The glossary of local visibility

Visibility score

The /100 number on every Index row. It's computed from a published rubric of checkable public facts — working website, own domain, https, social channels, phone, address, hours, email — and nothing else. Anyone can re-run the math.

Presence facts

The only inputs we score: things a customer can verify in a browser. No follower counts, no engagement data, no opinions — those can't be checked from the outside, so they don't belong in a public grade.

Dark listing (invisible online)

A business with no findable website and little or no social presence. It exists, it may even be excellent — but a customer searching for it finds nothing to trust. A large share of independent businesses we rank sit here.

The rank cascade

How ties break on the boards. Equal scores order by a published sequence — channel count, then own domain, hours, email, https, and finally name — so two 70-point businesses always land in the same, explainable order.

Grade bands (A–D)

Scores group into four bands so a row is readable at a glance. An A is findable everywhere a customer looks; a D is missing most of the basics. Grades move only when the underlying public facts change.

The map pack

The block of three local results (with the map) Google shows for searches like “roofer near me.” It's driven largely by your Google Business Profile — most local buyers never scroll past it.

Google Business Profile (GBP)

Your business's listing on Google Search and Maps — hours, phone, reviews, photos, posts. A verified, complete profile is the single biggest local-findability signal there is, and it's free.

NAP consistency

Name, Address, Phone — written identically everywhere your business appears. Mismatched listings (“St.” here, “Street” there, an old number somewhere) quietly erode how confidently search engines show you.

Rolling metrics

Platform stats like views and likes are often ROLLING windows — a moving total, not a permanent count. Adding them up across posts double-counts badly. We learned this the hard way, which is why our public numbers come with their method attached.

Hook

The first one to two seconds of a short video — the part that decides whether a viewer stays. Result-first beats context-first: show the payoff, then explain. It's the highest-leverage edit in short-form.

Saves and sends

The quiet signals — someone saving a reel to use later, or sending it to a friend — are stronger evidence of value than a like. Content worth saving is content worth making.

CTA (call to action)

The one thing a post asks the viewer to do. One ask, stated plainly, beats three hedged ones. Most local-business content fails here by asking for nothing at all.

Edition

One monthly recompute of an Index board. Every edition re-checks the public facts, reshuffles the ranks, and archives its aggregates — so the boards are a time series, not a snapshot.

Climber

A business whose grade improved between editions. We name climbers publicly — they earned it — and never name the businesses that slipped; declines are only ever counted in aggregate.