How we score businesses

Every business on DFW Pros carries a score from 0 to 100. It is computed from public data on a published formula, the same one described on this page. No business can pay to raise it, and no business can pay to have it removed.

What goes into the score

Five factors, weighted as follows. Each is scored 0–100 on its own, then combined.

Why star ratings alone are not enough

Across the roofing contractors we have scored, the average Google rating is above 4.9. Sorting by stars puts almost everyone in a tie, which is why sentiment carries the most weight. It reads what people actually wrote, not the star they clicked.

A business with hundreds of reviews at 4.9 stars can still have a recurring pattern of missed appointments, warranty disputes, or billing surprises in the text of those reviews. When that happens, the score reflects it and the business ranks lower than its star average would suggest.

The specifics

Ratings are adjusted for confidence

A rating is pulled toward a baseline of 3.8 until a business has around 25 reviews. A 5.0 from three reviews does not outrank a 4.7 from four hundred.

Review volume has diminishing returns

Volume is scored on a curve that flattens around 250 reviews, so a national chain cannot bury a well-reviewed independent on count alone.

Recent feedback counts for more

Reviews from the last 180 days receive full credit, tapering to none beyond 3 years. We use the median review age, so a single recent review cannot mask years of silence.

Thin evidence means no score

A business needs at least 5 reviews before we publish a score. Below that we do not have enough to say anything defensible.

Missing data is not the same as bad data

When we have not yet analyzed a business’s reviews, that factor is left out and the remaining weights are rescaled. A business is never penalized for work we have not done.

How we write the pros and watch-outs

Every claim on a listing, every strength and every caution, has to be supported by at least 2 separate reviews before it is published. One person’s experience is an anecdote, not a pattern.

Claims that fail that test are discarded rather than reworded. This is why some businesses show two strengths and others show five, and why some show no cautions at all. We do not manufacture balance, and we do not pad a page to make it look complete.

When we read reviews, we deliberately include critical ones rather than sampling the most recent. A business with two hundred glowing reviews and six complaints will have those six read.

Pages we refuse to build

A ranked list is only useful when there is a real field to rank. We do not publish a “best of” page unless we have at least 10 scored businesses in that category, or 5 for a single city. Head-to-head comparisons require both businesses to be scored and reasonably close.

If we do not have the depth, the page does not exist. There is no version of this site where a page lists two businesses and calls it a ranking.

What money cannot do

• No business can pay for a higher score or a better rank.
• No business can pay to remove a caution that its reviews support.
• If we ever sell advertising or featured placement, it will be labeled as such and excluded from the ranked list.

Businesses can ask us to correct factual errors: a wrong phone number, an outdated address, a closed location. They cannot ask us to change a rating or remove an accurate summary of what their customers wrote. Contact us to report an error.

Where the data comes from

Business details and reviews come from public Google Business Profiles. Review analysis is produced by software reading that review text and is reviewed against the citation rules above before publication. We do not invent details about pricing, certifications, service areas, or history.

Scores are recomputed as new reviews arrive, so a business’s position can change without anything on this page changing.