docs(operations): lock VeriPath Beta Audit Process for client delivery

docs/operations/beta-audit-process.md

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+# VeriPath Beta Audit Process
+
+**Status:** Locked for beta use  
+**Date:** 2026-08-14
+
+## Purpose
+
+Professional, repeatable audit for beta clients using the automated primary-surface pipeline.
+
+## Scope
+
+The beta audit covers four primary surfaces:
+
+- Google Business Profile
+- Apple Maps
+- Bing Places
+- Current website
+
+The client-facing report includes material findings only, covering:
+
+- NAP consistency
+- Hours consistency, with Google Business Profile as the source of truth
+- Review velocity
+- Website reachability and schema conflicts
+
+## Process
+
+### 1. Intake
+
+Collect:
+
+- Business name
+- City
+- Website
+- Known previous names
+
+### 2. Run the pipeline
+
+Run:
+
+```text
+multi_scraper → audit_engine
+```
+
+### 3. Human validation
+
+Review findings for:
+
+- False positives
+- Evidence quality
+
+### 4. Client-facing report
+
+Prepare a report containing material findings only. The report uses the approved VeriPath client-facing structure and voice. It does not include coaching language or marketing urgency.
+
+### 5. Delivery
+
+Deliver the validated client-facing report to the client.
+
+## Out of Scope for Default Beta
+
+The following are not included in the default beta audit:
+
+- Exhaustive secondary-directory research
+- Full AI chatbot visibility scoring
+- Competitive benchmarking
+- Social content audits
+
+## Conditional Legacy Check
+
+Run a quick old-name and old-website check only when a name or location change in the last 3–5 years is known or indicated during intake. This check is not part of every default beta run.
+
+## Pipeline Reference
+
+The working pipeline is located at:
+
+```text
+implementation/auditing/
+```
+
+The standard execution path is:
+
+```text
+multi_scraper → audit_engine
+```
+
+## Deeper Engagements
+
+The full Layer 1/2 system remains available for deeper engagements. Beta audits use the streamlined path above.