![[MSP] Search Equity](/brand/search-equity-inline-msp-reverse.svg){kind=small}
The 100-point Search Equity scorecard.
The scorecard looks at five areas of how your MSP shows up online, using 23 checks and public data only. It's the same list in the free snapshot, the paid audit and every re-score, so you can read exactly how you'll be measured before you talk to anyone.
Where the hundred points go.
Reviews and AI visibility carry the most weight because they are what a buyer reads first, and each area below links to its checks.
Reviews & referral sites
Reviews are the first thing a buyer reads and one of the strongest local signals Google uses. How recent they are matters as much as the star rating.
| Check | Points |
|---|---|
| 20+ Google reviews per office | 5 |
| Google rating 4.5 or higher | 5 |
| New reviews in the last 90 days | 7 |
| Owner replies to 80%+ of reviews | 4 |
| Listed on 3+ referral and review sites | 5 |
AI visibility
More buyers now ask an AI assistant for a shortlist before they search. If it doesn't name you, they may never get as far as checking you.
| Check | Points |
|---|---|
| Named when buyers ask AI for an IT company | 12 |
| Website cited when named | 5 |
| AI crawlers allowed in | 3 |
| Answer-first content and FAQs | 4 |
Web presence
This is whether your Google listings, your website and the business directories tell the same story, and whether a buyer can see the people who do the work.
| Check | Points |
|---|---|
| Google Business Profile claimed and complete, every office | 6 |
| Name, address and phone identical on Google, site and directories | 5 |
| Real office address in the target metro, shown on the site | 3 |
| Named experts with credentials | 4 |
SEO architecture
This is whether there's a page for what a buyer searches for, meaning the service, the city and the industry.
| Check | Points |
|---|---|
| A page for each core service | 5 |
| Location pages for the cities they serve | 3 |
| Industry pages | 3 |
| Schema: LocalBusiness, Service, FAQ | 4 |
| Sitemap and no index blockers | 3 |
Website stack
This is whether your site loads quickly on a phone, can be read without running scripts, is secure, and can count the leads it brings in.
| Check | Points |
|---|---|
| Core Web Vitals pass on mobile | 4 |
| Content is in the HTML (server-rendered) | 3 |
| HTTPS and security headers | 3 |
| Site kept up to date | 2 |
| Call and form tracking | 2 |
Every finding can be checked in a minute.
Public data only.
We don't need a login or any access to your systems. Everything we score is something a buyer can see for themselves.
Every point shows its evidence.
Each finding says what we saw, where we saw it and on what date, so you can open the link and check it yourself.
We say "not measured" out loud.
If a source can't be read, that check shows as not measured and is left out of your score rather than guessed. Your score is the points you earned out of the points we could measure, scaled to 100.
Advertising is shown, not scored.
Whether you run ads tells us where your clicks land, but it doesn't add or take away any points.
Four bands, from invisible to Search Equity.
| 0–39 Invisible | Buyers who look you up find very little, or they find a competitor first. |
| 40–59 Findable | You show up, but your reviews, pages or AI answers lose the comparison with other providers. |
| 60–79 Competitive | You hold your own, and a few specific gaps are costing you calls. |
| 80–100 Search Equity | Buyers find you, check you and see a provider worth calling. |
Why AI visibility is a rate, not one answer.
An AI assistant can give a different answer every time you ask the same question, so a single answer is never your score. We ask the same buyer questions several times, on more than one assistant, and score the share of answers that name you.
That way, if you ask a question yourself and get a different answer, it doesn't contradict your score. The questions include "best managed IT provider in [city]", "IT support for a dental practice, law firm or manufacturer in [city]", "[your MSP] reviews", and questions about specific services such as backup, Microsoft 365, co-managed IT, compliance, AI readiness and an outsourced IT department.
If you'd like to see the scorecard run across a whole market, read the Utah index.
Score yourself on the five things that matter most
The one-minute search check asks five questions you can answer from memory, then shows you your weakest area and the fix I'd do first.