How Shark Score Works

Shark Score compiles public signals — state licensing records, Google Business Profile data, and public company websites — into a single 0–100 number, plus a band (Limited, Developing, Established, Strong, Dominant) and a rank within the business's market.

It measures discoverability and trust signals, not the quality of a business's actual work. A highly skilled contractor with little online presence can score lower than a less experienced one with a strong review history — the score reflects what's visible and verifiable from public data, nothing more.

The overall score is the sum of three components, each worth a fixed share of 100 points:

Reputation reflects review rating and volume relative to the market. Visibility reflects how findable a business is online, including whether it has a locatable Google Business Profile. Credentials reflects license status, class, and standing with the NC State Board of Examiners.

A fourth component, Momentum (trend over time), is planned but marked "coming soon" — it requires enough score history to accumulate before it can be measured meaningfully. It is not yet part of the 100-point total.

This is Methodology v1.0. If the formula, weights, or data sources change in the future, the version number changes with it — changes are never made silently. Each business record shows the methodology version under which its current score was computed.

Some licensed businesses cannot be located on Google at all — no matching Business Profile was found during scanning. These businesses are labeled "Limited data" rather than shown a fabricated rating or review count. This alone is a real visibility gap, not a data error, though it can also indicate the business operates under a different name than its license record.

AI Discoverability — whether AI assistants recommend a business when asked — is shown on business pages as an experimental metric. Measurement is still being built out, and it is not currently factored into the Shark Score. It will be clearly documented here before it is.

No business — claimed or unclaimed, free or paid — can pay to change its score, band, or rank. Paid plans (where offered) provide analysis, prioritized fix plans, and additional tools. They never change the underlying number.

Because scores are computed from public records, factual errors can occur. Any business, claimed or not, can dispute a specific data point using the "Report incorrect data" link on its page. Disputes are reviewed and answered within 48 hours.

For anything not covered here, email info@publishshark.com.