How we rank and match pros
The order pros appear in, and which pros see your request, follow published rules based on fit, location, verification and genuine reviews — never on who pays more.
On this page
How pros are ordered on our pages
When a page lists pros — for example roofers in Toronto — we show active pros who offer that service and serve that area. We then order them with the same rules for everyone:
- Service fit: pros who offer the exact service come before pros who offer the broader trade.
- Local coverage: pros who list the city or postal area come first, then pros who serve it within a travel radius, then pros who cover the whole province.
- Verification: pros with more of their details checked by our team rank higher.
- Reviews: pros with more published, moderated reviews from homeowners rank higher.
- When everything else is equal, pros are listed alphabetically.
Who can receive your request
When you send a request, we first check which pros can take it. A pro can receive your request only if all of these are true:
- Their account is active, and at least their email address and phone number are verified.
- They offer the service, haven’t excluded it, and serve your location.
- They’re accepting new requests and haven’t reached the daily or weekly limit they set.
- They take requests with your timing — for example, emergencies.
- Your budget, if you gave one, isn’t clearly outside the range they work in.
How eligible pros are ranked
Among the pros who can take your request, we give more weight to:
- An exact match for the service you need, and how directly they cover your area.
- Verification level — contact details, business registration, and licence or insurance where the trade requires it.
- Responsiveness: how often and how quickly they reply to requests.
- Their rating — but only once they have at least three published reviews, so one or two reviews can’t swing the result.
- Available capacity, a fit with your budget and, for urgent jobs, emergency availability.
- Fair distribution: pros who already received many requests recently get slightly less weight, so opportunities are spread out.
What never affects ranking
If we ever offer paid placements, they will be clearly labelled as sponsored and kept separate from these results.
- How much a pro spends on LokalMatch. Pros can’t pay to rank higher or to see your request first.
- Hiding genuine reviews. Pros can reply to a review, but they can’t pay to have it removed.
- Personal characteristics of a pro or a homeowner.
About ratings and reviews
Ratings are calculated from published reviews only. Every review is moderated before it appears, and a review is labelled “Verified” only when it’s tied to a real connection made through LokalMatch. We never write, buy or edit reviews.
Each profile shows the reviews written in the language of the page.
Check a pro yourself
Each profile shows which details we checked and when. Verification confirms those details only — it isn’t a guarantee of workmanship. For regulated work, confirm the licence with the issuing body (for example, the Régie du bâtiment du Québec for contractors in Quebec) and ask for proof of insurance before work starts.
If something on a profile looks wrong, use the report link on the profile or contact us.
Last reviewed September 10, 2026