How We Score
Peachtree City Guide reviews local businesses in Peachtree City, Georgia. This page explains where our scores come from, what they can and can’t tell you, and how to let us know when we get something wrong.
The short version
- Every scored business gets a Guide Score out of 10, built from a checklist made for its category. Each review shows that checklist in a table.
- Most of our reviews are research-based. We built them from public sources and did not visit or hire the business. Each one says so at the top.
- Research-based scores are capped at 9.0. Only a first-hand visit or hire can earn more.
- No business can pay for a score, a higher rank or a better review.
Two ratings, kept separate
Business pages can show two ratings side by side. We never combine them into one number.
- Guide Score (0 to 10)
- Our editorial rating. We research it from reviews on other sites (Google, Yelp, BBB, Angi, Trustpilot, HomeAdvisor and others), state license checks, and a keyword scan of recent reviews. Businesses can’t pay to change it, and member reviews can’t overwrite it.
- Community Rating (out of 5 stars)
- A plain average, from 1 to 5 stars, of approved reviews left on this site by verified, signed-in members. Every review is moderated by an admin before it appears. Owners, employees, their family members and competitors can’t review the business, even with a disclosure. Incentivized reviews are shown with a label but don’t count toward the rating. The rating shows once a business has at least 3 approved member reviews that count; before that, you’ll see the individual reviews and “not enough member reviews yet.” One review per member per business. See our Review Guidelines.
Review labels
- Research-based review, not a first-hand visit. Built only from public sources, each one cited and dated. Anything that needs first-hand experience, like food taste or workmanship, is marked provisional.
- First-hand review. We visited or hired the business, paid normally, didn’t announce ourselves, and recorded the date and what we bought. These can use the full scale. If a review moves from research-based to first-hand, both scores stay visible.
How the Guide Score is calculated
- Each criterion in the category checklist (below) gets a score from 1 to 10.
- If we have no usable evidence for a criterion, it gets a neutral 5 and is marked “not verified.” We never give a high score for something we couldn’t check.
- The category checklist (its weighted average) counts for 90% of the score. The other 10% is recent customer experience, explained below.
- Guide Score = 0.9 × checklist average + 0.1 × recent customer experience, rounded to one decimal. Research-based reviews are capped at 9.0.
- Stars are the score divided by 2, rounded to the nearest half star (for example, 8.2 → 4 stars).
| Score | Label |
|---|---|
| 8.5 and up | Excellent |
| 7.5 – 8.4 | Very good |
| 6.5 – 7.4 | Good, with caveats |
| 5.5 – 6.4 | Fair / unproven |
| Below 5.5 | Too little evidence (or serious concerns, which the review explains) |
Each review also shows a confidence level. High means 4+ independent sources, including a regulator or official program and 2+ review platforms. Medium means 3+ sources. Low means fewer.
Category checklists
These weights make up the 90% checklist part of the score.
Restaurants
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Food quality | 30% |
| Service | 20% |
| Value & price transparency | 15% |
| Reputation consistency across platforms | 15% |
| Health & safety (Georgia Department of Public Health inspection score) | 10% |
| Atmosphere, access & convenience | 10% |
HVAC, plumbers, electricians, roofers and landscapers
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Licensing (or credentials) & insurance | 20% |
| Reputation | 25% |
| Complaint handling | 15% |
| Pricing transparency | 15% |
| Responsiveness & availability | 10% |
| Warranty | 10% |
| Longevity & local presence | 5% |
- Electricians and plumbers: a license number the company publishes but we couldn’t verify earns at most 7/10. “Licensed” with no number earns at most 5/10. Only a successful state lookup showing an active license earns 9–10.
- Roofers: Georgia has no state roofing license. Credentials are scored on manufacturer certifications we could verify on the manufacturer’s own locator.
- Landscapers: anyone applying pesticides for hire needs Georgia Department of Agriculture licenses, and we check the contractor license where we can. “No record under this name” is reported neutrally, since a company that doesn’t apply chemicals doesn’t need one.
Concrete
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Credentials & insurance | 20% |
| Reputation | 25% |
| Complaint handling | 15% |
| Pricing & contract transparency | 15% |
| Workmanship warranty | 10% |
| Craft & scope evidence | 10% |
| Longevity & local presence | 5% |
Georgia has no separate state license for concrete flatwork done within the “concrete work” specialty. Structural or larger projects can require a residential or general contractor license, so we say “ask about structural work.” We never say an unlicensed flatwork contractor is acting illegally.
