If your business has a Tax ID (EIN in the US, BN9 in Canada, Company Number in the UK or Australia): register as a Standard Brand or Low Volume Standard Brand. You are not eligible for Sole Proprietor registration.
If your business has no Tax ID and you are the only employee: register as Sole Proprietor. If you have no Tax ID and your business address is outside the US or Canada: Sole Proprietor is not available to you use a Toll-Free number instead. This decision determines your throughput limits, the number of phone numbers you can register, and which campaign use cases are available to you.
1. What Are the Three Brand Types in GoHighLevel A2P Registration?
GHL's A2P registration system has three brand types. Most guides only mention two. All three are relevant depending on your situation.
| Brand type | Who it's for | Tax ID required | Daily message limit | Phone numbers per campaign |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Brand | Businesses with an EIN, LLC, corporation, or other formally registered entity | Yes EIN for US, BN9 for Canada, Company Number for UK/AUS | Up to 200,000 segments/day | Multiple numbers |
| Low Volume Standard Brand | Smaller businesses with an EIN that have lighter SMS needs | Yes same Tax ID as Standard | Up to 6,000 segments/day to T-Mobile | Multiple numbers |
| Sole Proprietor | Individuals or small businesses with no Tax ID and only one employee | No | Lower limits verify current in GHL Trust Center | 1 number per campaign only |
If you have a Tax ID, you cannot register as Sole Proprietor regardless of business size. A one-person LLC with an EIN must register as Low Volume Standard Brand or Standard Brand. Attempting Sole Proprietor registration with a Tax ID will result in rejection. Choose the brand type based on your Tax ID status first, then your volume needs second.
2. How Do You Choose the Right Brand Type?
Answer these three questions in order.
- Does your business have a Tax ID (EIN, BN9, Company Number)? If yes: choose Standard Brand (higher volume) or Low Volume Standard Brand (lighter volume). If no: go to question 2.
- Is the business located in the US or Canada? If yes: Sole Proprietor registration is available. If no: Sole Proprietor is not available for non-US/Canada addresses. Use Toll-Free number registration instead.
- Is this business operated by only one person? If yes: Sole Proprietor is available. If the business has more than one employee: Sole Proprietor is not the correct path even without a Tax ID speak with GHL support about options.
Wait before registering if your EIN was issued recently. Newly issued EINs take a few weeks to propagate across TCR's verification databases. If you submit Standard Brand registration with a freshly issued EIN, TCR cannot verify it and your brand will be rejected. Wait at least 2 to 4 weeks after receiving your EIN before submitting A2P brand registration. You can verify whether your EIN is in TCR's database using the HIPAA Space EIN lookup tool before submitting.
For a full breakdown of A2P fees including brand registration costs: A2P 10DLC Fees Explained →
3. How to Complete Standard Brand Registration in GoHighLevel
Navigation: Go to Settings Phone Numbers Trust Center in your GHL sub-account. Verify current navigation in your account as the interface updates.
Start registration
In the Trust Center, click Start Registration on the A2P Brand and Campaign Registration card. Select your country (United States or Canada).
Confirm Tax ID status
Select "Yes, the business I'm registering has a tax ID." This routes you to Standard Brand registration. Select Standard Brand from the options presented.
Enter business information
Fill in your legal business name exactly as it appears on your EIN registration this is critical. Even small differences (LLC vs L.L.C., shortened name vs full legal name) cause rejection. Enter your EIN, physical business address (PO Boxes cause rejection use a physical street address), business type (LLC, corporation, etc.), website URL, and business phone number.
Enter contact details
Add the name, email address, and phone number of the contact person for this brand. Rules: one email can be used for a maximum of 5 brands. One phone number can be used for a maximum of 3 brands across all A2P registrations in the TCR ecosystem including registrations made through other providers.
Verify via OTP
After submitting contact details, GHL sends a 6-digit one-time password to the email address provided. Enter the OTP to verify the sender identity. This step is required registration cannot proceed without OTP verification.
Submit and wait
After OTP verification, GHL submits your brand to TCR for review. Standard Brand review typically takes 3 to 7 business days. Once approved, GHL automatically submits your campaign for review you do not need to take any additional action to trigger campaign submission.
