as Twilio, HighLevel, Text Magic, and others allow messages to be sent to real people. If you have ever received text notifications from promotional campaigns or businesses, that is A2P at work.

But why is A2P so important? This is because it impacts how businesses across various niches can interact with their clients. If you and your client do not adhere to A2P guidelines, then sending SMS messages to customers can prove to be significantly difficult. This can cause issues for campaigns that involve speed-to-lead services or database reactivation.

Why Go for A2P 10DLC Verification?

This section covers the list of advantages for A2P 10DLC verification:

Higher Deliverability: Organizations that meet the requirements for A2P 10DLC are likely to see reduced filtering of their messages.

Better Throughput: Credible companies can get more throughput as per their Trust Score.

Lower Cost: 10DLC numbers are comparatively cheaper than short codes, which can be expensive.

Safer Option for Customers: There is a reduced likelihood of customers receiving spam or unwanted messages.

What Are the Two Main Components of A2P Regulation?

The two core components of A2P regulation are listed as follows:

Brand Registration: This deals with putting in all the details of your organization to validate that you are a legit business aiming to connect with the customers.
Campaign Registration: In this part, businesses need to register the messages they will be sending to the customers.

Overall, A2P regulations are designed to improve the quality of SMS marketing by making sure that there is transparency and spam is avoided. In GoHighLevel, the registration is carried out via the Phone System Trust Center. GoHighLevel has incorporated the TCR (The Campaign Registry) to align with the carrier’s needs while making it simple for businesses to onboard.

What Are the Main Types of Brand Registration?

There are four main types of brand registration, with each having its own advantages and disadvantages:

Toll-free Number:

Key Characteristics & Description: The registration process is quite simple. There is no requirement for a tax ID, registration fees, etc. There is no sending limit as well.
Eligibility: This is open to all users. You do not require a particular business address.
Daily Sending Limit: None.
Additional Remarks: It can have limited pick-up/open rates when compared to local ones.

Standard:

Key Characteristics and Description: It specializes in a greater volume of messaging.
Eligibility: Businesses who have a tax ID and send more than 6,000 segments each day are eligible.
Daily Sending Limit: There is no established limit. There can be restrictions for businesses that apply to 200,000 segments.

Sole Prop:

Eligibility: Businesses that do not have a tax ID and have only one employee. Businesses that require Canadian or US business address. Customers who have an EIN or more than 2 employees are not eligible.
Daily Sending Limit: Around 3,000 segments.
Additional Notes: Its downside is that only one phone number is permitted.

Low Volume Standard:

Key Characteristics & Description: It is best for businesses with a Tax ID and those who have lower messaging volumes.
Eligibility: Suitable for businesses having a Tax ID but only needing to send 6,000 or fewer segments each day.
Daily Sending Limit: Around 6,000 segments.

What Are the Key Steps to Ensure A2P Verification in GoHighLevel?

The A2P 10DLC verification process involves a 3-step process mentioned as follows:

Brand Registration:

The client needs to send business details for verification. If your brand submissions get failed or are rejected, you need to update and resubmit. It is important to get your brand submission approved before moving forward with your campaign submission.

Campaign Registration:

Once your brand is approved, you need to review your campaign submission. The campaign submission includes the details about your business SMS/MMS usage and messaging. As it is true with brand registration, you need to update your submission and resubmit.

Carrier Propagation:

Once your brand and campaign are approved, it can take close to 3 days or more for carriers to get your verification update. While there is no restriction in sending messages as soon as your verification is done, you will find that a few of your messages have failed. You will receive an error code mentioning that A2P approval has not been found. Nothing to worry about as this is quite normal, and it can take numerous business days for all carriers to receive your verified information. However, if you see that your issue is not resolved within 4 business days, you can get in touch with GoHighLevel support.

Detailed Steps for A2P 10DLC Verification

Let us see the comprehensive steps to get your brand registered and campaign verified.

Standard Brand Registration

In the United States, in order to be compliant with the carrier needs for A2P messaging (Application to Programming), all companies utilizing 10-digit long code (10DLC) messaging need to register their brand. In this section, let us see the in-depth process of registering as a standard brand. It is needed for most businesses based in the United States having a valid EIN (Employee Identification Number).

Core Requirements

Legal Business name that matches the IRS record.

