UK questions are answered with a strong preference for review platforms and regulators: Trustpilot, Checkatrade and the professional registers are quoted by name. The engines read Trustpilot and Checkatrade, Rated People and TrustATrader before they answer. The company number and the registered office on the site, since the engines cross-check with Companies House.
What changes when the buyer is in the UK
UK questions are answered with a strong preference for review platforms and regulators: Trustpilot, Checkatrade and the professional registers are quoted by name. London is answered by borough and by postcode area for consumer services; the rest of the country by city. Price questions carry pounds and the engines answer from pages with pound figures, VAT included.
The sources the engines read for the UK
| Source | What it decides |
|---|---|
| Trustpilot | the score and the count are quoted for nearly every consumer brand; a score under 4 is named with the caveat |
| Checkatrade, Rated People and TrustATrader | trades and home services; the engines read the profile as the credential |
| Rightmove and Zoopla | property questions |
| Companies House | the engines check that a company exists, its age and its filing status |
| Which?, MoneySavingExpert, the Guardian and the BBC | the 'best X' articles are read as rankings; a Which? recommendation is quoted |
| Regulators | the CQC for clinics, the GDC and GMC registers, the SRA for law firms, the FCA register, Ofsted; a claim is checked |
The report's 'sources the engines trust' table shows which of these were actually cited for your questions, and how often your own site was.
Language
English, with British spelling; the engines match the spelling of the question. 'Optimisation' and 'optimization' both work, but a site in American spelling reads as foreign for local questions.
What to put on the site for the UK
- The company number and the registered office on the site, since the engines cross-check with Companies House.
- Regulator registrations stated with the number (SRA, FCA, CQC, GDC), which is what a 'regulated' question is answered from.
- Prices in pounds with VAT stated. 'Including VAT' questions are answered from pages that say.
How the report runs for the UK
Every question is asked with the market set to the United Kingdom, so an engine that would otherwise assume the United States answers for the UK. The questions themselves are written with the country's cities and qualifiers where the site sells to one ('best accountant in London'), and the competitor discovery probe is asked for the UK too, so the rivals in the table are the ones a buyer in the UK is shown, not the global names.
Prices in the report are quoted as the engines quoted them, in GBP where the answer used it.
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Questions
How much does Trustpilot matter in the UK?
For consumer brands, more than the company's own site. The engines quote the score and the count and summarise the recent reviews. Below about fifty reviews the engines quote the number with a caveat.
Are London questions answered by borough?
For services, yes: 'dentist in Islington' is answered from pages that say Islington. For B2B, by city.
See who the engines name in the UK
Your website, region and work email. The score appears in about three minutes, and the report is a link you keep.