Fit and eligibility are different questions. Fit asks whether the work matches what you do. Eligibility asks whether the government will accept a bid from your company at all. The tool keeps them separate: a high score never means you are eligible.
What decides eligibility
- Set-aside. A notice reserved for 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, EDWOSB, SDVOSB or VOSB firms accepts only firms holding that certification, confirmed in your profile.
- Size standard. A small-business set-aside requires you to be small under the size standard of the notice's NAICS code, measured by average annual receipts or employees. Check yours with the SBA size standards tool.
- Security clearance. Some work requires a facility clearance or cleared staff before award.
- Contract vehicle. Task orders under a GWAC, IDIQ, BPA or the GSA Schedule go only to holders of that vehicle.
- Place of performance. Some notices limit where the work is done or who can perform it.
- Registration. Federal prime contracts require an active SAM.gov registration on the date you submit and on the date of award.
Only confirmed facts count
Certifications, clearances and contract vehicles the website analysis suggested stay suggested until you confirm them in your profile. A suggestion can make a notice show as needs confirmation, never as eligible.
Grants
Grant eligibility depends on the applicant type in the announcement (for example small businesses, nonprofits, state governments, universities) and sometimes on cost sharing or prior registration in Grants.gov and SAM.gov. The grant page lists the eligible applicant types; your organisation type is set in your profile.
When in doubt
Use the eligibility summary GovCon prepared, ask your coach, and, where questions are allowed, ask the contracting officer through the channel the notice names. See Contacting the government.