Our rankings are built to help you choose the right business, not just the one with the highest star rating. This page explains how we research businesses, how the Top Rated Score works, and what can and cannot influence a ranking.
The Short Version
- We build a list of businesses in a city and category.
- We collect and verify information about each one.
- We score each business using factors that matter for that industry.
- We rank businesses by their Top Rated Score and explain the result.
- We keep the information up to date and show when it was last checked.
What Is the Top Rated Score?
The Top Rated Score is a 100-point score that shows how strongly a business performs across the factors we measure. A higher score means stronger overall performance based on our research. It is not a guarantee of quality, and it should be used as a guide alongside your own judgment.
Why We Do Not Rank by Star Rating Alone
A business with a 5.0 rating from 20 reviews is not necessarily better than a business with a 4.8 rating from 2,000 reviews. Small review counts can be misleading.
To deal with this, we use an adjusted rating. In simple terms, a business with few reviews is pulled closer to the average for its category and city, while a business with many reviews is judged more on its own rating. This stops tiny sample sizes from dominating a ranking. The adjusted rating is only one part of the overall score.
Scoring Factors
Every industry has its own scoring model, because what matters when choosing a car garage is different from what matters when choosing a dentist or a restaurant. Across industries, we look at the following kinds of factors:
- Reputation: rating quality, review volume, review recency and consistency of customer feedback
- Capability: services offered, specialties, equipment and relevant expertise
- Trust and verification: verified identity and location, credentials, years in business, warranty and transparency
- Customer experience: communication, booking, accessibility and convenience
- Value: pricing transparency and the relationship between price and service
- Editorial research: our independent research and corroboration of the facts
Example: Automotive Scoring Model
Our first category is automotive businesses in Dubai. The starting weights for car garages are:
| Factor | Weight |
|---|---|
| Reputation | 25% |
| Capability | 20% |
| Trust and verification | 15% |
| Customer experience | 15% |
| Value | 10% |
| Editorial research | 15% |
| Total | 100% |
These weights may be adjusted as we learn more, and we will update this page when they change. Other industries will have their own models.
Where Our Information Comes From
We do not assume information is correct just because another website says so. Where practical, we check:
- The business’s official website
- Official licensing or government sources
- Current public business information
- Relevant industry authorities
- Data providers whose terms allow our use
- Information submitted directly by the business
We separate three things: claims made by the business, independent evidence, and our own editorial analysis. When a claim comes from the business and we have not been able to confirm it, we say so.
Ratings and Reviews
Ratings and review counts from third-party platforms are used as one signal among many. When we show them, we record the source and the date we checked them, because they change over time. They are not Top Rated reviews, and we do not present them as our own.
We do not copy reviews from other websites. Instead, we summarize recurring themes in our own words.
Verification and “Last Verified” Dates
Business profiles show a verification status and the date the information was last checked.
- Unverified: basic information that we have not yet confirmed
- Business Claimed: the owner has claimed the profile
- Information Verified: we have confirmed key business details
- TopRated Verified: we have confirmed identity, location and key details to our standard
Verification means the information and business identity were checked. It does not mean the business paid for a better ranking, and it does not mean we endorse every claim a business makes.
Paid Placements and Sponsored Content
Top Rated earns revenue from businesses through optional services such as enhanced profiles, sponsored placements and leads. These are kept separate from our organic rankings.
- Sponsored placements are clearly labelled as Sponsored or Featured.
- Paying does not change a business’s Top Rated Score or its organic position.
- Paid or sponsored links are marked with the appropriate link attributes.
What Businesses Cannot Do
- Buy or request a higher organic position
- Pay to change their Top Rated Score
- Pay for positive reviews or offer incentives for them
- Pay to remove accurate criticism or a competitor
- Rewrite our editorial analysis
Businesses can correct factual information such as opening hours, phone numbers, addresses and services. We review those corrections before updating a profile.
Healthcare and Other Sensitive Categories
For dentists, clinics and other healthcare providers, we are more careful with our wording. We do not claim a clinic is the “best” in clinical terms. Instead, we describe it as, for example, a highly rated clinic or a strong option for a specific need, based on our methodology. Where possible, we check professional registration and licensing, and we keep customer reputation, credentials, specialties and services separate. Nothing on Top Rated is medical advice.
“Best For” Recommendations
Labels such as Best Overall, Best Value or Best for Luxury Cars are tied to specific measurable criteria in our data. They are not decorative awards and cannot be bought.
How Often We Update
Local business information changes. We aim to review each profile regularly and show the date of the last check. Ranking pages also show when they were last updated. If you see something outdated, please let us know.
Corrections and Disputes
If you believe something on Top Rated is wrong, contact us and choose “Report an error”. Please include the page URL and, if possible, a source we can check. We will review it, and if the information is wrong, we will correct it.
Limitations
Our rankings reflect the information we could find and verify at the time of the research. They are not a guarantee of any business’s quality or of your experience. We encourage you to compare options, check recent reviews and contact businesses directly before deciding.
Own a Business?
You can submit your business to be considered for Top Rated. Learn more about who we are on our About page.