Frequently Asked Questions

Belkin.Marketing is an independent business verification platform that assigns a BMR Score (0–100) to businesses worldwide. The score is calculated using AI, third-party review data, LinkedIn signals, web presence checks, and community reviews — with no paid placements.

The BMR Score is a 0–100 reliability rating for a business. It combines external review platform ratings (Trustpilot, Clutch, G2, DesignRush), LinkedIn follower counts, Maps listing verification, domain age, SSL status, profile completeness, and community reviews left on this platform.

Belkin.Marketing was built by Iaros Belkin and Philip Cripe of CripeHub Solutions. It grew out of a shared frustration watching consumers and investors get burned by businesses that misrepresented themselves.

Yes. Browsing scores, leaving reviews, submitting a business, and claiming your profile are all free. Standard ($10 one-time) adds full AI verification and raises the score cap to 90. Premium ($50 one-time) adds a human manual audit, a +10 point bonus, and raises the cap to 100.

No. Belkin.Marketing is fully independent. We read publicly available data from those platforms as one signal among many, but we have no commercial relationship with them.

No. Scores are calculated algorithmically from verifiable signals. No amount of payment changes what the algorithm finds. Upgrading to Standard or Premium raises the score cap and triggers deeper verification, but the underlying signals — reviews, LinkedIn, domain age — cannot be bought.

Trustpilot collects reviews on its own platform. Belkin.Marketing aggregates signals from multiple platforms (including Trustpilot) and adds LinkedIn verification, domain age, Maps presence, and community reviews to produce a single composite score. We also screen for red flags like sanctions matches.

Scores update automatically when a review is submitted or approved, when a business is claimed, and during periodic re-verification runs. Claimed businesses can also manually trigger a re-score from their account dashboard.

Yes. Any business with an online presence can be submitted regardless of country. Location signals (city, country, region) are used for ranking pages but do not affect the score itself.

All industries are supported. Category tags include Web3, Fintech, Crypto, eCommerce, SaaS, AI, DeFi, NFT, Blockchain, Marketing, Consulting, Legal, Accounting, Real Estate, Healthcare, Education, Gaming, and more.

The six signals are: (1) External reviews — Trustpilot, Clutch, G2, DesignRush up to 20 pts. (2) BMR community reviews — up to 30 pts. (3) Web presence — HTTPS and domain age up to 12 pts. (4) LinkedIn — company and founder followers up to 13 pts. (5) Maps listing — Google/Apple Maps presence up to 8 pts. (6) Profile completeness — up to 7 pts.

We check that the URL resolves and read the rating. Scores are weighted by review count and converted to a points value. A 4.0/5 average with 50+ reviews earns more than a 4.0 with 3 reviews. The maximum from external reviews is 20 points.

The first approved review unlocks 10 points immediately. Additional reviews add volume points. High average ratings add quality points. The maximum from community reviews is 30 points.

We use RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) — a standardised, public DNS registration system — to find the domain registration date. A domain registered 10+ years ago earns 8 pts. 5–9 years earns 6 pts. 2–4 years earns 4 pts. 1–2 years earns 2 pts. Under a year earns 0.

We perform a live HEAD request to the business website. An active HTTPS site earns 4 pts. An active HTTP-only site earns 2 pts. An unreachable site earns 0. Combined with domain age, the web presence maximum is 12 pts.

At the formula level we validate that the LinkedIn URL resolves to linkedin.com (3 pts). At the AI level we retrieve follower counts for both the company page and the founder profile. 10,000+ combined followers earns 13 pts. The scale goes down to 2 pts for any confirmed presence.

A confirmed Maps URL (Google or Apple Maps) that responds with HTTP 200 earns 4 pts. A URL provided but unconfirmed earns 2 pts. An address on file with no URL earns 2 pts. A verified listing with reviews (set by AI) earns 5 pts. Maximum is 8 pts.

Eight fields: company name, website, description (50+ characters), founder name, email, LinkedIn URL, Maps URL or address, and at least one review platform URL. Each filled field contributes proportionally to the 7-point maximum.

The formula score runs instantly on submission using automated technical checks (HEAD requests, RDAP, URL validation). The AI score runs when a profile is upgraded to Standard — it adds LinkedIn follower counts, actual review ratings scraped from external platforms, and a red-flag analysis. The formula score is a floor; AI fills in the rest.