Before submitting, verify your EIN against your CP 575 form from the IRS. The legal business name entered in the registration must match exactly what the IRS has on file for that EIN. You can also enter your EIN into the HIPAA Space lookup website to verify how your business appears in the TCR database before submitting this single step prevents the most common Standard Brand rejection reason.
4. How to Complete Sole Proprietor Registration in GoHighLevel
Important rules specific to Sole Proprietor registration confirmed from GHL's official support portal: private email domains (GSuite, company email, Google Workspace) are not eligible you must use a public domain email like Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo. The mobile number used for OTP verification cannot be a number purchased through LeadConnector, Twilio, or any CPaaS provider it must be your personal mobile number.
Start registration
In the Trust Center, click Start Registration. Select your country (US or Canada only Sole Proprietor is not available for other countries).
Confirm no Tax ID
Select "No, the business I'm registering does not have a tax ID." This routes you to Sole Proprietor registration.
Enter business name
Enter either your legal name or the name of the organisation sending the messages. Do not include "LLC," "Corp," or any terms suggesting a formal business entity this causes rejection. If operating under a DBA (Doing Business As), list both your legal name and the DBA name.
Enter address and contact details
Enter your physical address (US or Canada only). Add your name, email (must be public domain: Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo not GSuite or company email), and your personal mobile phone number. This number cannot be a Twilio or LeadConnector number.
Verify via OTP
TCR sends a text message to the mobile number you provided asking for approval. Reply YES to the TCR text to confirm. Without this reply, the brand will not proceed through review.
Submit and wait
After OTP approval, GHL submits your Sole Proprietor brand to TCR. Review typically takes 3 to 7 business days. Once approved, campaign submission follows automatically.
Sole Proprietor brands are limited to one phone number per campaign. If you purchase multiple GHL phone numbers and try to use them all under a Sole Proprietor registration, you will encounter error code 30034 when texting from the unregistered numbers. Each additional number needs to be specifically linked to an approved campaign. For agencies or businesses expecting to grow beyond one number, Standard Brand registration is the correct long-term path even if volume is currently low.
For the foundation of what A2P 10DLC is and why brand registration is required: What Is A2P 10DLC? →
5. What Are the Most Common Brand Rejection Reasons?
Most brand rejections fall into one of five categories. Each has a direct fix.
EIN mismatch with legal business name
What caused it: The legal business name entered does not exactly match what the IRS has on file for that EIN
How to fix it: Check your CP 575 form from the IRS. Verify your business name in the HIPAA Space EIN lookup tool. Resubmit with the exact name from the IRS record
PO Box used as business address
What caused it: Standard Brand requires a physical street address
How to fix it: Replace with a physical street address not a PO Box, not a mailbox service address
Newly issued EIN not yet in TCR database
What caused it: EIN was issued too recently to appear in TCR's verification system
How to fix it: Wait 2 to 4 weeks after EIN issuance before resubmitting. Verify EIN is in TCR's database using HIPAA Space before resubmitting
Private email domain used for Sole Prop
What caused it: GSuite, company email, or Google Workspace email was entered not eligible for Sole Prop registration
How to fix it: Resubmit using a public domain email: Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo
Business name includes LLC or Corp for Sole Prop
What caused it: Sole Prop requires operating under your legal name with no entity suffixes
How to fix it: Remove LLC, Corp, Inc or any formal entity designation from the business name field
If your brand has been rejected and you are unsure of the reason: A2P campaign rejected fix guide → the process for reviewing rejection reasons and resubmitting applies to both brand and campaign rejections.
6. What Happens After Your Brand Is Approved?
Brand approval triggers the campaign registration step automatically. You do not need to manually submit a campaign GHL submits it on your behalf once brand approval is confirmed.
- Campaign auto-submission: After brand approval, GHL automatically submits the campaign associated with your brand for carrier review. Campaign review typically takes a further 3 to 7 business days.
- After brand and campaign approval: It can take up to 3 business days for all carriers to receive your registration data. During this period you may see some messages fail with an error code indicating no A2P approval is found. This is normal and resolves within a few business days as carrier records update. If the issue persists beyond 4 business days, contact GHL support.