Valid Employee Identification Number for US businesses only.

Business Type: Corporation, LLC, etc.

Business Industry.

Official website of the business.

Business address.

Business contact details.

Name, Title, Email, and phone number of the authorized representatives.

Detailed Steps for Standard Brand Registration

Carefully implement these steps to get your sole proprietor brand registered:

Step 1: Go to GoHighLevel’s Trust Center:

From your sub-account, proceed to select the option “Settings.”

Go to Business Services and then select “Phone Numbers.”

Then, you will see the tab titled “Trust Center.” Click on it.

Step 2: Enter Your Profile Details

In the A2P wizard tab, press the “Start Registering Now” button.
If your business is in Canada or the United States, click on “Yes” under the question “Is the business entity you are registering is located in Canada and/or United States?”
Select “Yes, the business I am registering has a tax ID.”
Select the option “Continue.”

Step 3: Providing Business Details

Enter the legal business name as mentioned in the tax documents and the official registries.

Provide your business type from the dropdown list.
Then, choose your “Business Registration ID Type” from the dropdown list.

Then, provide your BIN, i.e., Business Registration Number, based on your country.
Next, you should select your “Business Industry” from the dropdown list of available business industries.
Then, provide your “Business Email.”
Provide your “Website URL.”
From the available options, choose your “Business Region of Operation.”
Select the “Continue” option.

Step 4: Include Business Address

Choose your country from the available dropdown list.
Choose your region/province/state as mentioned in your tax listings.
Provide your street address. It must be a valid address associated with your business.
Enter your city that matches your tax listings.
Provide your postal/zip code as mentioned in tax listings.
Select “Continue.”

Step 5: Provide Contact Information of Authorized Representatives

Provide first and last name.
Enter a valid email address.
Give contact numbers consistent with your country.
Provide the job position from the dropdown list. If the job position is not available, you can select the option “Other” and include your job position.
Select “Continue.”

Step 6: Select Your Business Use Case

As per your profile information, GoHighLevel will automatically set your business brand type to “Low/High Volume Standard.”

1. Low Volume Standard:

It is applicable for businesses with a valid EIN and moderate-level messaging capabilities under 10DLC.
Needs a valid employee identification number.
Provides support for numerous phone numbers.
Enables up to 6,000 segments/day.
One-time registration fee of approximately $23.95.
Additional monthly campaign charges close to $12/month as per TCR rules.

2. High Volume Standard

It is applicable for businesses with greater messaging requirements, providing extensive daily capacity and support for multiple phone numbers.

Needs a valid Employee Identification Number.

Provides support for numerous phone numbers.

Supports 6,000 SMS segments each day.

There is a one-time registration fee of around $68.5.

There can be additional monthly charges of approximately $12/month as per the TCR rules.

3. You can select your Brand Type as per your business needs and then proceed to select “Continue.”

Campaign Registration (Post Brand Approval)

Once you have successfully registered your brand as part of the A2P 10DLC registration, the next step is to get your campaign registered. It is an important and mandatory step to be eligible to send messages through A2P 10DLC numbers. However, it is very significant to make note of the fact that campaign registration is not automatically triggered once your brand is approved. The prevalent misconception that most businesses believe is that the campaign verification is handled automatically by the system. However, this is false as you have to manually set up your campaign for vetting.

So, once you have received confirmation that your brand is approved:

Proceed to GoHighLevel’s A2P Wizard and then select Trust Centre.
Select “Create Campaign.”
Start and complete the campaign registration form.
Wait for some time until your campaign is approved before you begin using your 10DLC number for A2P messaging.

Campaign Details

After you have submitted your brand details, you should move to the Campaign Details page. The Campaign Detail page basically has two sub-sections:

Messaging Use Case

User Consent

Step 1: Messaging Use Case

You will first see the dropdown of “Campaign Use Case.” You should choose “Low Volume Mixed” or “Mixed” as recommended by GoHighLevel.

In the field “Use Case Description,” you must clearly explain the purpose of the campaign.

Provide your sample messages #1 and #2. In both sample messages, you must include your Lead’s Name, Business Name, and your name. You must also include your Opt-out language. If you cannot think of anything, you can just mention “Reply “Stop” to stop receiving messages.

