Influencer due diligence checklist: nine legal and risk checks before you sign

Influencer due diligence is the set of legal and risk checks a brand runs on a creator after the audience has been vetted and before anything is signed. It confirms who the contracting party is, who controls the account, which credentials and registrations back what the content will say, whether the creator has conflicts or a record of violations, and whether the content is theirs to license.

Our influencer vetting checklist scores audience quality out of 100. This checklist asks a different question, and it goes one level below gate 3 of our compliance checklist for brands. It sits under our complete guide to influencer marketing in India and our ASCI influencer guidelines explainer. The sequence and the evidence list are ours; each rule we cite is sourced.

Where due diligence sits, and how much to do

Scale the work to the risk. These tiers are our practice, not a legal requirement.

The nine checks

1. Who you are contracting with

Get the legal name of the person or company that will sign, with its PAN. Many creators trade through a proprietorship, a company or a manager. If a manager or agency signs for the creator, ask for the written authority. Section 30 of the Copyright Act, 1957 recognises a licence granted by the owner or a duly authorised agent, so a licence signed by someone without authority is a weak foundation.

Proof: signed authority, PAN, a business name that matches the invoice. Red flag: the person who negotiated will not sign and cannot name who will.

2. Who controls the account

Ask who holds the login, whether the account is a professional account and whether the creator can give you partnership-ad permission. Instagram says partnership ads run on Instagram professional accounts and Facebook Pages or profiles in professional mode. It also says creators who violate its policies on intellectual property, authenticity and user safety can lose eligibility to monetise.

Proof: a dated screenshot of the account type and monetisation status. Red flag: a manager's personal phone controls the only login.

3. Disclosure record

Open the creator's last five sponsored posts and check the labels against ASCI's rules. Then check ASCI's published list of non-compliant influencers and brands. ASCI says those listed failed to respond or comply with disclosure requirements on the first contact and on later routine checks. The page we read covered cases from June 2021 to September 2026, as of 5 October 2026.

Proof: screenshots of the five posts and a note that the list was checked on a date. Red flag: paid posts with no label, or a handle on the list.

4. Credentials and registrations

ASCI's Addendum II (6 March 2025) says influencers who give technical advice on health, nutrition or finance must hold relevant qualifications and state them upfront. For stocks and investments they should be registered with SEBI and state the registration number. For other financial advice it names credentials such as an IRDAI licence, CA or CS. For health it names a medical degree, or certification as a nurse, nutritionist, dietician, physiotherapist or psychologist, depending on the advice. Proof must be provided if ASCI asks.

For SEBI numbers, check SEBI's recognised-intermediaries page, which lists Investment Advisers and Research Analysts, and keep a dated screenshot. Rule 13(2) of the CCPA's 2022 guidelines adds that where Indian professionals are barred from endorsing, foreign professionals of that profession are barred too, so a doctor who is not an Indian citizen is not a workaround.

Proof: the certificate, the registration number and the check. Red flag: a number that does not match the name, or a qualification that does not fit the advice in the script.

5. Conflicts and exclusivity

Search the creator's recent sponsored posts for competitors, and ask in writing about any deal inside your exclusivity window. Check their feed for categories your brand cannot sit beside. Our exclusivity clause guide covers how to write the window.

Proof: the creator's written list of live and planned deals. Red flag: an unwillingness to say, or a competitor post you find yourself.

6. Category red lines

Look for promotion of categories the law or the platform bars: online money games, betting, tobacco and similar. ASCI's FY2025-26 report put illegal betting at 54 percent of influencer violations. A creator who promotes such a category is a brand safety problem even if your own brief is clean. Our posts on surrogate advertising and the regulated industries map list the lines, and our brand safety guidelines post shows how to write them down for creators.

Proof: a dated scan of the last 30 posts and Stories highlights. Red flag: any current promotion of a barred category.

7. Content origin and rights

Ask whether the content will be original, whether it will use licensed music, who else appears in frame, and whether any voice, face or footage is AI-generated. ASCI's 2026 guideline on synthetic content lists using a person's likeness without consent as prohibited. Our posts on music copyright and children in influencer ads cover the two most common gaps.

Proof: the creator's warranty in the contract and a list of third-party material. Red flag: a trending track used on a paid post, or a minor in frame without a plan.

8. Experience and claims discipline

Rule 13(1) of the CCPA's 2022 guidelines requires an endorsement to reflect the endorser's genuine, reasonably current opinion, based on adequate information about, or experience with, the product. Send the product early and agree a realistic window to use it. Then read how the creator talks about claims: do they ask for the evidence, or repeat whatever the brief says?

ASCI's celebrity guidelines add a layer for well-known people. They define celebrities as famous and well-known people who are paid ₹40 lakh or more a year for appearing in ads, or who have 500,000 or more followers on any single handle. The guidelines say the celebrity or their agent must give ASCI a duly signed written confirmation that due diligence was done on the claims. ASCI also sells an Endorser Due Diligence review in the endorser's name. Our post on brand liability for influencer posts gives the fee and the limits.

Proof: the date the product was delivered and the creator's usage notes. Red flag: a script recorded before the product arrived.

9. Tax and payment readiness

Ask for PAN, GSTIN if the creator is registered, and bank details in the contracting name. If you give benefits in kind, such as a product the creator keeps, section 194R can apply above ₹20,000 a year, as TaxGuru's summary of the CBDT circular describes. Our post on TDS 194R and GST on influencer payments covers the mechanics, and we rate the section numbers after 1 April 2026 as unverified.

Also ask whether the creator is registered as a micro or small enterprise. PIB describes the MSMED Act rule that a buyer who does not pay a registered micro or small enterprise within 45 days of acceptance owes compound interest at three times the RBI bank rate. We found nothing applying this to creators specifically. Treat it as a reason to know the answer, and see influencer dispute resolution.

Proof: PAN, GST status, bank proof, an enterprise registration if any. Red flag: payment requested to a third party's account with no authority on file.

The due diligence file

Keep one folder per creator per campaign, named with the creator and date. Put in it the signed authority, the account screenshots, the five-post disclosure check, the list-check dates, the credentials and their verification, the conflict list, the content-origin warranty and the tax documents. Re-run the file before every renewal, after any controversy and at least every 90 days on a long deal. We found no statutory retention period for these records, so ask counsel how long to keep them.

A worked example (hypothetical)

What we could not source

We found no statutory definition of brand due diligence for creators, no authority treating a brand's file as a defence, and no published retention period for these records. ASCI's list shows cases to a stated date but does not say how long an entry stays. The SEBI page we read lists Investment Advisers and Research Analysts only, so ask counsel what else to check if your brand is itself regulated.

Brand safety carries 10 of the 100 points in our Gully Score. How we work shows where checks like these sit in a campaign, and our influencer marketing strategy service covers the planning side. If you want the file built for a live brief, ask for a creator plan. The blog has more rules explainers.

This is general information, not legal advice.