Red flags include: OFAC sanctions matches, FATF watchlist mentions, terrorism-related associations, suspected fraud patterns, and very recently registered domains (under 30 days). A sanctions or terror match puts the profile into manual legal review and zeros the score.

Not directly. A new business simply cannot earn the domain age points that an established one can. Its score reflects what can be verified now. As the domain ages and reviews accumulate, the score rises naturally.

Yes, but only Premium-tier profiles. The score cap for unclaimed profiles is 85. Standard claimed profiles cap at 90. Premium profiles cap at 100 and receive a +10 premium bonus plus human audit eligibility.

Score caps exist because unverified profiles cannot be fully checked. Unclaimed profiles cap at 85. Claiming is free but does not change the cap on its own — upgrading to Standard ($10) raises the cap to 90, and Premium ($50) raises it to 100.

Yes. The full point breakdown for every signal is documented at belkin.marketing/how-we-score. We believe transparency is essential — you should know exactly what earns what.

A business with a Trustpilot score of 4.0 or higher and at least 5 reviews, or a Clutch/G2/DesignRush score of 4.0+ with at least 3 reviews, is automatically approved on submission without waiting for manual review.

Go to belkin.marketing/submit. You need a verified account. Fill in the business name, website, description, and any review platform URLs you have. The formula score runs within seconds of submission.

No. Anyone can submit a business for a formula score. Claiming the profile (which grants owner features) requires verifying you own the business.

The initial formula score typically completes within 1–2 seconds. The page is live immediately at /business/[slug].

Search for it at belkin.marketing/rankings or using the search bar on the home page. If it's there, you can claim it. If not, submit it.

Yes. Submissions are open. However, you can only claim and manage a profile if you can verify ownership. Submitting a business with false information violates our Terms of Service.

Your listing goes live with a formula score. If the business meets the auto-approval threshold it's marked verified immediately. Otherwise it may enter a pending queue for review.

The initial score is a formula-only score — it reflects what automated checks can find (HTTPS, domain age, URL validation). Full external review data and LinkedIn follower counts are only added after AI verification, which runs when you upgrade to Standard.

Yes, after claiming the profile. Claimed owners can edit all fields from their account dashboard at belkin.marketing/account.

Claiming is free and verifies you are the business owner. It unlocks: edit access to your listing, badge embedding on your website, and the ability to respond to reviews. Optionally, you can then upgrade to Standard ($10) for AI verification and a 90-point cap, or Premium ($50) for a human audit and a 100-point cap.

Find your business at /business/[your-slug] and click Claim. You'll need a verified account and a matching company email domain.

Standard ($10) runs full AI verification and raises the score cap to 90. Premium raises the cap to 100, adds a +10 premium bonus, and qualifies the profile for human audit. Both include the owner badge, edit access, and badge embedding.

Premium profiles receive a flat +10 point bonus applied on top of all other score components. This reflects the additional accountability that comes with a fully verified, human-audited commitment.

A verified badge appears on your company profile and can be embedded on your own website. It links back to your BMR profile and updates dynamically as your score changes.

Your claimed status is permanent as long as your profile complies with our Terms of Service. We may remove it if a profile is found to contain false information or was obtained fraudulently. Standard and Premium benefits are lifelong one-time purchases — there is no subscription to lapse.

Both are one-time payments — not subscriptions. Claiming your profile is done through a Standard ($10) or Premium ($50) sign-up. Once claimed, the benefits are permanent: a higher score cap, AI verification, owner badge, and more. Premium adds a human audit and raises the cap to 100.

Find the company at /business/[slug], scroll to the Reviews section, and click Write a Review. You must be logged in with a verified account. You can only review each company once.

Reviews are auto-published but monitored. Reviews containing profanity, personal attacks, or terms-of-service violations can be removed by our team. Removed reviews are excluded from the score recalculation.

No. Business owners cannot remove reviews. Only our admin team can remove a review, and only if it violates our Terms of Service. Genuine negative reviews stay.

Yes. The score is recalculated automatically the moment a review is submitted or approved.

Flag it using the flag button on the review. Our team reviews flagged content. Accounts flagged for fake reviews can be banned and their reviews removed.

Yes, if you have a claimed profile. Responses are visible on the review and show prospective customers that you engage with feedback.