Select what kind of content will be included in your message. You can select relevant options to indicate whether your message will include an embedded link, phone numbers, age-appropriate content (as defined by CTA and Carrier guidelines), direct lending or loan offer details. From the given options, you can select 1 or all four options.

Step 2: User Content

To align with carrier regulations, you will have to provide details on how your contacts provide their consent to receive messages from you and how your opt-in message appears. You can implement the below-mentioned steps:

Clearly describe how your audience is providing their consent (opt-in confirmation) for A2P messages.

It is important to be very clear about the opt-in method. Specify whether users are providing their consent via app, website form, in-store, or via telephonic conversation.

Provide your Opt-in confirmation message in the opt-in field. It must include two important things: the business name as well as opt-out keywords such as “Stop.”

Select “Submit.”

Chronology of Verification: Where Users Feel Confused?

A lot of users feel confused over the A2P 10DLC setup because the wizard of GoHighLevel appears like a single and continuous form. However, you must be informed that it is a two-stage process.

Firstly, it is important for you to complete Brand Registration by providing your legal business name, employee identification name, address, and details of authorized representatives. Once you have submitted the brand registration details, you must wait until the brand is approved, which generally takes between a few minutes to 24 hours. You will find the status of your form marked as “Verified” or “Approved” in your GoHighLevel dashboard.

Now, post-this approval, you should move on to campaign registration, where you need to define messaging use case, content details, opt-in method, etc., for The Campaign Registry (TCR). Skipping this order is your choice, but keep in mind that it will lead to errors because TCR does not support campaign creation if you do not have an approved and active Brand ID.

Best Practices for A2P 10DLC Brand Approval

The A2P 10DLC verification involves primary vetting of your brand done by The Campaign Registry. The approval process also mandates LC Phone (GoHighLevel’s in-built telephony service) to automatically submit your brand for secondary vetting. The secondary vetting is an additional process for review that can lead to improved throughput and messaging limits. Once the vetting is done, you will get a Trust Score that ultimately defines your long code messaging throughputs to US networks and daily message limits to T-Mobile.

How to Enhance Your Trust Score?

To make sure that your brand is approved and you get a precise Trust Score, you have to properly submit your business data. Let us check out some of the right practices that you can follow:

US Companies Must Use an EIN:

The given Legal Company Name and EIN must align with business registration sources for private as well as public for-profit companies. Let us quickly understand a few points:

For A2P 10DLC standard brand registration, US-based companies must utilize an EIN.

Do not utilize DUNS number for US-based companies going with standard registrations. A DUNS number must only be utilized in creating a Business Profile if you do not want to utilize US A2P messaging and only wish to use Shaken/Stir for voice.

For political and non-profit organizations, the EIN must be the same as the Legal Company Name present in the Tax-Exempt organizations or Registered Political Organizations list.

How to Get Your EIN (for Companies in the United States)?

You can check your 147c/CP575 forms to find your EIN. Moreover, you can also contact the financial office or accountant of your company and request an EIN. The following screenshot showcases how CP-575 appears:

Utilize a Valid Tax ID for Organizations Based Outside of the United States

The public for-profit and private companies must make sure that the Legal company name and EIN are identical to the registration sources. You need to make sure:

All customers developing their business profile must give a valid Tax ID.

A Tax ID from their country is needed for Standard A2P 10DLC registration or for customers with a global presence.

For businesses who are outside Canada or the United States, there might be a need for more vetting to successfully verify their brand.

Tips for Companies in Canada

In July of 2025, GoHighLevel decided to accept only Business Number (BN number) for companies in Canada instead of accepting the Incorporation/Corporation/Registry ID number for Canadian brand registration.

GoHighLevel will only accept the initial 9 digits of the Business Number (BN-9). The following format illustrates a standard format in which GoHighLevel accepts the BN number-

Tax/Corporation ID field: 987654321RT1234.

As it is true for any country, Canadian businesses must make sure that their address and legal company name match the official registries. Closely focus on the spelling and check whether they are correct or not.

Tips for Companies Around the World

European companies must utilize the VIES VAT Number Validation Look up tool to find their brand details before submission.

Companies in Australia are advised to utilize their Australian Business Number (ABN) and leverage the official ABN Lookup-tool to find the information.

