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Methodology

How we build, verify, and maintain every page in this knowledge base.

Page Contract

Every topic page follows a consistent structure:

  1. Direct answer — a 1–2 sentence plain-language answer to the page's primary question.
  2. Local fact sheet — key data points specific to the city or region.
  3. Depth sections — detailed coverage organized by subtopic.
  4. FAQ — common follow-up questions with concise answers.
  5. Sources — every claim links to a cited source with access date.
  6. Confidence score — a numeric score (0–1) reflecting source quality and recency.
  7. Last verified date — when the page was last reviewed for accuracy.
  8. Structured data — JSON-LD markup for search engines.

Hub Ladder

Content is organized in a four-level hierarchy:

  • Vertical — a service domain (e.g., Real Estate, Legal, HVAC).
  • State — a US state with its regulatory context.
  • City — a city hub with local data and neighborhood detail.
  • Topic — an answer-first page addressing a specific question or intent.

This structure ensures readers can start broad and drill down, or land directly on the topic they need via search.

Confidence Scoring

Each page receives a confidence score between 0 and 1 based on:

  • Number and quality of cited sources (government, legal, academic).
  • Recency of source data.
  • Whether the page has been manually reviewed.
  • Cross-referencing with multiple independent sources.

A score of 0.80+ indicates high confidence. Scores below 0.60 trigger a review cycle.

Verification Process

Pages are verified on a rolling basis. The "last verified" date indicates when a page was most recently checked against its sources. If a source becomes stale or contradicted, the page is flagged for update and its confidence score is adjusted downward until resolved.

Corrections

If you find an error, please report it via our corrections page. We investigate all reports and update pages within 48 hours when a correction is confirmed.