Anyone can say they're local, green, and fair. The CEIS™ Score is the first number engineered so you don't have to take their word for it. A proprietary algorithm weighs dozens of verified signals, discounts unproven claims, keeps every score current, and confirms the business is who it says it is — so a shopper knows, at a glance, exactly how much to trust where their money goes.
Self-applied labels — "locally owned," "eco-friendly," "gives back" — are easy to print and impossible to verify. Shoppers are right to be skeptical. The CEIS™ Score replaces marketing claims with a single, comparable, independently computed number — and four safeguards that make that number mean something.
The exact formula is proprietary — but here's plainly what it does, and why it earns trust where a sticker can't.
A coffee shop and a law firm create local impact in completely different ways. The algorithm re-weights the three pillars — Locality, Sustainability, Transparency — to fit each business type, so every score is an honest, apples-to-apples comparison. A perfect score means perfect for what you actually are, not for a generic yardstick.
This is the heart of the system. Every claim is graded by how it's backed up. Third-party certification (B Corp, USDA Organic, a Living-Wage cert) amplifies a score. An unverified "trust me" is heavily discounted. The result: a business can't talk its way to a high number — it has to prove it. Documentation quality, not marketing budget, moves the score.
A score is a statement about right now, not a trophy from three years ago. The Decay & Amplification Function keeps a score at full strength when it's fresh, then gently fades it over a year if the business doesn't renew its verification. No resting on old laurels — the number you see reflects current behavior.
Before a score is ever published, the algorithm confirms the business is real and who it claims to be — checking signals like its EIN, Secretary-of-State good standing, and Dun & Bradstreet records. The more an identity is independently confirmed, the more the score counts. A name with no verified identity simply can't post a high score.
Under the hood: 47 discrete inputs flow through a five-stage pipeline to produce a single-decimal score from 0.0 to 100.0. The methodology is patent-pending and proprietary to DollarVote PBC.
Shoppers increasingly choose with their values — and pay for proof. A credible, verified score turns that intent into foot traffic.
A dollar spent at a verified local business recirculates roughly three times more in the community than one spent at a national chain. (Modeled estimate.)
A consistent majority of consumers say they'll pay more for businesses whose values they trust — when that claim is actually verifiable.
Of every dollar, far more stays in the community at an independent local business than at a chain — the gap a high CEIS™ score makes visible.
Your competitor down the street says the same things you do. A verified CEIS™ Score is the one thing they can't copy or fake — an independent credential that tells shoppers, in a single number, that you're the real deal. Be the first verified business in your category on the map, and own that story before someone else does.
Start free with a self-reported Basic score, then upgrade to a verified CEIS™ score that stands out.