See The Real Ratings of Your Competitors
Real Ratings & Reviews
Most business owners know their Google rating. Fewer know how much—or how little—it really means.
Sure, a 5.0 star rating looks good at a glance. But what does that number say when it’s based on only 20 reviews? Not much. In fact, many businesses flaunting a perfect score haven’t actually earned it—not at scale.
That’s why we created the Leaderboard—a more accurate, transparent, and trustworthy way to rank local service businesses using what we call the Real Rating.

What Is a Real Rating, and Why Does It Matter?
A Real Rating is a weighted score that factors in:
Number of reviews
Actual average rating
Bonus signals like live chat widget presence (customer support matters)
If a business has 20 reviews and they’re all five stars, that’s a decent start. But compare that to someone with 120 reviews and a 4.9 average—they’ve earned trust repeatedly. The public deserves to see that distinction.
Review Volume Changes Everything
Google treats all 5.0 ratings the same—but we don’t.
Here’s how we adjust for truth:
Under 100 reviews = not statistically reliable
100–500 reviews = stable, real, and representative
500+ reviews = earns “extra credit,” similar to a GPA boost
📈 Example:
Made Pro of Lake Norman and LA Made Services both have 4.9 Google ratings
But Made Pro has ~80 more reviews
On our Leaderboard, Made Pro edges ahead as the stronger business
How Live Chat Impacts Your Ranking
We believe great customer support should boost your visibility.
So if you’ve added a live chat widget to your site, you get a +0.7 Real Rating boost.
Why? Because you’re signaling to potential customers:
"We’re here when you need us."
Want to boost leads and your Real Rating? Learn how to add a chat widget here.
Real-World Leaderboard Highlights
Here’s a snapshot of a few companies ranked using Real Rating:
Custom Maids (Bay City, MI)
Google: 4.4 from 53 reviews
Real Rating: 4.282
With chat widget + more reviews = 4.47
Jake’s Carpet Cleaning (Bay City, MI)
Google: 5.0 from 167 reviews
Real Rating: >5.0
Most dominant cleaning company in the Bay City market
Great Lakes Cleaning
Google: 2.8 from 13 reviews
Real Rating reflects deeper quality concerns
Tri Cities Infinity Clean LLC
Google: 4.7 from 40 reviews
No website or chat widget = weaker trust signal
Want to improve your company’s standing? Organize your pipeline like this.
Introducing Modified Market Share
We go beyond ratings and factor in market dominance by calculating:
Population within 30 miles of your location
Estimating that 10% are potential service buyers (homeowners/renters)
Comparing your number of reviews to that population
That’s how we calculate Modified Market Share—a true snapshot of local dominance.
In Bay City, Jake’s Carpet Cleaning isn’t just the highest-rated. He’s got the biggest market share too.
What We’re Doing at Custom Maids
We’re not where we want to be yet—but we’re working on it.
Here’s our current strategy:
We send out detailed Client Satisfaction Surveys (not straight up Google reviews right now)
We’re relaunching our office outreach to ask clients directly for Google reviews
We will be using custom Google review QR codes to make it easier for clients to leave feedback
The goal: climb our own leaderboard—by playing the very game we created.
💥 Join the Leaderboard (For Free)
Want to know your Real Rating and how you stack up in your city?
It’s completely free to join the Leaderboard.
All you have to do is submit:
✅ Your Google Business Profile URL
OR
✅ Your Website URL
Drop it in the comments or send it to us directly. We’ll analyze your profile and add you to the rankings.
🔗 Click here to submit your info
Final Thoughts
This isn’t about vanity—it’s about transparency and trust.
The best companies don’t need to fake it. They earn their reputation daily.
The Real Rating system was built to help the truth rise to the top—and to show customers who really deserves their business.
Whether you're a cleaning company, a plumber, a landscaper, or a home service pro of any kind… this is your chance to see where you really stand.
Submit your company (send us an email or chat in the lower right).
Join the leaderboard. And rise.