METHODOLOGY
How we verify perks
Most "discounts" content on the internet is copied from other discounts content, which was copied from a press release that expired two years ago. We built HelloPerks so that this physically cannot happen here. This page describes the actual pipeline — not aspiration, the real mechanics.
THE FOUNDATION
The rule everything follows from
No perk, percentage, eligibility rule, or expiry date appears on this site unless it traces to a first-party source page that our system actually fetched. When we can't verify a claim, we don't hedge it with "reportedly" — we drop it entirely.
THE RECORD
What a perk record contains
Every perk is a structured record in our database that stores, alongside the perk itself:
The source URL
Always the provider's own page (Costco's site for Costco perks, Verizon's for Verizon's). Never a deals blog, never an aggregator.
A supporting quote
The exact sentence on that page that backs the claim, plus a cryptographic hash of it.
The verification date
The day our system last fetched the source and confirmed the quote is still there.
A status
verified, changed, or dead.
EVERY WEEK
The weekly re-check
Every week, an automated job re-fetches every source URL and checks that the supporting text still appears. Three things can happen:
01
Still there
The verification date updates. The "Verified" badge you see on every perk card reflects this real date — it is never bumped cosmetically.
02
Page changed
The perk is flagged for human review and the proposed update goes through the same verification before publishing.
03
Page gone
The perk is marked dead and disappears from the site automatically on the next build.
NO INVENTED NUMBERS
Numbers are special
Any percentage, dollar amount, or date in our content must literally appear in the source quote. Our publishing pipeline rejects records where a number in the description can't be found in the supporting text. "Save up to 25%" only appears here if a first-party page says 25.
THE WRITING
What about the writing?
Guides and comparisons are drafted with AI assistance against this verified database, then pass an adversarial fact-check that re-validates every claim against sources before a human reviews and publishes. Drafts that fail any gate are never published — they're flagged for human attention instead. Velocity is deliberately capped at a few articles per week; we'd rather be right than big.
HONEST LIMITATIONS
Honest limitations
- Providers change terms without notice; a perk can change between our weekly checks. The verification date on each card tells you exactly how fresh it is.
- Regional availability varies. We state eligibility as the provider states it, but your state, plan tier, or membership level can differ.
- We are not financial advisors. Perk values are the provider's claims, verified as claims — whether a perk is worth using is your call.
Current database: 101 verified perks. Most recent verification pass: 2026-06-30.