The 100-point model
Seven evidence pillars contribute up to 100 points. Strong evidence earns points, while confirmed risk signals can reduce the result. A missing or unavailable source is handled separately from a completed check that found no matching record.
- State registration
- Up to 28 points
- Business age
- Up to 17 points
- Domain history
- Up to 11 points
- Google reputation
- Up to 17 points
- BBB record
- Up to 11 points
- Website signals
- Up to 11 points
- Public social presence
- Up to 5 points
Score and evidence confidence are different
ProofScore summarizes the evidence that was available. Coverage explains how much could actually be checked. A completed no-match, an unavailable source, a pending lookup, and a source that does not apply are not interchangeable.
Full reports show coverage alongside the score so a thin evidence file does not appear as certain as a well-supported result.
Risk deductions and limitations
Confirmed conditions such as an official sanctions match, an inactive registration, a revoked applicable license, or material identity conflicts may create deductions. The report displays those deductions separately from earned points.
ProofReports does not make factual declarations that a business is a scam. Results should be verified against the linked official record before a consequential decision.
When a finding caps the score instead of reducing it
A small deduction can be outweighed by strong scores elsewhere - that is appropriate for most findings, but not for a small number severe enough that no amount of positive evidence should offset them. For those, ProofReports applies a stated ceiling instead: the score cannot exceed that ceiling regardless of how well the business scores on every other check.
Today this applies to a confirmed BBB F rating. BBB assigns an F for different reasons - a business that never responded to a single complaint is not the same as one with a documented pattern of complaints it left unresolved. Any confirmed F rating keeps a business out of the High Trust band; an F backed by a confirmed pattern of unresolved complaints (using the complaint volume and resolution data BBB itself publishes) is capped further. A capped score always says so directly on the report, with the reason.