This research investigates how influential stakeholders are identified in a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) certification process. Through a qualitative approach based on two case studies, we show that the CSR certification provides features which are still very poorly documented in the scientific literature. Stakeholders identified in CSR certifications are either requested by the normative foundations of the standard or chosen by the company. Identification becomes a negotiation and a construction process in which managers, stakeholders and the certification body may play mutual influence games.