One number. Never bought, only earned.
Every reviewed dealer carries a score out of 100: verification evidence 35%, certification practice 20%, disclosure completeness 20%, external reputation 10%, responsiveness 10% and trade standing 5%. A component with no evidence is left out and its weight is shared across the rest. Paid plans, sponsorship, traffic, listing volume and founding status contribute zero.
A worked example: one dealer's evidence, resolved to a single number.
Six components, weighed
Verification evidence
A Listed record receives 0. A current approved Level A review receives 75/100 in this component; a current approved Live-verified review receives 100/100. The component weighs 35% of the score — the heaviest single input — and it grows where an unscored component shares out its weight.
Improve it: submit current business, identity and trade evidence; complete the live review where offered; renew evidence when due. Payment alone changes nothing.
Certification practice
Measures the share of all published listings carrying complete independent certification evidence: a laboratory, report number and report file. No laboratory is given a secret commercial multiplier.
Improve it: attach complete report evidence to each product presented as certified, and never label a product certified when the record is incomplete.
Disclosure completeness
Measures public profile completeness and whether published products state the treatment position, description, carat, origin and price status clearly. It rewards usable evidence, not marketing length.
Improve it: complete the dealer profile and fill every material product field. State untreated as an explicit claim and use price on request when a fixed price is not public.
External reputation
Measures what independently checkable platforms say about the house. Only accounts whose ownership has been confirmed count. A rating needs at least twenty reviews to score beyond presence, a rating observed over a year ago decays to nothing, and two solid platforms reach the cap — a third adds little.
Improve it: connect the marketplace and review accounts the house already operates and confirm ownership. Review text is never collected; the rating, its count and the date it was observed are.
Responsiveness to briefs
Measures whether the house answers buyer briefs sent through the register, and how quickly, over the last six months. Only buyer-confirmed replies count. Fewer than three briefs excludes the component rather than scoring it.
Improve it: answer every brief in writing, even to decline. Answering at all carries most of the component; median speed carries the rest.
Trade standing
Measures evidenced years trading and whether the annual standing review is current. Suspension reduces this component to zero. Founding status and payment never add points.
Improve it: provide an accurate established year, keep annual standing evidence current and resolve any documented conduct issue through the evidence process.
How it moves
The score is recomputed when verification, profile or listing evidence changes and at annual review. Every non-zero movement is recorded. No manual sales adjustment, plan, placement or fee changes the formula.
What it is not
Not reviews. No customer commentary is collected or counted.
Not ratings. There are no stars anywhere on GemsVerified.
Not purchasable. No plan, placement or fee moves a score.
Questions, answered
Can a dealer pay to improve their score?
No. Paid plans change placement and features only. The score is computed from verification evidence and cannot be bought.
How often is the score updated?
It is recomputed when relevant verification, profile or listing evidence changes, and it is reviewed annually. Non-zero movements are retained in the dealer's score history.
Does the score rate individual stones?
No. GemsVerified verifies dealers — their legitimacy, certification practice and disclosure — never individual stones. Stone-level claims belong to independent laboratory reports.
Who computes the score?
The published formula computes it from recorded evidence. Administrators approve or reject evidence, but there is no sales-controlled score adjustment.
How much does verified status add?
A current approved Level A review produces 75/100 in the verification component; Live-verified produces 100/100. Verification weighs 35% of the score, so most of the total still depends on certification, disclosure and the other components.
Do more listings automatically mean more points?
No. Listing volume has zero weight. Certification and disclosure components assess the completeness and consistency of published records, so adding incomplete listings can reduce those component percentages.
Do founding houses receive a scoring bonus?
No. Founding recognition is historical and may include complimentary publishing allowances, but it contributes zero score points.
Can a score guarantee a dealer or transaction?
No. It is a time-stamped summary of evidence reviewed to the best of our ability. It is not insurance, an appraisal, purchasing advice or a guarantee of a dealer's future conduct or any individual stone.