How we rank search results

When you search on healthbookr, the order is not left to chance. So that you can judge it for yourself, we set out here which criteria apply in which order — and which do not.

The order in detail

1. How well it matches your search

What counts first is how well a profile matches what you searched for. We check whether terms from your search appear in the profession, speciality, listed services and profile description — and we also recognise related terms, so that you find what is worded differently. Only loosely related results drop to the end, where they are marked as such.
2. The location you searched for

If you entered a location, providers in that place come first — even when someone from the surrounding area is closer as the crow flies, and even if they have no Professional subscription.
3. Equally good matches in the same place: Professional first

When several profiles match your search equally well and are in the same place, providers with a paid Professional subscription appear higher up. More on this in the next section.
4. Distance

After that, the straight-line distance to the location you searched for decides.
5. Ratings

Finally, the rating tips the balance. How we calculate it for this purpose is explained below.

Paid placement — stated plainly

healthbookr is funded through provider subscriptions. Anyone with a Professional subscription is ranked higher in the results list. However, this only applies among equally good matches in the same place: a subscription never moves a profile ahead of one that fits your search better, and never ahead of a provider located in the place you searched for. A matching local provider without a subscription always ranks above a subscriber who is further away or a poorer fit.

You can always tell: Professional profiles carry a PRO badge in the results list, so paid placement is never hidden from you.

Individual positions are not for sale. There is no way to buy your way to the top spot of a particular search.

Ratings: what is shown and what is ranked

The rating shown is always the true average of all published reviews — unfiltered and unweighted. What you see is exactly what the reviewers gave.

For the ranking we additionally calculate a little more cautiously, so that individual reviews do not distort the list:

New profiles start neutral. A single top score does not push a profile straight to the top, and a single bad one does not sink it. The more genuine ratings there are, the less this matters.
Recent ratings count for more. Older ones slowly lose weight, so that a good result from years ago does not mask the present.
Profiles without ratings are not penalised. They start in the middle, not at the bottom — otherwise a new provider would never get a chance to be seen and rated at all.

That is why a profile with 5.0 from one review can rank below one with 4.8 from forty. If you sort by “Rating” yourself, the rating shown applies exactly as displayed.

What plays no part

Your personal data. We do not personalise results.
Payments for individual positions — there are none.
Whether a provider is bookable via healthbookr. That changes the display, not the order.

How reviews are created, checked and published is set out in our review guidelines. Questions? Write to us.