Methodology & sources.
BestOf is a source-backed factual index of local award winners — not a clone of contest sites. Every result links back to its original publisher.
What we collect
Public facts about local Best Of, Readers' Choice, Community Choice, and similar award programs: business name, region, category, year, placement, and a short attributed quote where legally appropriate. We also collect basic contact data from official business websites.
What we don't collect
We do not bypass paywalls, login walls, CAPTCHAs, or robots restrictions. We do not scrape Google, Yelp, Facebook, Cars.com, KBB, or other third-party reviews. We do not copy long descriptions, logos, badges, or proprietary layouts.
Reviews & reputation
Business profiles include a Reviews & Reputation panel with outbound links to providers like Google, Yelp, BBB, Facebook, KBB, and Cars.com when publicly discoverable. By default we link out only — we don't republish review text, copy aggregate ratings, or frame third-party sites. If a claimed business authorizes API access (for example via Google Business Profile), we may display permitted fields per that provider's terms. Yelp content follows Yelp API terms; BBB content is treated as link-only unless licensed.
Confidence labels
- Verified from source: the publisher's page was opened, archived, and recorded.
- Search-snippet supported: backed by a search-engine snippet pending full source archive.
- Business-claimed: the owner submitted documentation; we have not independently confirmed.
- Third-party profile: based on aggregated directory data only.
- Needs review: awaiting human QA. Sample data on this MVP defaults here.
Structured data
Business pages emit minimal LocalBusiness JSON-LD using only verified fields. We do not emit AggregateRating using third-party scores.
Corrections
Owners and publishers can submit corrections at any time. Paid plans add profile control but cannot rewrite the historical record.