How BestLocal chooses businesses
BestLocal lists only businesses that pass our checks, and orders every list with a published formula. Here is exactly how it works.
Who can be listed
- A Google rating of 4.5 or higher from at least 20 reviews. Staff check it by hand on Google, and we re-check it every month. We never copy Google's reviews or numbers.
- A working website that belongs to the business (not a social media page). We check it automatically every month.
- Verification: a registered business, a phone number that reaches it, a current licence and liability insurance where the trade or profession requires them, and a final review by BestLocal staff.
When a business stops qualifying
If a rating drops below 4.5 or a website goes down, the business has one month to fix it before it's hidden. A failed or expired verification (for example an expired licence) removes it straight away.
How lists are ordered
- The Top 10 comes first: sponsored positions, always labelled “Sponsored”. Positions 1–3 are premium (the Top 3), 4–10 standard. Every sponsored business meets the same standards.
- Next come businesses that have joined BestLocal, then “Unclaimed” businesses: vetted businesses whose owners haven't joined yet.
- Within each group of members, only the score decides the order. Paying more never changes it, and neither do paid extras.
- Unclaimed businesses fill the spots left in the list's 10: each paying business takes one. They are ordered by their Google rating weighted by its number of reviews, (rating × reviews + 4.5 × 50) ÷ (reviews + 50), so a high rating needs enough reviews behind it. We never show the Google numbers. A better-rated business that passes our checks replaces the lowest one.
The score (version 2)
Each business gets a score out of 100:
| BestLocal review rating: the average of our own reviews (never Google's), blended with 5 neutral 3-star reviews so a handful of reviews can't decide a ranking | 40 |
| Recent reviews: the share of a business's reviews from the last 12 months | 15 |
| Response time: the median time to answer inquiries over the last 90 days. Full marks within 4 hours, none after 72; unanswered inquiries count as 72 hours | 10 |
| Verification, time verified and profile completeness (score version 1, below) | 35 |
A business with no reviews or inquiries yet gets half marks on those parts, and each part moves gradually as data comes in, so new businesses aren't buried and one review can't swing a list.
Verification, time verified and profile (score version 1, 35 of the 100 points)
| Verification depth: the share of applicable verification checks passed and still current | 50% |
| Time verified: months since BestLocal first vetted the business, up to 24, halved during a grace period | 30% |
| Profile completeness: description, hours, service areas, address (or service-area business) and email | 20% |
Ties are broken by a fixed per-business order, so lists don't reshuffle between visits.
Paid positions and extras never count toward the score. Each new version is published here before it's used.
How the Top 10 works
- Every list has 10 sponsored positions: 3 premium (the Top 3) and 7 standard (positions 4–10). Businesses pay monthly for them; occasionally BestLocal gives one free for a limited time, and it's labelled “Sponsored” all the same.
- Only businesses that pass every check can hold a position, and only in their own city.
- A business keeps its position as long as it keeps meeting the standards and paying. If it stops qualifying, the usual one-month grace period applies; a failed verification removes it at once.
- Within the Top 3 and within positions 4–10, the order comes only from the score above, updated monthly. A premium business never drops below #3.
- When a position opens, it's offered to the business with the highest score on the waitlist, not the first to ask or the one willing to pay more.
How the BestLocal Awards work
- Every January 1, the businesses holding a Top 10 position in their category and city win that year's BestLocal Award: the Elite Award for positions 1–3 and the Select Award for positions 4–10. Free positions count the same as paid ones.
- An award is named for the year it starts (the awards taken on January 1, 2027 say “Best of 2027”) and it's permanent, unless the business later fails a verification check.
- Winners can show an award badge, a certificate and social media images. Every badge links back to the business's BestLocal listing.
- Because Top 10 positions are sponsored, every award page says so. Every winner passed the checks described above.
Listing fees
Claimed businesses pay a listing fee to appear. The fee never changes where a business appears in a list.
Questions about this list
- Do businesses pay to be on this list?
- Claimed businesses pay a listing fee to appear, but the fee never changes the order. Top 10 positions are paid placements and are always labelled “Sponsored”.
- What does “Unclaimed” mean?
- The business passed our checks, but its owner hasn't joined BestLocal yet.