Stringent by design

The methodology,
published in full.

Trust that can't be inspected isn't trust. Here is exactly what goes into every zReport score, how it's weighted, and the rules nobody — including us — can bend.

Principle 01

Research runs one direction: from us, outward

zReports never contacts the facility. Nothing is submitted, self-reported, disputed into shape, or negotiated. We go out to the records — licensing agencies, inspection registers, enforcement files, state business filings — the way an investigator would. The facility doesn't know when it's being examined, can't prepare for it, and learns its score the same way you do: by looking it up.

Principle 02

Nine sources. One score.

Any single source can be gamed. It is nearly impossible to fake all of them at once — a facility can buy five-star reviews; it cannot un-lapse its license or erase a state enforcement action. The truth is what the signals agree on. The red flag is where they diverge.

State inspections

Every inspection visit, deficiency, severity code, and correction status — the ground truth of the report.

Weight: highest

License status

Active, probationary, suspended, revoked — and the full history, not just today's status.

Weight: high

Enforcement & penalties

Adverse actions and fines, in dollars, with dates — the record facilities never volunteer.

Weight: high

Staffing & capacity

Ratio citations and capacity signals measured against state requirements.

Weight: medium

Ownership & entity integrity

State filings unmask the operator: chains behind local names, LLC churn, dissolutions and re-registrations — the phoenix-company tell.

Weight: medium
§

Court & complaint signals

Public dockets and complaint databases, matched carefully to the operating entity.

Weight: medium

Review consensus

Ratings across Google, Yelp, and Facebook — summarized as signal, never repeated as fact.

Weight: low, audited

Review integrity

Burst detection, cross-platform divergence, and reviews cross-examined against the official record.

Weight: low, audited

Trajectory

Our own nightly archive: is this facility's record improving or declining over three years?

Unique to zReports
Principle 03

The model is mechanical — and it stays published

Every score is computed by the same weighted model, for every facility, with no editorial thumb. Recent findings weigh more than old ones. Serious findings weigh more than paperwork. Corrected findings recover points; repeated findings compound. Facilities too new to score fairly are marked "insufficient records," never ranked last.

State inspections & violations40%
License & enforcement actions25%
Staffing & capacity signals15%
Ownership & entity integrity10%
Review signals (audited, weighted last)10%

GRADES: A (90–100) · A− (85–89) · B+ (80–84) · B (70–79) · C (55–69) · D (40–54) · F (<40) · SCORES REFRESH NIGHTLY

Principle 04

The firewall

🛡

No facility can pay to change its score. Including through us.

zReports sells reports to consumers. We do not sell ratings, placement, removal, leads, or advertising to the facilities we cover — and no future product ever will buy influence over a score. The only way a score improves is when the record improves. That rule is the company.

Corrections — facts only, 48 hours

Compiling from public records means errors are ours alone to fix. If any report misstates the record — wrong facility match, outdated status, a transcription error — email corrections@zreports.org. We verify against the original government source and correct confirmed factual errors within 48 hours, with the correction noted on the report. We correct facts. We do not negotiate scores.

Inspect us the way we inspect them

See exactly what a full report looks like — every section, every source, every stamp.

View the sample report