Methodology
How the roster is vetted
Every incumbent directory sells placement. We don’t. Ranking is driven by an internal evidence score and nothing else. Here is exactly what earns a listing, what earns a badge, and what we refuse to do.
Sorted by verified evidence, never pay-to-rank.
Three tiers
What earns each tier?
One rule runs through all three: nothing moves up a page or into a tier because someone paid for it.
Listed
the floorA provider is Listed when it clears four non-negotiables: a real website offering actual AI implementation services (not a product-only or course-only funnel), an identifiable human behind it, signs of activity within the last twelve months, and clients served in English. The floor alone filters out the label-slappers and anonymous lead-gen shells that clog every other directory.
Verified
the brand promiseVerified is the floor plus at least two of these five independent evidence signals. Two-of-five keeps the bar evidence-based without demanding paperwork from profiles that haven’t been claimed yet.
- 1Vendor certificationA genuine partner listing: Claude partner network, Zapier Experts, Make partners, n8n experts, or equivalent real vendor programs.
- 2Named case studyA case study with a named client or a concrete, checkable metric. Self-hosted is fine, so long as it's specific.
- 3Third-party reviewsAt least five reviews on Clutch, G2, Google, or Upwork, with the rating visible.
- 4Cross-listingsListed in two or more independent directories, a corroboration signal our harvest showed is rare and meaningful.
- 5Public footprintOpen source, published templates or workflows, conference talks, or an audience built on demonstrated work.
Roster Pick
editorial, never soldRoster Picks are the hand-reviewed top three to five of each vertical: the “we’d send our own clients here” list. Selection combines the strongest evidence score in the segment with an editorial review of the actual work. Placement is never for sale. If it ever were, the roster would be dead, so we monetize claiming, enrichment, and lead routing instead, and never rank.
The test
Any two of five signals clears VerifiedThe evidence score
How does the roster rank consultants?
Ordering within every page is driven by an internal 0 to 100 score, so the sequence is always defensible. Rough weights, which we tune over time:
Freshness matters: any signal older than 24 months counts at half weight, and every profile shows a public “last verified” date so you can judge for yourself. Every addition, removal, and verification sweep is logged in the roster updates.
The line we hold
What we refuse to do
No pay-to-rank. Payment never moves a provider up a page or into a tier. Full stop.
No purchased certifications. Badges bought from a certifying directory carry zero evidence weight.
No global SIs or product vendors. The Accenture-class firms' buyers don't need us, and product-only vendors aren't a services fit.
Public info only. No scraping behind logins, opt-in claiming, and instant removal on request.
Not listed, or listed with something wrong? We add firms once we can verify their work, so the usual reason one isn’t here yet is that we haven’t seen the evidence. If that’s you, or a firm you rate, point us at the proof. Claiming and evidence submission are on the way.