Businesses in New Zealand must utilize the NZBN (New Zealand Business Number) and leverage the official NZBN Lookup tool to search for it.

Businesses in Hong Kong must apply their Companies Registry (CN) number. To find it, you can go to the official CN lookup tool.

Businesses in other countries must enter the numeric part of their VAT ID number. If you do not have a VAT ID, you can provide the primary corporation registration number in your country or tax ID number.

Prevalent Customer Errors for EIN/Tax ID

Using an incorrect business name, such as the name of the messaging provider, DBA, or trade name of the company, instead of the legal and officially registered name. Make sure that you are not abbreviating the Legal Name, and it must match what the businesses have filed with the IRS (US) or the similar tax authority in other countries.

Entering incorrect details in the Tax ID or EIN field.

US-based companies provide DUNS instead of EIN.

Use SSN to get your brand registered. Suppose if you have used SSN to file your taxes, you are sole proprietor and must wait for more guidance on the LC phone on brand registration.

For all entities, a mismatch in one of the following fields can lead to a reduced Trust Score:

City.

Address/Street line.

Postal Code/Zip Code.

State.

Country.

More Recommendations

For businesses in the United States, to make sure that you are providing accurate details, enter the EIN of your business into the HIPAA Space lookup website. If you see your business appearing, you must provide your name as per the business listing details.

If you are an ISV-type (Independent Software Vendor) customer and you must enter details and validate them for numerous brands in the US, then you can utilize a subscription-driven EIN verification service given by TINCheck.

For validating the status of the brand as a non-profit, you can utilize the results from the US IRS from Tax Exempt Organization Search.

Equivalent Tax IDs or newly issued EINs will not propagate across the validation systems of the relevant databases for a few weeks. So, if your brand registration has failed because of the ID mismatch and you have recently registered your business for a tax ID, you are advised to share documentation with support to aid your brand get manually verified by the third-party vendors. If you are using any documentation, then it must be from the federal level and not state level.

Other Factors That Impact the Trust Score

There are two more factors that impact the overall trust score, but the trust score cannot be influenced by the submitted data:

Years in Operation: All organizations earn points for their years in the domain age and operation.

Size of Company: All businesses earn points if the size of the company is detected as per the independent sources of revenue and employee count.

Best Practices for A2P 10DLC Campaign Approval

On 26^th January 2023, a new A2P 10DLC campaign vetting process came into effect. The change was relevant for customers who are utilizing long code numbers to send messages to the US under the A2P 10DLC framework. Thus, since 26^th January 2023, all A2P campaigns require a manual vetting process. To make sure that your campaigns get approved in this vetting process, this section covers all the best practices that you can follow.

Campaign Field	Description	Requirement
User Consent	User Consent (Call to Action) makes sure that the user gives consent to receive text messages and understands program nature It is imperative to make sure that user consent can be accessed by third-party viewers so that it can be verified.	Product or program description. Contact number from where the messages will come. Individual or organization identity that the initial message represents. Clear and transparent language for opt-in and any related fees. Compliant privacy policy Other terms and conditions that can be applicable (for eg., customer care contact information, how to opt out, etc)
Campaign Description	Comprehensive and clear overview of the objectives of the campaign In-depth information about the interactions that users can expect after opting in.	Clear use-case type and description.
Terms and Conditions	Your terms and conditions page must be accessed publicly. The best way to do this is to include a terms and conditions page on your website.	Terms of conditions page must include details like program name and description, rejoining instructions, opt-out instructions, carrier liability disclaimer, data rates and message disclaimer, compliance with industry standards statement, legal compliance note, etc.
Opt-in message confirmation	An opt-in message is necessary for all opt-in methods. It is the confirmation message that the user will notice after finishing your opt-in flow.	A confirmation message must be immediately delivered. The message must have a description of the product or program. Opt-out instructions and customer care details. Recurring messages or product quantity
Sample Messages	When you are submitting A2P verification, you need to provide sample messages to highlight your campaign use case.	Clearly identify the sender of the message. Recognize the tempted fields with brackets. You must include an opt-out language with a minimum of 1 sample message.

Opt-in Methods

Campaigns need an effective opt-in method which makes sure that end-users give consent to receive text messages. Keep in mind that verbal opt in are trickiest methods to verify. However, it is acceptable as long as you provide sufficient details that a third-party reviewer can verify.

