How we grade your station

The same 46 scored checks apply to every California smog station, including our agency clients; 33 more are shown for context and never scored. Map visibility contributes 25 points, reputation 25, the Google listing 15, trust and accuracy 15, website and conversion 15, and AI and structured data 5. These weights describe our assessment, not Google’s ranking algorithm. Being listed with SmogCheckDeals or SmogCoupons, our coupons, and our booking are never scored; they appear in a separate panel. A confirmed missing website is one capability gap: a strong station can still earn 80/100 without one.

For each category, we award each evaluated check its recorded credit, divide the weighted credit by the weight of evaluated checks, multiply by the category maximum, and round. Checks we could not evaluate, and checks that do not apply (STAR wording for a non-STAR station, questions on a listing that has none), leave both sums, so missing evidence is never a failure. A numeric grade requires at least 65% weighted evidence coverage over the checks that apply, a known rating, some Google listing evidence, and some evidence in every category; otherwise the report is a partial assessment. A blocked website is never treated as evidence of a failure.

Maps visibility is sampled at nine points 1.5 miles apart around the station for “smog check”, so we report “top 3 at X of 9 sampled points”, never a city-wide rank. Positions come from DataForSEO, with Serper as the fallback. Organic rank is Google Search for “smog check [city]”.

Rating is compared with the median of comparable nearby stations (same BAR license type, dealerships separated), or 4.5 stars without a benchmark. Each 0.1 star below the median costs about a sixth of the credit, so 0.6 stars below earns none, and a rating under 4.0 earns at most 40%. Review volume earns gradual credit up to 100 reviews or 60% of the peer median. Review growth, recency, owner reply rate, unanswered low ratings, and reply speed come from the station’s Google reviews over the last 90 days; we disclose when the review history was cut short. Reply speed counts only replies Google dates.

Name, phone, and address are compared field by field across Google, the station website, and the BAR record. A field with fewer than two independent sources is unknown, never a match; our directory’s copies of Google data are not independent sources.

The revenue figure is a scenario, not a verified loss: the gap between your monthly new reviews and the nearby median, times an assumed 25 inspections per review, times the county inspection price or $59. Every assumption is listed beside it, and it is hidden when the inputs are missing.

Our crawler reads public website pages and identifies itself with this contact URL. For questions, contact the agency.

Checks and weights

The listing is in the Maps top 3 at the sampled points around the station (a 3×3 grid, 1.5 miles apart). Credit is the share of points.

search · map-grid · 10 points

The average Maps position across the sampled points earns graded credit: 3 or better is full credit, 20 or outside the results is none.

search · map-grid · 8 points

The website ranks in the Google organic top 10 for “smog check [city]” (top 3 is full credit).

search · organic · 7 points

The rating is at or above the comparable peer median (4.5 stars without a benchmark). Each 0.1 star below costs about a sixth of the credit, and a rating under 4.0 earns at most 40 percent.

reputation · rating · 7 points

Review volume earns gradual credit up to 100 reviews or 60 percent of the comparable peer median, whichever is higher.

reputation · rating · 4 points

New reviews per month over the last 90 days match the comparable peer median (3 a month without a peer benchmark).

reputation · activity · 4 points

The newest Google review is 30 days old or less.

reputation · activity · 3 points

The owner replies to at least 75 percent of the reviews left in the last 90 days.

reputation · responses · 3 points

Every review of 3 stars or less from the last 90 days has an owner reply.

reputation · responses · 2 points

Owner replies arrive within 3 days (median), measured only where Google dates the reply.

reputation · responses · 2 points

The primary Google category is a smog inspection category.

gbp · profile · 3 points

The listing carries an owner-written business description.

gbp · profile · 2 points

The description names a smog service.

gbp · profile · context only

The listing sets regular hours for five days or more.

gbp · hours · 2 points

The listing is open on Saturday or Sunday. Shown for context; many stations close weekends by choice.

gbp · hours · context only

The listing sets special (holiday) hours. Google only exposes the coming week, so a missing value is unknown.

gbp · hours · 1 points

The listing carries at least ten photos.

gbp · content · 2 points

The listing has a Google post from the last 30 days.

gbp · content · 2 points

Every question on the listing has an answer. Does not apply when there are no questions.

gbp · content · 1 points

The listing sets attributes such as payment or accessibility.

gbp · content · context only

The listing links to the station’s own website, not a marketplace or directory.

gbp · profile · 2 points

The BAR smog license is current.

trust · license · 4 points

The website or Google description states the license type (test-only or test-and-repair) and does not contradict it.

trust · license · 3 points

A STAR-certified station says so on its website or Google description. Does not apply to other stations.

trust · license · 2 points

Name, phone, and address agree field by field across Google, the website, and the BAR record. A field with fewer than two independent sources is unknown, not a match.

trust · nap · 6 points

The station has a first-party website. The URL is not a marketplace.

experience · domain · 3 points

The page carries a tel: link whose digits match the listing.

experience · contact · 1.5 points

A price appears near a service keyword.

experience · offer · 1.5 points

The site shows opening hours.

experience · contact · 1 points

The site shows the street and the city.

experience · contact · 1 points

The H1 holds one service keyword.

experience · headline · 0.5 points

The H1 holds the city or a served area.

experience · headline · 0.5 points

The title holds one service keyword.

experience · metadata · 0.5 points

The title holds the city.

experience · metadata · 0.5 points

The title holds the Google listing name.

experience · metadata · 0.5 points

A viewport tag is present. INP is 200 ms or less. CLS is 0.1 or less.

experience · usability · 1 points

Mobile LCP is 2,500 ms or less.

experience · usability · 1 points

No noindex tag is present. Robots allows the root. A sitemap exists.

experience · domain · 0.5 points

The site serves HTTPS. The page declares a canonical URL.

experience · domain · 0.5 points

The site has one or more service pages.

experience · structure · 0.5 points

The domain is not a free builder subdomain.

experience · domain · 0.5 points

The site does not send every booking to a marketplace.

experience · offer · 0.5 points

A call or book control appears above the fold.

experience · offer · context only

The site shows its own offer or coupon.

experience · offer · context only

Booking links stay on the station’s domain.

experience · domain · context only

The home page carries exactly one H1.

experience · headline · context only

The title is 30 to 60 characters.