Editorial Policy

This page explains who writes the articles on the Listingo blog, where the information comes from, how we check it and what we do when we get something wrong. It applies to every post on /blog.

Who writes our articles

Every article carries the name of the person who wrote it. Their author page shows their role and experience. Articles are written by the Listingo team, who work on the directory every day: checking new listings, approving ownership claims, removing duplicates and helping owners set up their profiles. That work is the first-hand experience behind most of what we publish.

When an article covers health, money, the law or safety, a qualified expert reviews it before it goes live. Their name, qualifications and the date of their review appear at the top of the article, and their profile links to a public record of their registration where one exists. Reviewers check the facts in their field. They don't write the article, and they aren't paid to recommend anyone.

What we write about, and for whom

We write for two groups of readers:

• People running a local business, who want practical help getting found, earning trust and winning customers.
• People choosing a local business, who want to know what to ask, what to check and what to avoid before they pay.

Topics come from the questions owners and customers actually ask us, and from what we see in the listings themselves. We don't write an article only because a phrase is popular in search engines. Every article has to help someone do something better than they could before reading it.

Where our information comes from

• Primary sources first. Laws, regulations and official guidance are quoted from and linked to the government body, regulator or council that publishes them, not to someone else's summary.
• Our own data. When we publish numbers from Listingo's listings, we say when they were counted, how many listings they cover and how we counted them. We don't round small samples into big claims.
• Interviews. Quotes from business owners, customers and experts are published with their permission, and owners featured in a Local Spotlight approve the final text before it goes live.
• Our own photos and screenshots. We use photos we've taken, or that the business has given us permission to use. We don't use stock photos to illustrate real businesses.

Original writing

Every article is written for Listingo. We don't copy, reword or "spin" other publishers' articles. When we use someone else's words, we put them in quotation marks and credit and link the source. Before publishing, each article is checked with a plagiarism checker.

We may use software tools, including AI writing assistants, to help with outlines, grammar or translation. A named person writes and edits every article, checks every fact against its source, adds the experience behind it and is accountable for it. We don't publish articles generated in bulk or with no human review.

Independence and advertising

• Businesses can't pay to be written about, recommended or featured in a Local Spotlight. Spotlight businesses are chosen by our team and pay nothing for the article.
• Paid plans, Sponsored listings and Featured listings on Listingo are always labelled where they appear. They have no effect on what we write.
• Listingo is our own product. When an article compares Listingo with other platforms, we say so at the start and describe the alternatives fairly, including where they do better.
• Links in our articles are editorial. We don't sell links or accept guest posts in exchange for links.

Keeping articles up to date

Rules, prices and product features change. We review our most-read articles at least twice a year. When an article changes in a way that matters to the reader, we update it and show the "Updated" date next to the original publication date. Minor fixes such as typos don't change that date.

Corrections

If you think something in an article is wrong, please tell us and name the article. We check every report. When we confirm a factual error, we correct the article promptly and, if the error could have misled a reader, we add a short note at the end saying what we changed and when.

Related policies

How businesses are listed, verified and ranked on Listingo is explained in How We List, Verify and Rate Businesses. What may be listed is set out in our Listing Eligibility & Acceptability policy.