Public trust record

How rankings work

The ranking system is designed to answer one question: which option is most useful for this person’s decision, based on current, auditable evidence?

The non-negotiable rules

Evidence before confidence

A record can have strong source provenance and still need a current recheck. The interface says both.

Recency decays

Operational facts lose weight as they age. A dated phone check is not permanent verification.

Community is corroboration

Useful reports can confirm or challenge facts, but popularity alone does not establish truth.

Money is separate

Sponsors receive clearly labeled placement. Payment does not create verification, ownership, or organic rank.

Rankings held during evidence rebuild

Launch formula

Organic scores will combine verified fact coverage, evidence recency, confirmed community usefulness, contribution credibility, and decision fit. Abuse risk, unresolved reports, and stale facts reduce confidence.

score = evidence coverage × recency × decision fit + confirmed community signal − abuse risk

Weights and worked examples will be published before non-zero scores go live. They will be versioned when changed.

Current evidence labels

Official source on file · recheck pending: The record came from a stronger official or public source, but current operating facts still need review.
Contact details imported · recheck pending: Structured contact data was imported from a known source and must be checked before verification.
Details need confirmation: A legacy published record is preserved for URL continuity without carrying forward unverifiable claims.
Sponsored: Paid visibility that is always labeled and excluded from organic ranking calculations.