How TrustProof works
From the moment a review is written to the score you see on a company profile.
1. Someone writes a review
Anyone with a genuine buying or service experience can review any company, invited or not. Reviewers verify their e-mail address before a review is published. A profile is created automatically the first time a business is reviewed, whether or not that business has claimed it.
2. The review is screened
Automated systems check every review for signs that it is fake, incentivised, conflicted or abusive, and our Content Integrity team handles reports and edge cases. We do not fact-check the content of reviews; we check whether they are genuine. See Trust & transparency.
3. The TrustScore is calculated
The TrustScore is a number from 1 to 5 shown with one decimal. It is based on all reviews of the company that are published on TrustProof, weighted so that the score reflects the company as it is now:
- Recency. Recent reviews count for more than old ones, so an improving (or declining) company is reflected quickly.
- Volume. Every company starts from a neutral prior of 3.5. The more reviews it has, the more the score is driven by those reviews rather than the prior, which stops a single 5-star review producing a perfect score.
- Frequency. A company that keeps receiving reviews has a more current score than one whose reviews stopped years ago.
Paid plans, invitations, replies and claiming a profile have no effect on the TrustScore. Only reviews do.
| Score | Label | Stars |
|---|---|---|
| 4.3 and above | Excellent | |
| 3.8 and above | Great | |
| 3.0 and above | Average | |
| 2.0 and above | Poor | |
| below 2.0 | Bad |
Star colours are the same everywhere on the site: green for excellent, lime for great, amber for average, orange for poor, red for bad.
4. The business can reply
A company that has claimed its profile can reply publicly to any review. Replies are shown under the review, clearly labelled, and the company's reply rate and typical reply time are shown on its profile.
5. Everyone reads for free
Reading reviews never requires an account. Company profiles are indexed by search engines, so a company's reputation on TrustProof follows it wherever people look.