Rank1Local publishes the exact formula, data sources, and dispute process behind every position on the leaderboard. This page documents the scoring methodology in full, including the paid Bid component, so contractors and homeowners can verify exactly how every ranking is calculated.
Paid ranking disclosure: leaderboard position reflects a Final Score computed from a contractor's paid $/lead Bid multiplied by independently verified Quality and Responsiveness inputs. Rank1Local is a paid advertising marketplace, not a neutral directory, and no position is available without an enrolled, paying advertiser.
See the Bidding ProcessEvery listed position on Rank1Local resolves from a single, published equation. No component of the formula is negotiable or manually overridden.
Disclosure: the Bid component is a paid, per-lead advertising rate set by an enrolled contractor. Rank1Local's leaderboard is a paid marketplace ranking, not an editorially independent or algorithmic search result.
The listing with the highest Final Score in a given city and category occupies the top position. Every factor is normalized on a common scale before multiplication, so no single input can dominate the result by default.
The dollar amount, priced in dollars per qualified lead ($/lead), that a contractor commits to pay in a given city and category, weighted within a fixed minimum-to-maximum range.
A composite subscore built from verified review data, active license status, and historical service reliability.
A rolling measurement of how quickly a contractor answers calls and messages from leads routed through the platform.
Each factor in the formula is sourced from independently verifiable data, updated on a fixed schedule, and documented below.
Bids are priced in dollars per qualified lead ($/lead) and weighted on a normalized scale bound by a published minimum and maximum for each city and category, preventing any single contractor from purchasing an outsized share of the formula's weight.
A $/lead bid below the category minimum is not eligible for placement; a bid above the category maximum is capped at the ceiling value before it enters the calculation.
Calls and messages routed through Rank1Local are timestamped from delivery to first contractor reply. Responses inside the defined threshold receive full credit; slower responses receive proportionally reduced credit.
Non-response within the maximum tracked window is recorded as a missed contact and weighs against the component going forward.
Final Scores are recomputed daily for responsiveness and bid inputs, and weekly for quality inputs such as license verification and review cadence, so a ranking always reflects recent performance rather than a one-time snapshot.
If two listings resolve to an identical Final Score, the contractor with the longer verified on-platform tenure holds the higher position until the scores diverge at the next recomputation.
Contractors are entitled to inspect the data behind their own quality subscore and to contest inaccuracies through a documented process.
Every bidder can view a breakdown of their current Bid, Quality, and Responsiveness inputs from their account dashboard, including the license verification result and the trailing response-time average used in the most recent recomputation.
If a license verification result appears incorrect, or a response-time figure does not match a contractor's own records, the discrepancy can be formally raised for review at Contact. Disputes are reviewed against the original source data — the state licensing API record or the timestamped lead log — and corrected before the next recomputation cycle if the source data confirms an error.
Permitted
Not Permitted at Any Price
No bid amount can purchase a fabricated review, an unverifiable license, or a falsified response time. Rank stays earned by defending it under the same formula applied to every competitor in the category.
Rank1Local sends cold-outreach scripts referencing a business's competitive position only when every business named in that script is a real, enrolled advertiser on the platform and its disclosed ranking reflects a Final Score computed under the formula documented on this page. No script references a business that has not enrolled, and no ranking cited in outreach is estimated, projected, or fabricated for persuasive effect.
In a city and category that has not yet reached three enrolled advertisers, the standard ranking disclosure does not apply. Outreach in that category is instead conducted under Rank1Local's beta-invitation program, which is disclosed to the recipient as an early-access invitation rather than a ranking comparison. Questions about a specific outreach message, an advertiser's enrollment status, or the beta-invitation program can be raised at Contact or by emailing claims@rank1local.com.
The mechanics behind every ranking change are operational, not theoretical. Rank1Local documents the outbid-notification, lead-capture, and billing workflow below so every enrolled advertiser understands exactly what happens once a bid is placed.
When a new Bid recalculates the Final Score and displaces the current top-ranked advertiser in a city and category, Rank1Local detects the change immediately and notifies the outbid advertiser by email and SMS, each carrying a one-click rebid link so the position can be reclaimed without a manual dashboard visit.
Each listing is provisioned with a dedicated tracking phone number and an embedded form-capture widget. Every call and form submission is logged at the moment of capture and attributed to whichever advertiser holds the top-bid position for that city and category at the time the lead comes in.
Bid charges are processed through Stripe. Every payment method, bid charge, and reconciliation step is verified end-to-end in Stripe's test environment before any workflow is enabled for live billing, so a contractor's card is never charged against an unverified process.
A validated lead is routed automatically to the current top-bid holder, a billing charge is triggered against that advertiser's account for the validated lead, and the transaction is recorded in the advertiser's lead log, giving every contractor a line-item record of what was billed and which lead it corresponds to.
Review a working leaderboard scored under this exact methodology, or read the full bidding process from lead generation to recomputation.
Questions about a score, a license verification result, or a response-time figure? Contact our team to open a formal dispute.