In short
Payotte ranks companies, never individuals: agencies, brokerage companies, notarial companies, surveying and certification firms. One firm will be selected per trade and per municipality, on a 100-point grid based only on public data: Google reviews (35), age of the company (30), declared and checkable title (15), local anchoring (15), bonus (5). It is the grid used in France and Canada. The ranking is never paid.
Google reviews: 35 points
Rating and number of reviews on the establishment's Google listing, recorded with their date. Formula: 11.229 + 3.696 × ln(1 + number of reviews) + 6.075 × (rating − 4.8), capped between 0 and 35. The record is attached to the establishment only if the municipality and the name match and the establishment is not closed.
Review floor. The 85/100 tier and above requires a rating of at least 4.0 out of 5 and at least 10 reviews. Below that, the total is capped at 84.
| Rating | Reviews | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 4.5 | 10 | 18 |
| 4.8 | 10 | 20 |
| 4.8 | 50 | 26 |
| 4.9 | 100 | 29 |
| 5 | 300 | 34 |
Age of the company: 30 points
The age of the company, counted in full years from its start date in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (KBO/BCE), read listing by listing in the public KBO/BCE search. It is not the experience of an individual. Without a readable date, the criterion is worth 0 rather than an estimate.
| Age of the company (years) | Points |
|---|---|
| 3 | 9 |
| 7 | 15 |
| 12 | 21 |
| 17 | 25 |
| 22 | 28 |
| 27 | 30 |
Checkable title: 15 points
15 points if the firm displays on its own website its title, the body that issues it and an identifier you can check yourself with that body; 12 points if the title and the body are displayed without an identifier; 0 if no title is displayed. The listing reads "declared title, checkable with" the body, with a link to its search page. Payotte does not verify on your behalf: it copies no register.
| Trade | Where to check the title |
|---|---|
| Estate agent | Professional Institute of Estate Agents (IPI / BIV) |
| Mortgage credit broker | Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) |
| Notary | Notarial company (legal designation); notaire.be directory |
| Surveyor-expert | Order of Surveyors-Experts (Ordre des géomètres-experts) |
| EPB assessor (Wallonia) | Public Service of Wallonia, list of approved assessors |
When the number displayed is that of an individual (an approved agent of the firm, for example), the listing does not copy it: it states only that the title is declared and where to check it.
Local anchoring: 15 points
Establishment unit in the municipality (8), pages devoted to the municipality (3), activity figures published by the firm itself (2), languages or specialisation useful to the municipality (2).
Bonus: 5 points at most
Media (2), awards (1), video (1), publications (1), professional association (1).
Selection rules
- Companies only. A sole trader has no listing: the business is indistinguishable from the individual.
- A name that is not that of an individual. A firm whose name contains a first name or a surname is not selected, unless it itself displays a neutral trading name.
- At most 3 listings per company (same enterprise number), including for large networks. Elsewhere, the place goes to the next candidate if it reaches the threshold; otherwise it stays vacant.
- Address checked against the actual municipality, not the postcode: one postcode can cover two municipalities.
What a firm's listing will publish
The company name, its legal form and its enterprise number, the address of the establishment, the trade and the municipality, the declared title and where to check it, the score out of 100 and its breakdown, the Google rating and number of reviews recorded (with their date), the age of the company, the firm's website and telephone. No individual is named: neither manager, nor notary, nor agent; no personal email or telephone, no review text, no photo.
The ranking is never paid
No firm can buy its place or its recommendation. A firm can correct, complete or have its listing removed, free of charge; a correction changes the score only if the grid above provides for it.
Thresholds
85 points and above: top tier, subject to the review floor. 70 points and above: listing selected. From 50 to 69: published with the mention "partial". Below 50: not published, the place stays vacant.