## **🔍 Overview**

If a referral you made appears active but the associated commission has been denied, this article explains the most common causes and the steps you can take to get it reviewed by our team.

## **⚠️ Why a Commission Might Be Denied**

Commissions can be denied or go unrecorded for several known reasons:

- **Sign-up method issues:** Certain account registration methods may interfere with referral tracking at the point of sign-up, meaning the referral is not attributed correctly.
- **Payment processed outside the tracked flow:** If the referred customer's payment was completed through a checkout path not fully integrated with the affiliate tracking system, the commission may not be recorded automatically.
- **Referral link visited after account creation:** The referral link must be visited before the referred customer creates their account. If they visited it after already signing up, the commission will not be attributed.
- **Duplicate or existing account:** If the referred email address was already associated with a Search Atlas account, the referral cannot be credited.
- **Manual commission denial:** In some cases, our team may deny a commission if the referral does not meet the programme's eligibility criteria.

## **📋 What to Prepare Before Escalating**

Because commission disputes require manual investigation by our team, please gather the following details before reaching out:

- The referred customer's email address
- The date they signed up
- The referral link you shared with them
- Any confirmation emails or screenshots showing the subscription is active
- The method the referred customer used to register their account

Having this information ready will allow our team to investigate the tracking record and manually credit the commission if appropriate.

## **✅ Steps to Take When a Commission Is Incorrectly Denied**

1. Confirm the referred customer signed up using your unique referral link **before** creating their account.
2. Confirm the sign-up method used by the referred customer, as certain registration methods can affect whether the referral is tracked.
3. Gather all the details listed above.
4. Contact our support team with this information so we can investigate and take the appropriate corrective action on the backend.

If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type **human teammate** to be connected with a member of our team.