Transparency over black box
How we rank.
The order of a list
All lists (town and category, town pages, “similar businesses”) use the same order, so podium, tiles and lists never diverge:
- Listings with at least one photo come before listings without a photo.
- Within those, the Hero Score decides (0 to 100 points).
- With equal scores the number of reviews decides, then a fixed order so the list stays stable.
If you sort the list yourself by rating or name, or apply filters, you see that order; podium and badge stay reserved for the unfiltered Hero ranking.
The four ingredients of the Hero Score
Rating
Score and number of Google reviews are combined into one value. Few reviews are pulled towards the Swiss average; only many reviews let the score count fully (Bayesian average). A 4.7 with 400 reviews therefore ranks above a 5.0 with 6 reviews. The range between 3.5 and 5.0 stars is scored.
Number of reviews
Reach also counts: how many people reviewed the business. Logarithmically, so that 2,000 reviews do not weigh a hundred times more than 20. The maximum is reached at around 2,000 reviews.
Request activity
Businesses that receive reservations, appointment and quote requests via CityHero climb. The maximum is reached at around 15 recent requests. If the last request is more than 90 days old, requests only count half.
Profile quality
Eight checks: phone, website, opening hours, a photo, a real photo (not a placeholder), a description longer than 60 characters, price level and further details such as amenities or services. Each check counts one eighth.
Worked example
Two example salons with made-up values (not real businesses), calculated with the same function that computes the rankings. Salon A is new: 5.0 stars from 6 reviews, five of eight profile checks met, no request yet. Salon B is established: 4.7 stars from 420 reviews, complete profile, 4 requests, the last one 10 days ago.
| Ingredient | Max. | Salon A | Salon B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating (credibility-weighted) | 45 | 32.9 | 35.7 |
| Number of reviews | 20 | 5.1 | 15.9 |
| Request activity | 20 | 0.0 | 5.3 |
| Profile quality | 15 | 9.4 | 15.0 |
| Hero-Score | 100 | 47.4 | 71.9 |
| Plaque | no plaque | Excellent |
Salon B ranks above Salon A even though A has the better score: the 5.0 from 6 reviews is pulled towards the average, its reach is small and the profile is incomplete. A catches up fastest through the profile: with all eight checks it would gain 5.6 points.
City Hero badge and plaque
The top three of every ranking (town and category) stand on the podium and carry the City Hero badge with a medal. It is awarded automatically and removed automatically as soon as another business overtakes. Filtered or re-sorted lists show no podium, so a filter cannot create a “winner”. The embeddable award for a business’s own website requires at least 5 entries in the ranking; businesses find the code in the portal.
- from 85 points
- Outstanding
- from 70 points
- Excellent
- from 60 points
- Very good
- below 60 points
- no plaque — scarcity keeps the award meaningful
Ads and independence
CityHero is also financed by advertising. There are at most three ad slots per town and category. They sit above the ranking and are labelled “Sponsored” and “ad”. A promoted business appears there instead of in the ranking: it takes no rank and cannot buy the podium or the badge. Its Hero Score stays unchanged.
Requests are free for users and go to up to 2 businesses at once. Requests feed into the score to reward businesses that are in demand on CityHero; they cannot be paid for.
Dealing with fake reviews
Star ratings come from Google and are shown with attribution. We do not check individual reviews ourselves; Google does that with its own procedures. The formula is built so that anomalies have little effect:
- Few reviews are pulled towards the Swiss average. A handful of bought 5-star reviews barely lifts a business.
- The count works logarithmically: going from 1,000 to 2,000 reviews adds as much as going from 30 to 60.
- More than half of the score does not depend on the star rating: reach, requests and profile quality together count 55%.
We accept and review reports of manipulated reviews or wrong details at hello@cityhero.ch.
Limits of the method
The Hero Score measures what can be measured: satisfaction according to Google, reach, demand via CityHero and completeness of the details. It does not measure the quality of a single service, prices or personal taste. New businesses start with few reviews and no request history and need time to climb.
Prices are not part of the score
How we analyse prices is described separately in the price methodology.
FAQ on the ranking
Can a business buy a better rank on CityHero?
No. The Hero Score has no field for money. There are paid ads: up to three businesses per town and category appear above the ranking, labelled “Sponsored”. A promoted business is shown there instead of in the ranking; ranks 1 to 10 and the City Hero badge are assigned without it.
Why does a 5.0-star business rank behind a 4.7?
Because few reviews prove little. In the worked example above, a salon with 5.0 stars and 6 reviews scores 47.4 points, one with 4.7 stars and 420 reviews 71.9 points. With every further good review the smaller business catches up.
How often is the Hero Score updated?
A business’s score is recalculated whenever it receives a request via CityHero, edits its profile in the portal, or when we refresh its data. Google ratings are taken over during these refreshes, so they are not always up to the day.
How can my business climb?
With a complete profile (all eight checks), real photos, maintained opening hours and prices, and satisfied customers who review on Google. Requests via CityHero count on top. Claiming the profile is free.
What is the difference between badge and plaque?
The City Hero badge with a medal is carried by ranks 1 to 3 of a ranking (town and category). The plaque on the profile shows the score tier: from 60 points “Very good”, from 70 “Excellent”, from 85 “Outstanding”. Below 60 points the profile shows no plaque.
Where do the ratings come from?
From Google. We show them with attribution and do not change them. CityHero does not currently collect its own reviews.