Ranking methodology

How a list is built

We start with the real local market for one trade in one place, not with whoever ranks highest in search. Being easy to find is not evidence of doing good work, so search visibility is a lead to check rather than a reason to include a business.

From that pool we research each candidate against the factors below, rule out anything that does not belong, and shortlist the businesses we would genuinely recommend. The result is our opinion, based on publicly available information, at the time the page was last updated.

What we weigh

• Public customer reviews and feedback. Volume, consistency and recency across Google and other public platforms, read as a pattern rather than a single score. We look at how a business answers criticism as well as praise.
• Consistency of service quality. Whether the standard holds up across many jobs and over time, not just on a good week.
• Licensing and accreditation. Where a trade requires registration or licensing, we check it. An electrician on the Electrical Workers Registration Board register, a plumber or gasfitter registered with the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board, and trade association membership where it applies.
• Range of services. Whether the business genuinely covers the work people on that page are looking for.
• Local experience and reputation. How long it has worked in that area, and whether it is actually established there rather than servicing it from a distance.
• Professional standards and communication. Clear information, contactability, guarantees and insurance where relevant, and how the business presents what it does.

We do not score these in a formula and publish the number. Judgement is involved, which is why we tell you plainly that the result is an editorial opinion.

Service area matters

A business only appears on a page for a place when its own website makes clear it serves that place. If we cannot tell where a business works, it does not go on the page. We will not list a business and leave you to ring and find out whether it covers you.

What we exclude

• Lead generation sites. Businesses that collect enquiries and sell them to contractors rather than doing the work themselves.
• Directories and aggregators. Sites that list other businesses instead of being one.
• Sites built to rank and be rented out. Thin or templated sites with no registered company, no genuine business profile, and no traceable work.
• Businesses we cannot confirm are operating. Dead websites, disconnected numbers, closed profiles and companies removed from the register.
• Inconsistent identities. Where the domain, trading name, phone number, address and registered company point at different operators.

Why a list can have fewer than five

In smaller towns and in narrow trades there are not always five businesses that pass. When that happens we publish the ones that do and say so on the page. A short honest list is more use to you than a padded one.

Paying for Spotlight changes none of this

TopChoice Spotlight is a paid placement that sits above the Top 5 with a visible Sponsored label. Buying one does not add a business to the Top 5, improve its position or keep it out. A Spotlight business can appear in the Top 5 on the same page when it earns that place on merit. A Verified Profile works the same way: it confirms a business is genuine and managed by an authorised representative, and carries no ranking benefit.

How often we review

Lists are reviewed quarterly. We also re-check a page when something prompts it, such as a business closing, a change of ownership, or a correction from a reader. Each page carries the month it was last updated.

If you think we have it wrong

Tell us. Our corrections policy covers how to report an error, how a business can dispute its ranking, and how to ask for a listing to be removed. The principles behind the research are in our editorial policy, and how TopChoice works gives the short version.