Auto repair
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Certifications (ASE stated, AAA Approved verified) | 15% |
| Reputation | 25% |
| Complaint handling | 15% |
| Transparency (pricing and claims) | 15% |
| Warranty | 15% |
| Convenience | 10% |
| Longevity | 5% |
Golf carts (dealers, service, rentals, batteries)
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Reputation | 25% |
| Complaint handling | 15% |
| Brand authorization, range & parts | 15% |
| Pricing transparency | 15% |
| Service capability & warranty | 15% |
| Convenience | 10% |
| Longevity & local presence | 5% |
Brand-authorization claims are the dealer’s own unless we confirm them with the manufacturer.
Tree services
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Credentials & insurance (for example, ISA Certified Arborist) | 25% |
| Reputation | 20% |
| Complaint handling | 15% |
| Permit compliance | 15% |
| Pricing transparency | 10% |
| Safety & equipment | 10% |
| Longevity | 5% |
Tree companies are not “City-approved.” The City of Peachtree City says it no longer keeps a pre-approved list of tree companies (peachtree-city.org/1195/Tree-Permits). Our list is our own research. Check the City’s tree-permit rules before any removal.
Medical & Dental
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Credentials & good standing | 20% |
| Patient reviews across platforms | 25% |
| Access (new patients, hours, same-day/telehealth) | 20% |
| Transparency (insurance, pricing, policies) | 15% |
| Complaint record & consistency | 10% |
| Longevity & local presence | 10% |
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Accreditation & standing | 15% |
| CMS Care Compare ratings | 30% |
| Patient reviews | 15% |
| Access | 15% |
| Transparency | 15% |
| Complaint record | 10% |
- Health licenses we couldn’t look up show as “unverified.” Unverified never means unlicensed.
- Health reviews cover patient experience and public records only. They don’t judge clinical quality, aren’t medical advice, and never include patient health information. Always confirm insurance and credentials yourself.
Real estate agents
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| License & good standing (Georgia Real Estate Commission) | 20% |
| Local activity & experience | 25% |
| Client reviews across platforms | 25% |
| Complaint signals | 10% |
| Transparency | 15% |
| Designations & specialties | 5% |
We score the agent (or the team account they market under). Brokerages get short profiles but aren’t scored. Sales numbers come from the platforms themselves and may be incomplete, so we always say which platform and which date. Professional information only: we never publish an agent’s home address or personal details.
Dance studios
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Instructor credentials & training | 20% |
| Program breadth & age range | 15% |
| Facilities | 10% |
| Transparency (tuition, recital and costume fees, contracts) | 15% |
| Parent & student reviews across platforms | 20% |
| Youth safety & policies | 10% |
| Longevity | 10% |
We never publish minors’ names or photos. Competition results count only when an independent results source lists them; otherwise they’re labeled “self-reported.”
Banks & credit unions
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Branch reviews across platforms | 30% |
| Regulatory standing & deposit insurance (FDIC BankFind) | 15% |
| Complaint record (BBB) | 10% |
| Access & hours (Saturday hours score higher) | 20% |
| Fee & rate transparency | 15% |
| Longevity (FDIC branch established date) | 10% |
We score the local branch, not the whole bank. A branch that appears on FDIC BankFind gets full regulatory credit. Credit-union insurance (NCUA) shows as “unverified” until we check it.
Attorneys
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| State Bar of Georgia standing & discipline | 25% |
| Client reviews across platforms | 25% |
| Complaint record (BBB) | 10% |
| Fee & consultation transparency | 10% |
| Experience (years admitted) | 20% |
| Practice information & depth | 10% |
Top standing marks require every attorney listed at the Peachtree City address to be Active in Good Standing with no public discipline. We report public records and review data only. We don’t judge the quality of legal advice, and nothing here is legal advice.
Event venues
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Event reviews across platforms | 30% |
| Pricing transparency | 20% |
| Capacity & facility information | 15% |
| Booking policies (deposit, cancellation, insurance) | 10% |
| Complaint record (BBB) | 10% |
| Longevity | 15% |
Prices and capacities come from the venue or its own vendor listings, and we say which. Always confirm current rates and availability with the venue.
