How judging works

AI does all the judging. Every business that takes part gets the same four checks, scored out of 100, and the top score in each category wins. No person scores a business or picks a winner, which keeps who a judge knows or likes out of the result.

The four checks

Every judge scores the same criteria, and a check's score is the sum of its points, out of 100.

  1. 40%

    What customers say

    A judge reads the public reviews from the last 24 months on Google and the review sites that matter in the category. It scores the average, how steady it is, and how the owner replies to the bad ones. A one-star review answered well can count for more than a five-star review left alone.

    • Average rating, last 24 months30
    • How the owner answers unhappy customers25
    • A rating that holds over time20
    • Enough reviews to trust15
    • Specific praise10
  2. 25%

    The evidence

    The business answers five questions and links to what backs the answers up: guarantees, licences, press, photos of finished work. A judge checks every claim it can against public sources, such as licence registers and the business's own site, before it counts.

    • Claims that checked out35
    • Claims backed by a link or document30
    • Specific answers25
    • All five questions answered10
  3. 25%

    A customer's first look

    A judge goes through what a new customer would: it looks the business up, opens its website and listings, and tries to find out what it offers, roughly what it costs, when it's open and how to book or get in touch. It never contacts the business or pretends to be a customer.

    • How to book, buy or get in touch25
    • What it offers20
    • What it costs20
    • Listings that agree20
    • When it's open or available15
  4. 10%

    The judges' read

    Three more AI judges read the whole file, each from a different seat: a regular customer, a skeptic, and the owner of a well-run business in another trade. Their average is the score.

    • How it treats customers when things go wrong40
    • Whether it delivers what it promises30
    • What sets it apart in its category30

The rules that keep it fair

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  • No feesNothing to pay to enter, to be judged or to win.
  • No bought categoriesSponsors, if we ever have them, never name a category or see the scores.
  • Nominations don't add upA nomination puts a business in the pool. One counts the same as fifty.
  • Fake reviews disqualifyA business with fake reviews is out for the year, whoever posted them.
  • Awards can be withdrawnIf evidence proves untrue, the award goes and the winner's page says why.
  • AI does the judgingNo person scores a business or picks a winner, and every business sees its own scores.
The counter of an independent café in the morning, cups stacked beside the espresso machine

What we ask a nominated business

Five questions, answered in your own words, with anything that backs the answer up.

  1. Who comes to youWhat customers come to you for, and why they pick you over the place down the road.
  2. A job that went wrongWhat happened, and what you did about it.
  3. What you promiseAny guarantee or promise you give customers in writing.
  4. Licences and coverThe registrations, licences and insurance you hold, with numbers we can check.
  5. What backs it upLinks to photos of your work, press, awards and customer stories.

More about judging

How do you spot fake reviews?

We look for bursts of reviews in a short window, reviewers with no other history and repeated wording. A business with fake reviews is removed from the 2027 awards, whoever posted them.

Who are the judges?

AI judges, built on Anthropic's Claude, do all the judging. Each check has its own judge with its own instructions, and every score comes with what the judge found and the sources it used. No person scores a business or picks a winner. A person confirms the results before they go out, and can't change a score or choose a different winner.

Why are the judges AI?

To reduce human bias. People who judge awards bring who they know, what they like and the mood they're in that day. AI judges follow the same written instructions for every business, and every score comes with what the judge found and the sources it used, so a mistake can be traced and fixed.

How long do the questions take a nominated business?

About 30 minutes. The business answers five questions in its own words, with links to anything that backs the answers up, by January 31, 2027.

What if a category has very few nominations in a province?

We need at least three judged businesses in a category to name a provincial winner. Below that, those businesses still compete for the national award in their category.

Know a business that deserves it?

Nominating takes about three minutes. Customers, staff and owners can all nominate, and it costs nothing.

Nominate a business