The aggregate score and review count from external platforms are displayed as signals on your profile. Individual external reviews are not reproduced — only the platform score and count.

The 30 points are split across three tiers: first review (10 pts), volume (up to 10 more pts for additional reviews), and quality (up to 10 more pts based on average rating). You don't need a specific number — the formula scales continuously.

The AI searches Trustpilot, LinkedIn (company page and founder), Google Maps, Apple Maps, Bing, G2, Clutch, DesignRush, and the wider web. It checks domain age, SSL, LinkedIn follower counts, review ratings and counts, red flags, and generates a verification narrative.

Typically 30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on how many platforms respond. You will see the score update after it completes.

Yes — when a business is submitted (formula only), when a profile is upgraded to Standard (full AI), and when an admin triggers a re-verification. Owners previously had a manual re-score button; this is temporarily disabled pending Stripe integration.

Yes. The AI may miss data if a platform blocks crawlers, if a LinkedIn URL is incorrect, or if search results are ambiguous. Formula checks (HTTPS, RDAP, URL validation) are deterministic and reliable. AI-layer checks are more powerful but occasionally miss or misread data.

Belkin.Marketing uses the Anthropic Claude API for AI-layer verification tasks. The formula layer (domain age, HTTPS, URL validation) uses direct technical checks with no AI.

The AI may visit the website as part of its research to corroborate claims, but the score is based on verifiable signals — not subjective content assessment.

Yes. A weekly cron job re-checks all active profiles for changes in external review scores and recalculates accordingly. Claimed profiles can also be re-verified on demand.

Yes. BMR scores are public. Please attribute them to 'Belkin.Marketing BMR Score' and link to the company's profile page. Scores reflect the data available at time of publication and may change.

Every point is traceable to a public signal. The How We Score page documents the full methodology. The debug tool in the admin panel shows every check with raw HTTP responses and timing.

Not by a third party at this stage. All scoring logic is documented publicly and can be independently reproduced — the RDAP lookup, HTTPS check, and external platform URLs are all public.

Use the contact form at belkin.marketing/support or email via the address on the Legal page.

The public API at /api/companies supports CSV export (?format=csv) and JSON. See /api/companies?format=text for a plain-text overview of all companies.

A high score reflects strong verifiable signals — not a guarantee of quality or trustworthiness. Use it as one data point among many. A score of 70+ indicates a well-established business with consistent public signals.

Yes. GET /api/companies supports search, category, location, min_score, claimed, limit, and offset parameters. Responses are available in JSON, plain text (?format=text), and CSV (?format=csv). No API key is required for read access.

Yes. GET /api/companies/[slug] returns the full company profile including score breakdown, external review data, verification notes, and LinkedIn/Maps status.

Yes — belkin.marketing/llms.txt. It describes the platform, scoring methodology, API usage, and data structure in a format optimised for language models.

Yes. Every company profile page includes JSON-LD schema markup with LocalBusiness type, aggregate rating, and review data. This helps search engines and LLMs understand and surface the data.

Each result includes: name, slug, profile URL, website, founder, description, category, location (city/region/country/global_region), BMR score, score breakdown, external review data (per platform), LinkedIn/Maps verification status, claim tier, and verification notes.

The API returns Cache-Control: public, max-age=300 (5 minutes). For real-time accuracy, re-fetch before publishing or acting on a score.

Yes, subject to our Terms of Service. Attribution to Belkin.Marketing is required. Commercial use cases should contact us for a usage agreement.

If you create an account: your email, display name, avatar (if Google login), and hashed session tokens. If you submit a business: the information you provide. We do not sell personal data.

Contact us via the support form. We will review removal requests. Note that if a business was submitted by a third party and the information is accurate, we may retain it in the public interest.

Profiles that match OFAC, FATF, or terrorism-related signals are placed into a legal review queue, the score is suspended, and a warning is displayed on the profile. We do not remove these profiles — the warning is part of the public record.

We respect data privacy rights. EU users can request access to or deletion of their personal data via our support contact. Business listing data is treated as public commercial information.

You must not submit false information, impersonate a business you do not represent, or use the platform to harass or defame. Full terms are at belkin.marketing/legal.

Your account and personal data are deleted. Reviews you submitted are anonymised. Business listings you submitted remain on the platform as public commercial information.