How we rate businesses
Every business on Checked Local WI gets a Checked Score from 0 to 100. It's built only from public facts you can check yourself, and the full formula is below. Nobody can pay to change a score or their position. Paid spots, when we have them, will always be labeled "Sponsored."
The formula
| Category | How it's figured | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Customer reviews | Google and Yelp star ratings combined, weighted by how many reviews each has. We add 5 "neutral" 4.0-star reviews to every business so one lucky 5-star review can't beat hundreds of real ones. A 3.0 average or lower earns 0; a 5.0 earns the full 45. | 45 |
| Review volume | More reviews means more confidence in the rating. 10 reviews earns about 6 points, 50 earns about 10, 300 or more earns the full 15. | 15 |
| Years in business | Half a point per year, from the year the business says it started. Full points at 30 years. | 15 |
| Emergency service | 10 if the business itself states it offers after-hours or emergency service. 5 if it's limited (next-day only, or commercial customers only). | 10 |
| BBB rating | A+ = 10, A = 9, A- = 8, B+ = 6, B = 5, down to 0 for D and F or no rating. | 10 |
| Credentials | 3 for being a city pre-qualified contractor, 2 for being a Focus on Energy Trade Ally. | 5 |
| Total | 100 | |
What a low score does and doesn't mean
Missing information earns 0 points in that category. It is not a penalty and it doesn't mean the business does bad work. A great shop with no online reviews will score low until it has some. If a business has no reviews and no confirmed start year, we show "Not scored yet" instead of a number.
Business owners: if something is missing or wrong (start year, BBB rating, emergency service, credentials), send us proof and we'll update it for free.
How results are ordered
Browsing a trade or town: highest Checked Score first. Businesses based in the town you're looking at get +10 for sorting only, because a nearby shop usually gets to you faster. The score you see never changes.
Using the AI search: it may ask one or two quick questions, then recommends the best fit for your specific job. It looks at whether the business offers the exact service you need first, then emergency service if it's urgent, then location, then the Checked Score. It only picks from listings on this site and never invents a business, phone number or rating.
Where the facts come from
Each listing is cross-checked against the business's own website, Google, BBB and Yelp. Ratings and review counts are a snapshot from when we last checked (shown at the bottom of each page), so the live numbers on Google or Yelp may be slightly different. Anything we haven't confirmed yet is marked "Still confirming" on the listing.