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Marketplace disclosure

How professionals are ranked on Task Masters

Search results are not alphabetical and they are not random. Here is every signal that goes into the default order, how heavily each one counts, and why none of them can be bought.

The short version

The default Recommended order is a weighted score. Every signal below is normalised to a value between 0 and 1, multiplied by its weight, and added up — so no single condition pins anyone to the top or the bottom of a page.

Payment does not affect placement. Every signal below is earned rather than bought, and the ranking query reads no plan, subscription or payment of any kind. The heaviest signal is the Verified Business badge, and applying for that is free at every tier.

The signals, heaviest first

These are the live weights this site is running right now. A weight of zero switches that signal off entirely.

  • Verified Business badge

    weight 5

    Whether an administrator has approved the business documents behind the profile.

  • Same city as you

    weight 4

    Applies when you are signed in and your account names a city.

  • Star rating

    weight 4

    The average of the reviews left by customers whose bookings were completed.

  • Completed bookings

    weight 3

    All-time jobs finished through the platform, on a curve that flattens out around fifty so long-standing professionals cannot bury newer ones.

  • Profile completeness

    weight 3

    Whether the profile carries a description, a phone number, a city and a location on the map.

  • Recent activity

    weight 2

    Jobs completed in the last ninety days.

  • Online right now

    weight 1

    Whether the professional has marked themselves available at this moment.

Distance, and why your results differ from someone else's

When you are browsing a city, or you have let the site use your location, distance is applied on top of the score above: closer professionals come first among those that scored alike. A city listing reaches 25 miles, because a metro area is one market to the person standing in the middle of it.

Two signals therefore depend on who is looking — distance, and whether a professional is in the same city as the one on your account. The same page shown to two people in two places is genuinely two different orders. Neither is more correct than the other.

Professionals pay Task Masters a subscription; customers pay nothing and we take no cut of any job. The obvious worry about that arrangement is that the people paying us get moved up the page. They do not.

The ranking reads no plan, no subscription and no payment. Every signal listed above is something a professional earns: documents reviewed, customers served, reviews received, a profile filled in, availability kept current. A paid plan buys more listed services and the tools in the dashboard — it does not buy a position.

The Verified Business badge is the heaviest signal, so it is worth being exact about it: applying is free at every tier, including the free plan. Any professional whose account is registered as a business can submit documents, and an administrator decides. No payment substitutes for that review.

What payment also cannot do: change a star rating, add or alter a review, or have a review removed.

Position in results is not a ranking of quality, safety or reliability, is not an endorsement, and should not be treated as a recommendation.

How to ignore the ranking entirely

Every listing page carries a sort control. Choosing highest rating, lowest price or highest price discards the weighted score completely and orders on that one field, so nothing above applies. The filters — rating, price band, availability, service type — narrow the list before any of it runs.

Common questions

Can a professional pay to rank higher on TaskMasters?
Not today. Position is a weighted score, and every signal in it — the Verified Business badge, rating, distance, completed bookings, profile completeness, recent activity, availability — is earned rather than bought. The badge is the heaviest of them, and applying for it is free and open to any professional whose account is registered as a business. No plan, subscription or payment is read anywhere in the ranking.
Is the default order the same for everyone?
No. Two of the signals depend on who is looking: distance from the location you are browsing, and whether a professional is in the same city as the one on your account. Sign out, or browse a different city, and the order changes.
Can I turn the ranking off?
Yes. Every listing page carries a sort control — highest rating, lowest price, highest price — and each of those ignores the weighted score entirely and orders on that one field.
Does position mean a professional is better?
No. Position in results is not a ranking of quality, safety or reliability, is not an endorsement, and should not be treated as a recommendation.