- Adding phone numbers after approval: Any phone numbers added to your sub-account after brand and campaign approval are automatically registered under the same campaign no resubmission is needed. It may take several days for registration to complete on newly added numbers.
The next step after brand approval is reviewing and if needed improving your campaign registration details. For the full campaign registration walkthrough: A2P Campaign Registration Guide →
For the opt-in consent language your campaign will reference: A2P Opt-In Language Templates →
Once registered, for the first SMS automation to build: GoHighLevel Missed Call Text Back →
GHL Scale Up manages A2P brand registration for agencies and their client sub-accounts. We verify EIN details before submitting, prepare the registration fields to minimise rejection risk, and handle any resubmission required.
See results from our A2P setups: real GoHighLevel results and case studies →
To discuss your registration: book a free strategy call at ghlscaleup.com/contact →
7. Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Standard Brand and Sole Proprietor in GoHighLevel A2P?
Standard Brand is for businesses that have a Tax ID (EIN in the US, BN9 in Canada, Company Number in the UK or Australia). It allows higher message throughput up to 200,000 segments per day and supports multiple phone numbers per campaign. Sole Proprietor is for individuals with no formal business entity, no Tax ID, and only one employee. It is available in the US and Canada only and is limited to one phone number per campaign. If your business has any Tax ID, you are not eligible for Sole Proprietor registration regardless of business size.
What Tax ID do I need for A2P Standard Brand registration in GoHighLevel?
For US businesses: your EIN (Employer Identification Number) issued by the IRS. For Canadian businesses: your BN9 (Business Number). For UK businesses: your Company Number from Companies House. For Australian businesses: your ACN (Australian Company Number) from ASIC. The Tax ID must match your legal business name exactly in the relevant national registry any mismatch between the Tax ID and the name entered in the registration causes rejection.
Can I use my personal Gmail for A2P Sole Proprietor registration?
Yes. Public domain email addresses like Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo are accepted for Sole Proprietor registration. Private email domains are not accepted this means GSuite (Google Workspace), company email addresses hosted on your own domain, and corporate email accounts are not eligible. If you only have a company email, create a free Gmail account to use for the Sole Proprietor brand registration.
How long does A2P brand registration take in GoHighLevel?
Standard Brand and Sole Proprietor brand registration typically take 3 to 7 business days for TCR review. Once your brand is approved, GHL automatically submits the associated campaign for review, which takes a further 3 to 7 business days. The full process from starting brand registration to having an approved campaign ready to send is generally 1 to 2 weeks when the submission is complete and compliant on the first attempt.
Why was my A2P brand rejected in GoHighLevel?
The five most common Standard Brand rejection reasons are: EIN mismatch with the legal business name, PO Box used as the business address, newly issued EIN not yet in TCR's verification database, incorrect business type selected, and missing or invalid website URL. For Sole Proprietor, the most common rejections are: private email domain used (GSuite/company email not accepted), LLC or entity suffix included in the business name, and mobile number used for OTP that is a CPaaS number (Twilio or LeadConnector number). In each case, edit the brand with the corrected information and resubmit no additional registration fee applies for resubmission.
What happens after my A2P brand is approved in GoHighLevel?
Once your brand is approved, GoHighLevel automatically submits the associated campaign for carrier review you do not need to manually trigger this. Campaign review typically takes 3 to 7 business days. After both brand and campaign are approved, it may take up to 3 business days for all US carriers to receive the registration data. During this period some messages may fail with a no A2P approval error this is normal and resolves as carrier records update. If it persists beyond 4 business days, contact GHL support.
Can I register multiple clients under one A2P brand in GoHighLevel?
No. Each brand registration represents one business entity. Each GHL sub-account (each client's account) requires its own separate brand registration tied to that client's business name and Tax ID. Agencies registering A2P for multiple clients must complete individual brand registrations for each client sub-account. The email address used across those registrations can be the same for up to 5 brands. The mobile phone number used for OTP verification can be used for up to 3 brands across all TCR registrations ecosystem-wide.
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All steps and rules in this guide are verified against GoHighLevel's official support portal as of June 2026. Navigation paths and fee amounts may change always verify in GHL's Trust Center before submitting.
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