Subject: Broken certification flow in AEO training
I’m reporting an issue with the Implementing AEO With HubSpot training in HubSpot Academy.
I completed the training content, but the certification flow is not working properly. The course appears to lead users toward certification, but the practical exercise is gated behind Marketing Hub Professional or above. I am on a free account and was not expecting to discover a paid-product requirement at the point of completion.
What makes this worse is that the upgrade path linked from the training is also broken. That means I’m blocked from certification and the page meant to explain or resolve the requirement does not work.
This is extremely frustrating. Users should not spend time completing a certification track only to find out at the end that completion depends on a paid upgrade, especially when the supporting link is broken. If the certification requires paid product access, that needs to be disclosed clearly before the learner starts. If it is not supposed to require an upgrade, then the gating needs to be fixed.
Please review and respond with one of the following:
a way to complete the certification without upgrading,
a fix for the broken link and the certification flow, or
confirmation that this certification is improperly gated and will be corrected.
Course: Implementing AEO With HubSpot
Lesson shown: Setting Up HubSpot AEO
Correlation ID: 019f9091-faec-78ce-9b27-bb34f8d89784
Hey @KD1, Sorry you’re running into this, it definitely sounds frustrating, especially after completing the course.
The practical exercise for this certification does require access to features available in Marketing Hub Professional or above. However, the requirement and any upgrade path should be communicated clearly, and the broken link is not the expected experience.
Since you’ve included the Correlation ID, the Academy team can investigate both the certification flow and the broken upgrade link. In the meantime, I’d recommend opening an Academy support ticket if you haven’t already, as they can confirm whether there’s an alternative completion path or if the gating is unintended.
Hopefully the team can clarify whether this is expected behavior or a bug and get it resolved soon.
Thank you so much for taking the time to post your feedback on the Implementing AEO With HubSpot Academy course! We’re sorry to hear about your experience.
I’d like to tag in a member of our Academy team, @APernell, to see how we might be able to proceed. We appreciate your patience and understanding while the team works to get this sorted!
@KD1 Thank you for reaching out to the academy community board! I’m happy to help out with this.
Thank you for your feedback. The course is free to review and watch the videos, which is why nothing is specifically mentioned regarding costs in our communications. This allows learners to explore the content and gain valuable insights without any financial commitment. However, it’s important to note that while you can access the video materials at no charge, the practical exercises associated with the course require a paid account to complete. These exercises are designed to enhance your understanding and application of the concepts taught in the videos, providing a more comprehensive learning experience.