Methodology version v3-bayesian-geo-weighted
How local GEO rankings work
GEO Company Rankings calculates local rankings using qualifying reviews from real customers connected to each geographic market. A company does not receive a local ranking merely because it claims an office or lists a service area. Reviews must satisfy the geographic and verification requirements before they can influence a city ranking.
Local scores use only reviews that qualify for the geographic market under our location rules. A company's national review count may be larger than the number of reviews contributing to a specific city ranking. Average Customer Rating, qualifying-review count, GEO Ranking Score, and ranking position are separate values.
The 300-mile qualification rule
A review may qualify for a city ranking when the reviewer's verified business location or qualifying project location is within 300 miles of that city's defined geographic reference point. Because metropolitan and regional markets overlap, one review may qualify for more than one nearby city. The review may also contribute to the corresponding state and national rankings.
The application stores WGS84 geographic points and uses PostGIS distance operations for database eligibility queries. Haversine great-circle calculations are used by application-level geographic helpers. Text matching alone is not sufficient.
Conceptual eligibility example
Verified reviewer or project coordinates
City reference point + 300-mile market radius
Qualified nearby cities → corresponding state → national ranking
This is a process diagram, not a map. The radius represents review-market eligibility and never implies that the reviewed company has an office in every qualified city.
Headquarters and ranking markets are different
Profiles use separate labels for:
- Headquarters
- Service areas
- Markets with qualifying reviews
- Current local rankings
A ranking-market label must not be presented as a physical office. Office data can provide useful company information, but it does not create local ranking eligibility.
Frequently asked questions
Does a company need an office in a city to rank there?
No. A company earns local eligibility from qualifying customer reviews connected to that market. An office, headquarters, service area, or claimed profile does not automatically create a ranking.
How does a review qualify for a city?
The review must satisfy publication and verification requirements and have a verified reviewer-business or qualifying project location within 300 miles of the city's stored reference point.
What location is used?
The system uses geographic coordinates for the verified reviewer business location or qualifying project location. It does not rely only on matching city names in text.
Can remote projects qualify?
Yes. The company itself may work remotely. Eligibility follows the verified customer or qualifying project market, not the company's office.
Can one review contribute to several cities?
Yes. Overlapping markets may share a review when the verified location falls within 300 miles of each city's reference point. The same review may also contribute to the corresponding state and national rankings.
Can a company pay to rank locally?
No. Companies cannot buy a position, pay to enter a city, choose their cities, or improve eligibility by claiming a profile.
What happens when a location cannot be verified?
The review may be published without local-ranking eligibility, but it must not influence city or state rankings until the required location evidence is verified.
What is the minimum review threshold?
The current implementation requires at least one qualifying verified in-radius review. Pages show the actual number of qualifying companies and do not pad a list to ten entries.
How often are local rankings recalculated?
Local rankings are generated from current qualifying review data. Ranking pages should display the actual recalculation timestamp and methodology version; the application does not claim a fixed public cadence that is not configured.
Read the complete ranking methodology · Review verification policy