Financial advisors
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Regulatory record (FINRA BrokerCheck / SEC IAPD) | 30% |
| Client reviews across platforms | 20% |
| Fee transparency | 15% |
| Credentials (CFP and others, verified) | 10% |
| Complaint record (BBB) | 10% |
| Longevity | 15% |
A clean regulatory record scores highest. Disclosures only from before 2014 score lower, and recent disclosures score lower still. Credentials we couldn’t verify with the issuing body show as “unverified.” We don’t judge investment advice, and nothing here is financial advice. Look up any advisor on BrokerCheck yourself.
Schools & education
| Criterion | Weight |
|---|---|
| Licensing / accreditation (verified) | 20% |
| Parent reviews across platforms | 30% |
| Tuition transparency | 15% |
| Program & staff information | 15% |
| Safety & policies | 10% |
| Longevity | 10% |
Public schools are listed but never scored. Child-care licensing (Georgia DECAL) and accreditation we couldn’t check show as “unverified.” We never publish children’s names or photos.
Recent customer experience (the other 10%)
This part comes from a keyword scan of reviews posted in the last 24 months that we actually read.
- We count how many reviews mention each compliment (on time, fair price, clean, professional, communicative, fixed right the first time, honest/no pressure, fast, friendly, knowledgeable, warranty honored) and each complaint (no-show, late or delayed, overcharged, upsell or pressure, deposit problems, rude or poor service, damage, unreturned calls, warranty denied, rework, mess left, scam, safety concern). Some categories add their own terms.
- Formula: with P compliment mentions, N complaint mentions and n reviews, raw = 10 × (P + 1) ÷ (P + N + 2). The score is 5 + (raw − 5) × min(1, n ÷ 10). Fewer than 10 recent reviews pull the score toward a neutral 5. If no recent reviews were readable, it’s exactly 5.
- Member reviews: once a business has 3 or more approved member reviews on this site, they’re added to the sample. They make up at most 50% of the sample, so they can’t outweigh reviews from other sites. Incentivized member reviews aren’t included.
- Each review shows the sample size (including how many member reviews were used), sources, date range, and the top compliments and complaints with counts.
- Limits: we only use reviews visible on pages we can open, usually a handful rather than a random sample. Keyword matching can miss sarcasm, so we read every complaint match ourselves.
Where our information comes from
- The business’s own website. We attribute what it says and treat claims as claims.
- Public records: Georgia Secretary of State license lookup (verify.sos.ga.gov), the Georgia Real Estate Commission license search, BBB ratings and accreditation, AAA Approved Auto Repair, and Georgia DPH restaurant inspections.
- Review platforms where available, including Google, Yelp, BBB, Angi, HomeAdvisor, Trustpilot, Nextdoor, Houzz, Thumbtack, Birdeye and others. Google ratings usually come from third-party snapshots of Google data, not Google directly, unless the review says otherwise.
- Blocked sites: some platforms block automated access, and we don’t get around those blocks. Numbers we could only see in a search engine’s summary are labeled “unconfirmed” and never affect a score.
We can’t see insurance certificates. Before you hire, ask for a current certificate of general liability and workers’ compensation, sent straight from the insurer. A missing BBB profile isn’t a negative, and an A+ doesn’t guarantee good work.
Churches, clubs and nonprofits aren’t scored
Our Churches and Clubs & Organizations sections are directory listings, not reviews. They’re never rated, scored, ranked or analyzed for sentiment, and they’re sorted by group and then alphabetically. Nobody can pay to be listed or placed higher. Organizations can add or correct a listing for free at Submit a listing.
Independence: no pay-for-score
- We’re independent and not affiliated with the City of Peachtree City, Visit Peachtree City or the State of Georgia.
- Advertising, sponsorships and affiliate links (if we ever use them) never affect scores, rankings or what a review says. If a business ever gives us something for free, the review will say so, as the FTC’s Endorsement Guides require. Any affiliate links will be labeled.
- We don’t accept payment to remove or soften a review.
Corrections
- Found a factual error? Business owners and readers can ask for a correction through our contact page. Tell us what’s wrong and include a source, like a license number, a current price list or a corrected address.
- We fix verified factual errors within 7 days and log every change on our corrections page, including any score change and why.
- We correct facts, but we don’t change opinions on request. A business can send a short right-of-reply statement for us to consider adding.
- Research-based reviews are re-checked at least every 6 months, or right away after a credible tip. Every review shows a “last verified” date.
Contact
Questions about a score, a correction, or a listing? Get in touch.