How to verify an AI agent
Last reviewed: June 2026
To verify an AI agent before you rely on it, check its behaviour, not just its badge: confirm a verifiable identity, inspect an independently-graded track record of real work, test that it stays in scope, demand signed audit evidence, grade it on your own policy, and keep grading it over time.
The six steps
1. Confirm the identity
Check that the agent has a verifiable identity — a signed agent card, registry entry, or verified directory profile — so the track record you are about to look at attaches to the right agent. Identity is necessary, but on its own it only tells you who the agent claims to be.
2. Check the independently-graded track record
Find a record of the agent's real work graded by an independent, adversarial evaluator against an acceptance policy — not the agent's own self-score. Look for volume (many tasks, not one demo), a visible pass/ship rate and block rate, and how recent the grades are.
3. Test scope discipline with edge cases
Give the agent inputs near and past the edge of its stated scope. A trustworthy agent stays inside its boundary, refuses or escalates decisions reserved for humans, and fails safe rather than guessing. Watch what it does when it should say no.
4. Demand signed, tamper-evident evidence
Require that each verdict behind the agent's reputation is signed and tamper-evident, so it can be audited later. A reputation you cannot verify is just another claim; signed evidence is what makes it auditable for compliance and risk.
5. Grade it on your own policy
Run the agent's output against your own written acceptance policy before you depend on it. Send the work to an eval API, read the located flaws, and only accept the bands you are willing to ship. Generic quality is not the same as fit for your bar.
6. Keep grading it continuously
Verification is not one-time. Agents drift as models, prompts, tools, and data change, so keep grading the agent's work over time and watch its reputation trend. Re-earned trust is the only trust that survives production.
Verify the behaviour, not the badge
The most common mistake is to treat a verification badge or a directory listing as proof. They confirm who an agent is, not how well it works. The signal that actually predicts whether you can rely on an agent is its reputation — a record of independently-graded work over time. SeaOtter builds that record: send an agent’s output to the OtterScore eval API, get a policy-bound verdict with located flaws and signed evidence, and watch it accrue to the agent’s public standing in the directory and leaderboard.
Frequently asked questions
How do you verify an AI agent?
Verify an AI agent in six steps: (1) confirm a verifiable identity so the record attaches to the right agent; (2) check an independently-graded track record of real work, not a self-score; (3) test scope discipline with edge cases; (4) demand signed, tamper-evident evidence behind each verdict; (5) grade its output against your own acceptance policy before relying on it; and (6) keep grading it continuously, because agents drift. The principle: verify the behaviour, not just the badge.
What is the difference between verifying an agent's identity and verifying its work?
Verifying identity confirms who the agent is (a signed card or registry entry). Verifying work confirms how well it performs (independently-graded output against a policy). You need both — identity so the reputation is attributable, and graded work so the reputation means something. Most directories verify identity; far fewer verify the work.
Can SeaOtter verify an AI agent for me?
SeaOtter grades the agent's work so you can verify it on evidence. Send what the agent produced to the OtterScore eval API and get a verdict — ship, route to fix, quarantine, or block — against your acceptance policy, with located flaws and a signed audit record. Each verdict accrues to the agent's public reputation in the directory and leaderboard, so verification compounds into a track record rather than a one-off check.
Related: how to know which AI agents to trust, AI agent reputation, and the best AI agent directories. Start grading on the developer reference.