Best of Indianapolis publishes local guides and Best-of lists for people in and around Indianapolis. This page sets out the rules we follow, what businesses can and can’t pay for, and how to tell us when we get something wrong.
Indianapolis-specific, or we don’t publish it
Everything on the site is about Indianapolis. If a guide or a list isn’t specific to Indianapolis, we don’t publish it.
The answer comes first
Our guides are written answer-first. The top of each guide answers the question in its title, and the rest of the page explains the details.
How we pick businesses for Best-of lists
Every Best-of list follows the same published rules:
- The business is locally owned.
- It has a Google rating of 4.8 or higher from 100 or more reviews (4.6 or higher for pest control).
- Its Better Business Bureau rating is A+, or it isn’t listed with the BBB.
- Businesses that qualify are ordered by their rating adjusted for review count, so a rating backed by many reviews counts for more than the same rating backed by a few.
- We summarize what reviewers say in our own words.
- Every rating on a list is dated, so you can see when we checked it.
- We recheck each list every few months.
Nobody pays to be on a list
No business can pay to get on a Best-of list, to move up one, or to stay on one.
Expert guides are paid, and labeled
Some local businesses pay to be the expert behind a guide. Those guides carry an “Expert guide from [business name]” label, and paid partners are marked “Expert partner (paid)”. Paying to be an expert never changes the order of a Best-of list.
Sources
Where facts in a guide come from an outside source, we cite that source on the guide.
What we never do
- We never invent reviews.
- We never invent prices.
- We never invent licenses or credentials.
Corrections
If something on the site is wrong or out of date, tell us. Use the form on the Get featured page or reach us through the contact page, and say which page and what needs fixing.