Verbal Opt in:

A verbal opt-in requires you to get confirmation from the customer during a verbal conversation. You can also try getting a verbal opt-in via phone IVR flow which would need an automated system getting confirmation from the customer.

Web Form Opt in:

Having an embedded form on the business website allows end users to enter their mobile number and confirm opt in. For detailed requirements on web form opt-in, you can check out the official website of Go High Level.

Paper Form Opt in:

A visitor arrives at your store and submits a physical form, mentioning his phone number, and providing consent to receive messages from your marketing campaigns. While applying for A2P campaign verification, you can have a screenshot of the paper form on any publicly accessible website like One Drive or Google Drive and then share the URL while answering in the field “How do end-users consent to receiving messages?”

Text Message Opt in:

Share the text message screenshot in the form of a URL from a publicly accessible website like One Drive or Google Drive. You can share the URL while answering to “How do end-users consent to receiving messages?” The following message gives an example of one such text message opt in.

Mobile QR Code Opt in:

You can also utilize a QR code that links to an online form, enabling users to provide their contact details and choose to opt into text campaigns. QR codes can be used to direct the customer to the messaging app that they use on their phone. Furthermore, it can also be used to direct the consumer to a web-form opt-in on your website.

Double Opt in A2P 10DLC

In A2P 10DLC message, double opt-in has emerged as a healthy compliance practice where users have to confirm their consent two times before they receive any messages from the company. It improves compliance with regulatory and carrier needs, improving deliverability of messages, and minimizing the risk of SPAM complaints.

How Double Opt-in Can Be Effective?

First Opt-in:

A user first expresses interest in receiving SMS communication from a brand by providing their contact number via a text message, verbal communication, web form, mobile app, etc.

Example: A customer expresses interest by sending a text “JOIN” to a 10DLC number.

Confirmation Request

The brand then sends an SMS asking the user to confirm their subscription, usually replying with a keyword such as “YES.”

Example: You requested to receive SMS confirmation from [Brand Name]. Reply with “Yes” to confirm. Data and message rates can apply.

Final Confirmation

Once the user has replied with a “Yes,” they have subscribed officially and will continue to receive SMS confirmation until they opt out.

Campaign Approval Recommendations

Use Case: Carefully select your use case. It must represent your brand and campaign well. For example, do not select “Higher Education” as a use case for authentication or verifications steps involving OTP. The correct use case here will be 2FA.
Descriptions: The descriptions must be thorough and should align with the purpose and objective of the campaign. The description given must provide answers to pertinent questions such as who is the sender, who is the recipient, and what is the need for sending message.
Clearly Specify Opt-in Method: You need to clearly mention when and how customers provide opt-in confirmation. Whether they are providing confirmation via store visits, website form fill up, or through app, it is advisable to include all sources. Avoid stating “customers sign up” as it is generic and vague and can lead to campaign rejections.
Opt-in Confirmation Message: Brands must provide an opt-in confirmation message to their customers for each campaign. This is true for all types of campaign irrespective of opt-in method. Generally, opt-in confirmation messages must be below 160 characters. As stated earlier, opt-in confirmation must include program name, product description, customer care contact details, opt-out instructions, disclosure regarding message and data rates, disclosure about message frequency, etc.
Sample Messages: Sample messages are also key, and they must reflect the actual messages that you will send during the campaign. Sample messages must also be consistent with the description of the campaign and use case. Opt-out language must be included in at least 1 sample message.

Conclusion

A2P 10DLC registration in GoHighLevel needs careful attention to detail across brand and campaign verification stages. Successful verification greatly relies on accurate business details that align with government records, proper Tax ID/EIN verification, and complete documentation of campaign. The two-stage process; brand approval and manual campaign registration. They both require a lot of patience, knowledge of process, and accuracy. By executing double opt-in, ensuring transparent opt-in confirmation, and complying with carrier guidelines, businesses can ensure credible businesses get high Trust Scores and higher message deliverability.

Considering the intricacies of the process, it is advisable to trust expert A2P verification services that can ensure brand and campaign verification in a smooth and quick manner. Trusting an A2P expert can help you navigate the carrier regulations and help you get your campaign up and running in a few days.