How LocalPro ratings work
The LocalPro Rating tells you how proven a provider is, measured against others in the same trade. Today it is shown as a confidence tier rather than a star score, and this page explains why.
Confidence tiers, graded on a curve
Review volume varies enormously by trade. A busy laundromat can gather hundreds of reviews while a specialist contractor doing larger, less frequent jobs may have a few dozen, and both can be excellent. So a flat "100+ reviews" cutoff would be misleading: it would label nearly every laundromat "established" and make a perfectly typical contractor look thin.
Instead we grade on a curve within each trade. We group providers by how their review track record compares to others in the same category:
- Established — among the most-reviewed providers in this trade.
- Well reviewed — a solid review track record for this trade.
- Reviewed — has reviews, with a shorter track record so far.
- Not yet rated — we do not have enough public review data to place this provider yet.
Because the tiers are relative to the trade, "Established" means the same thing on every LocalPro site: a top-tier track record for that line of work.
Why no star score yet
The public ratings these providers have earned cluster very tightly near the top of the scale, so a single star number would read as a near-identical 5.0 for almost everyone and tell you nothing. We would rather show you a signal that actually distinguishes providers than a star that does not.
Star scores arrive when providers collect reviews directly on LocalPro. Those first-party reviews are ours, they are specific to the work these providers do for our visitors, and they will carry the most weight in the rating. The first providers to gather them will show the only star scores on the site, and will rank at the top of their listing tier.
What the rating does not include
- It does not factor in whether a business pays for a listing. Paid placement is separate, and never changes a provider's rating.
- It does not fold in credentials or certifications. Those are shown as separate badges where verified, because they are facts, not opinions.
- It does not republish any third party's exact review count or star score as our own number.
Where the data comes from
Today the tiers are seeded from public customer-review data, transformed into our own confidence measure rather than reprinted. As first-party reviews accumulate on LocalPro they become the primary input, and outside data fades to a minor reference. This page will be updated as that shift happens.