How Pros Around checks licences, handles reviews and ranks pros
Pros Around checks a pro's licence against the record of the office that issued it, and a listing says “verified” only after that check.
Customers never pay to use Pros Around. Pros pay us when you contact them. That is a reason to be careful about what we claim, so this page says what we check, what we do not, and how money affects what you see.
How we check licences
- Some jobs need a licence (contractors, lawyers, health providers, financial and insurance advisers and others). A pro in one of those trades must give us their licence number before they can go live.
- We check the number against the record of the board that issued it: the name, whether it is active, and when it expires. Some licences are looked up automatically from that record. Others are checked by a person.
- A listing says “verified” only after that check, and it shows the licence number.
- We check again on a schedule: every 30 days for law, health, dental, nursing, finance and insurance, and every 90 days for contractors, trades, beauty, notaries and the rest. If a review says a pro is unlicensed, their check is brought forward.
- What we do not do: we do not check insurance, run background checks or inspect anyone's work. A licence tells you a pro is registered with their state, not that the job will be done well. Ask for proof of insurance before you hire.
How reviews work
- Only someone who contacted that pro through Pros Around can review them. When a pro marks a job as won, we email the customer a link that works once. The pro never sees or copies that link.
- Pros can reply to a review in public. They cannot edit or delete it, and they cannot pay to change their rating.
- A pro can flag a review they think breaks our rules. An admin reads it. A review is hidden only if it breaks our rules (for example it is abusive, or not about a real job), and we record the reason. A pro asking, or paying, is never a reason.
- The rating on a page is the average of the published reviews, and the number of reviews is shown next to it. A Top rated label means an average of 4.7 or more from at least 10 reviews. It does not depend on the plan a pro pays for.
How pros are ranked and paid for
- Pros pay us per lead: a call that lasts at least 30 seconds, or a quote request. They can also choose a monthly plan.
- Order on a page: first the pro's plan (higher plans are listed higher, and each page has a limited number of seats), then a Featured badge, then review quality (the average rating and how many reviews there are). So a plan does change where a pro appears. Within the same plan, reviews decide.
- On some pages we match your request to one pro instead of showing a list, sharing requests fairly between the pros on that page.
- Your request goes to the one pro you choose. It is never sold to several.
- Anything paid for is labelled. Banner advertisers and sponsored articles say “Sponsored”, and a Territory pro's call and quote slots on a guide say “Sponsored · Territory pro”.
The first pros on Pros Around can publish what they really got, with their permission: founding pros' results.
Something here not match what you saw? Tell us. You can also see what we keep about you.