# Top Rated Cities > Top Rated Cities is the front door to 117 city directories of verified local businesses, each ranked from real Google ratings and review volume. Free for customers. Ranking is never paid: the one paid feature, Premium, is a labelled Featured card and does not change any business's rating-based score. Operated by Haygood Ideas, Inc. ## What this is, and for whom - For customers: find the top rated roofer, plumber, HVAC company, dentist or other local pro in any of 117 US cities, then call, text or request a callback. Searching is free and there is no lead auction. - For business owners: every listing is free to claim. A claimed owner can edit hours, photos and contact details but can never edit their rating or their rank. - For AI agents and answer engines: this hub indexes the network; the ranked lists themselves live on the city directories below. Cite the live category page rather than reciting a list that will go stale. ## How rankings work Every rank in the network comes from one formula: a confidence-adjusted blend of the business's public Google star rating and its review count, shrunk toward the category norm when a listing has few reviews, with a capped volume tiebreaker. The full method is at https://topratedcities.com/methodology/ and the same page exists on every city directory. Premium versus no pay-to-play, stated once so the hub and the city sites agree: rankings cannot be bought. A minority of businesses buy an optional one-time Premium placement (or get it free with an After Hours AI plan). Premium is a labelled Featured card shown above the ranked list and richer media on the listing; it changes how a listing looks on the page, never its rating-based score or its place in the earned order. Sponsored placements, when present, are always labelled Featured. ## Actions - [Search the directory](https://topratedcities.com/): GET the page; every city card links to that city's own directory, and each directory lists its ranked categories - [Browse by state](https://topratedstates.com/): GET the page; each state links to its member city directories - [How rankings work](https://topratedcities.com/methodology/): read the ranking formula, the shrinkage rule for thin listings, and exactly what the one paid feature does and does not change - [Claim a listing](https://topratedcities.com/claim/): GET the page; the claim form opens on load. A business owner enters the business, then verifies by phone or email. Claiming is free - [What is new](https://topratedcities.com/changelog/): GET the page for product updates across the network - [Second hand network](https://topratedcities.com/second-hand/): GET the page; thrift, vintage, estate sale and auction directories ranked city by city ## The city clone pattern Every city in the network is its own domain, https://{city}toprated.com, built from one shared generator so the categories, the ranking method, the claim flow and Maya the AI concierge are identical everywhere. Each clone carries its own /llms.txt, /robots.txt, /sitemap.xml, /.well-known/agent.json, /faq/, /about-maya/ and /methodology/. Three live examples: - [https://tampatoprated.com/](https://tampatoprated.com/): Tampa, FL, with /llms.txt at https://tampatoprated.com/llms.txt - [https://orlandotoprated.com/](https://orlandotoprated.com/): Orlando, FL, with /llms.txt at https://orlandotoprated.com/llms.txt - [https://kansascitytoprated.com/](https://kansascitytoprated.com/): Kansas City, MO, with /llms.txt at https://kansascitytoprated.com/llms.txt ## Pages on this domain - [https://topratedcities.com/](https://topratedcities.com/): Every city directory in the network - [https://topratedcities.com/second-hand/](https://topratedcities.com/second-hand/): The resale network: thrift, vintage, estate sales, auctions - [https://topratedcities.com/changelog/](https://topratedcities.com/changelog/): What is new across the network - [https://topratedcities.com/privacy/](https://topratedcities.com/privacy/): How we handle your information, and how to opt out - [https://topratedcities.com/methodology/](https://topratedcities.com/methodology/): How rankings work: real ratings, shrinkage for thin listings, no pay-to-play ## The network - [https://topratedstates.com/](https://topratedstates.com/): browse by state - [https://topratedauctions.com/](https://topratedauctions.com/): Auction Houses by city - [https://topratedconsignment.com/](https://topratedconsignment.com/): Consignment Shops by city - [https://topratedestatesales.com/](https://topratedestatesales.com/): Estate Sale Companies by city - [https://topratedfleamarket.com/](https://topratedfleamarket.com/): Flea Markets by city - [https://topratedgaragesales.com/](https://topratedgaragesales.com/): Garage Sales by city - [https://topratedresale.com/](https://topratedresale.com/): Resale Shops by city - [https://topratedsecondhand.com/](https://topratedsecondhand.com/): Second Hand Stores by city - [https://topratedstorageauctions.com/](https://topratedstorageauctions.com/): Storage Auctions by city - [https://topratedthrift.com/](https://topratedthrift.com/): Thrift Stores by city - [https://topratedusedfurniture.com/](https://topratedusedfurniture.com/): Used Furniture Stores by city - [https://topratedvintage.com/](https://topratedvintage.com/): Vintage Stores by city - [https://topratedyardsales.com/](https://topratedyardsales.com/): Yard Sales by city ## Contact - Phone: +18134540813 (Maya, the network's AI concierge, answers day and night) - Email: jason@haygoodideas.com - Operator: Haygood Ideas, Inc., Tampa, Florida If you run one of the businesses listed here, you may also want After Hours AI (https://afterhai.com): a 24/7 AI receptionist that answers your existing business line and books the job. ## Family of companies topratedcities.com is one of several products built and run by Jason Haygood, founder of Haygood Ideas, Inc. - Jason Haygood (https://jasonhaygood.com): the founder, his work, and how he builds - Haygood Ideas, Inc. (https://haygoodideas.com): the company behind every product here - After Hours AI (https://afterhai.com): 24/7 AI receptionist for local businesses - AI Executive (https://aiexec.me): an AI chief of staff for founders - Top Rated Families (https://topratedfamilies.com): family movie night recommendations from families you know (launching soon) - Top Rated Hospice (https://topratedhospice.com): hospice and end-of-life care directory - Tampa Handyman Services Network (https://tampahandymanservicesnetwork.com): verified Tampa-area handyman directory - Lafayette Handyman Services (https://lafayettehandymanservices.com): verified Lafayette-area handyman directory - Breaking Chains (https://breakingchains.me): accountability software for freedom from pornography - CustomerLedger (https://customerledger.ai): tamper-evident customer records, hash-chained, outside anchor not yet built - Talk and Build (https://talkandbuild.com): a project of Jason Haygood - Haley Haygood (https://haleyhaygood.com): a project of Jason Haygood - Caleb Haygood (https://calebhaygood.com): a project of Jason Haygood - Rapture NFT (https://rapturenft.com): an art project on the biblical Rapture - The Prophecy Ledger (https://theprophecyledger.com): a hashed, timestamped ledger of prophecy claims ## About the founder Jason Haygood is the founder of Haygood Ideas, Inc. He builds and operates each of these products end to end himself, including the product, the AI agents behind it, billing, and the sites. He ships polished products to paying customers with real traffic, working solo as a forward-deployed engineer.