How we rank painters
Very Good Painters tracks 35,090 painting companies across 396 US cities. This page explains exactly how our lists are ordered, how each company’s market rank is calculated, and where every number comes from, so you can judge the results for yourself.
1. How city lists are ordered
Every city and specialty list is sorted by these rules, in this order:
- Featured placements first. These are paid and always carry a visible Featured label.
- Then Google rating weighted by review volume. Rating is multiplied by review count (counting up to 500 reviews), so a 4.9 with 300 reviews ranks above a 5.0 with 4. A strong rating only carries weight when enough customers back it up.
- Then total review count, for companies that tie on the above.
- Finally, research depth. If everything else is equal, a company whose website, services, and online presence we have reviewed comes before a bare map listing.
2. The “highest rated” summary
The summary at the top of each city page names the highest-rated companies with a meaningful number of reviews: at least 25 Google reviews, or 10 in smaller markets where fewer than three companies reach 25. They are sorted by star rating, then review count. Paid placement has no effect on this summary.
3. Market rank on company profiles
Each profile shows a rank such as “#12 of 98 painting companies we track in this city.” It comes from a 100-point score built only from public data:
| Factor | Points | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Review volume | up to 40 | Number of Google reviews on a log scale, so the first 100 reviews count more than the next 100. About 1,000 reviews earns the full 40. |
| Google rating | up to 20 | Star rating times 4, so a 5.0 earns 20 and a 4.5 earns 18. |
| Website | 10 | The company has its own website we can verify. |
| Team size | up to 20 | One point per professional we can see working at the company in public professional data, capped at 20. |
| Advertising | 5 | The company’s website runs Google, Meta, or TikTok ad tracking, a sign it is actively investing in growth. |
| Market | 1 to 10 | A strength score for the city from our market research. It is the same for every company in a city, so it never changes the order within one city. |
Scores are recalculated for every company each day.
4. Where the data comes from
- Google Maps: business name, address, phone, hours, categories, star rating, and review count, gathered in daily market crawls.
- The company’s own website: services offered, social profiles, blog activity, and advertising tags. Profile summaries are written by AI from this public website content.
- Public professional data: how many people we can see working at the company.
- Owners: details submitted when a company adds or claims its listing.
5. What we don’t do
- We don’t host, edit, or remove reviews. Ratings are Google’s.
- We don’t sell changes to ratings, scores, or the “highest rated” summaries.
- We don’t hide companies for not paying. Every painting company we find is listed free.
FAQs
Can a painting company pay to rank higher on Very Good Painters?
A company can buy a Featured placement, which puts it at the top of its city lists with a visible Featured label. Below the Featured spots, lists are ordered by Google rating weighted by review volume. Payment never changes a company’s Google rating, review count, market rank score, or whether it appears in our “highest rated” summaries.
Where do the ratings and reviews come from?
Star ratings and review counts are Google Maps data, shown with attribution. Very Good Painters does not host, edit, or filter reviews.
How are the highest-rated painters in a city chosen?
We take every company in that city list with at least 25 Google reviews (10 if fewer than three companies qualify) and sort by star rating, breaking ties by review count. The top three are named in the summary at the top of the page.
How often is the data updated?
New markets and companies are added from daily crawls, and company profiles are researched and refreshed on a rolling basis. Every city, state, and profile page shows the date it last changed.
How do I fix wrong information about my company?
Claim your listing from your profile page or the About page. We verify ownership and correct the profile.
Own a painting company? Add it free or claim your listing to correct your details.