How Search Ranking Works

1. What We Do Not Do

The following factors never influence where an operator appears in search results:

• Whether the operator has paid LetzCharter anything
• Whether the listing is claimed or unclaimed
• Which pilot or commission tier the operator is on
• Whether the operator is on an ongoing subscription
• Any form of paid placement, promotion, or sponsored slot

There is no “pay to be on top.” There is no hidden boost for claimed operators over unclaimed ones. The marketplace is neutral on these dimensions by design.

2. Current Ranking Algorithm (Pilot Era)

While the marketplace is in its pilot phase and booking data is still accumulating, search results are ordered using two factors only:

1. Relevance to the trip. Does the operator serve the customer’s pickup area? Do they operate the requested vehicle type? Can they carry the passenger count? Operators who match the trip appear before operators who don’t.
2. Distance from pickup. Among matching operators, the operator closest to the customer’s pickup location ranks first. This reduces deadhead miles for the operator and typically gives the customer a better price.

Tie-breaker: when two operators are equally relevant and equally close, we break the tie alphabetically by company name. We intentionally do not use recency of join, subscription status, or any commercial signal.

3. As Booking Data Accrues

As the marketplace grows and real bookings generate signal data, we will add quality signals to ranking. Examples: on-time arrival rate, response time to quote requests, customer review score, and cancellation rate. These are signals of service quality, not payment.

When we add quality signals, we will publish the exact weights on this page before they go live. You can check here to see what’s currently in effect.

No quality-signal weights are active yet. The current algorithm is the two-factor order described in section 2.

4. Why This Matters

Marketplaces that sell ranking tend to become pay-to-play over time, which hurts customers (worse matches) and hurts smaller operators (priced out of visibility). We’re building the opposite: a marketplace where the best match for your trip is the one you see first.

This commitment is enforceable under our Terms of Service §5, which states that customers choose operators — not algorithms. Our approach to listing real operators from public data is covered in Public Operator Listings. Together, they describe how we keep the marketplace neutral.

5. Questions or Concerns

If you believe search results aren’t matching what this page describes, please tell us: legal@letzcharter.com.