Is muckrack.com legit?

60
/ 100
Mostly Safe
Industry: Portfolio

Muckrack.com appears mostly safe, boasting a long domain history and strong technical security measures. However, a significant HTTP 403 error preventing access and a lack of transparency regarding contact information raise caution for users trying to evaluate its services.

Portfolio average: 81/100 · based on 25 sites

Checked: April 18, 2026 at 11:30 AM UTC · Refresh

Is muckrack.com a scam? Here's what we found.

Security 65/100

While the site uses modern TLS and has a good overall security posture with HSTS and CSP, the critical HTTP 403 status is a major barrier to access and the certificate renewal is due soon. This significantly impacts user trust.

Identity 90/100

With a domain over 17 years old, Muckrack.com demonstrates significant longevity and stability, suggesting an established entity behind the site. The use of a corporate registrar further reinforces this.

Reputation 85/100

The site isn't found on any DNS blacklists and has moderate global traffic, indicating a generally clean and recognized online presence. The absence of a Trustpilot profile is a neutral point, common for specialized services.

Transparency 50/100

The lack of easily identifiable contact information, social media links, and even a favicon on the homepage is a significant red flag for a professional service, making it difficult for users to connect or get support.

Compliance 90/100

The presence of both a privacy policy and terms of service pages demonstrates a commitment to legal and user data handling compliance, which is expected for any legitimate online platform.

Infrastructure 80/100

The site benefits from robust infrastructure, including multiple IP resolutions, proper email authentication (SPF/DMARC), and Cloudflare for DNS, ensuring reliability. The missing sitemap is a minor point in an otherwise solid setup.

Signals Detected

[+]
Tranco Rank: Rank #10475

This site has moderate global traffic

[?]
Structured Data: None found

No structured data markup found

[?]
Trustpilot: No Trustpilot profile

This business has no Trustpilot presence — not unusual for smaller or newer companies

[+]
Domain Age: 17 years, 3 months

Domain created 2009-03-27T22:52:39Z (17 years, 3 months ago)

[?]
Registrar: GoDaddy Corporate Domains, LLC

Registered through GoDaddy Corporate Domains, LLC

[+]
Domain Expiry: 2029-03-27T22:52:39Z

Expires in 1074 days

[+]
DNSSEC: unsigned

DNSSEC status from WHOIS

[+]
robots.txt: Present

robots.txt has 21 directives

[+]
SSL Certificate: Valid

Valid certificate, expires in 32 days

[?]
Certificate Issuer: Google Trust Services

Certificate issued by Google Trust Services

[+]
TLS Version: TLS 1.3

Connection uses TLS 1.3

[?]
Certificate Transparency: Unable to check

crt.sh returned status 429

[?]
Sitemap: Not found

No sitemap found — common for smaller sites

[~]
Branding: Missing

No favicon found — unusual for an established business

[+]
DNS Blacklists: Clean

Not found on any DNS blacklists

[+]
DNS Resolution: 4 IP(s)

Resolves to: 2606:4700::6812:d29, 2606:4700::6812:c29, 104.18.13.41, 104.18.12.41

[+]
Email (MX Records): 7 record(s)

Mail servers: aspmx.l.google.com., alt2.aspmx.l.google.com., alt1.aspmx.l.google.com., alt4.aspmx.l.google.com., alt3.aspmx.l.google.com., aspmx3.googlemail.com., aspmx2.googlemail.com.

[+]
SPF Record: Present

Domain has SPF email authentication configured

[+]
DMARC Record: Present

Domain has DMARC email authentication configured

[+]
Name Servers: 2 server(s)

DNS providers: austin.ns.cloudflare.com., laura.ns.cloudflare.com.

[+]
HSTS Header: Present

Site enforces HTTPS via HSTS

[+]
Content Security Policy: Present

Site has Content Security Policy configured

[+]
Clickjacking Protection: Present

X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN

[?]
Server: cloudflare

Web server: cloudflare

[+]
Google Web Risk: Clean

No threats detected by Google Web Risk

[~]
Website Status: HTTP 403

Website returned status 403

[~]
Contact Info: Not found

No obvious contact information found on homepage

[+]
Legal Pages: Privacy & Terms found

Website has both privacy policy and terms of service pages

[~]
Social Media Presence: None found

No social media links found on homepage

[?]
Web Archive: Unable to check

Could not query Wayback Machine

[+]
Page Load Time: 75ms

Fast page load

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When evaluating a professional services platform like Muckrack.com, which aims to connect journalists and public relations professionals, stability and trust are paramount. A particularly strong signal for Muckrack's legitimacy is its impressive domain age, over 17 years. This isn't a fly-by-night operation; it indicates a long-standing presence in the industry, far outlasting many less reputable ventures. Most established professional platforms will have a similar tenure, offering users confidence in their foundational stability. However, a critical concern for Muckrack.com users is the HTTP 403 status. This 'Forbidden' error means that, at the time of our check, the website's content was inaccessible. For a service designed to be a hub for communication, this downtime is a significant issue and directly impacts its usability and perceived reliability. While technical glitches can happen, persistent inaccessibility would severely undermine its value. Additionally, for a site catering to professionals, the absence of prominent contact information or social media links on the homepage is unusual; professionals often seek direct channels for support or engagement. Always look for clear ways to contact customer service on such platforms to ensure you can get help if needed. Despite these access and transparency issues, the core security infrastructure, robust email authentication, and detailed legal pages like a privacy policy and terms of service are all robust, aligning with what one would expect from a legitimate and responsible online service. Should the access issues be resolved, Muckrack.com's deep roots and technical safeguards suggest it could be a valuable and trustworthy resource for its target audience.