At MKTONS we build rankings of professional service providers with a single goal: to offer a neutral, verifiable source that helps businesses and professionals make better decisions. To do that, we don’t give opinions, we measure. Every study is built from checkable data, gathered with well-known analytics tools and processed with in-house scripts that apply the same rules to every participant.
This page explains, step by step, how we select the agencies, which factors we evaluate, where the data comes from and how much each variable weighs in the final score. We publish it because a ranking is only as good as its method: if you can’t review how the result was reached, there’s no way to trust it.
The internet is full of “best agency” lists with no transparent criteria behind them, and very often the top spot is simply paid for. Our approach is the opposite: objective, public rules that are open to review.
How we select the agencies
The universe for each ranking is built from geolocated searches on the main search engines and on artificial intelligence assistants, run without browsing history or a logged-in session. This prevents personalized results or past recommendations from shaping the sample: we want to see what a new user researching the sector for the first time would see.
From that universe we prioritize the companies with real presence in the relevant keywords for the analyzed industry and country. In other words, the agencies that actually show up when someone searches for the service, not the ones that claim to. From that initial list we collect each candidate’s data in order to score it.
How we score: a system out of 100 points
Each agency is evaluated with a scoring system built on a base of 100 points, designed to be objective, repeatable and adaptable to the different digital services (SEO, advertising, social media, web design, and others). The system combines several complementary factors, because no single metric describes a good agency on its own: you have to cross-reference positioning, reputation, authority and community.
How to read the rankings
The number in the “Total score” column is the weighted sum of all the factors measured for that agency. The higher the score, the higher its position in the table. The other values in the table (positions, ratings, reviews, authority, followers) are the raw data feeding that score, published so anyone can verify where the result comes from. We don’t repeat those figures in the article’s prose: they live in the table, which is where they belong.
The factors we measure and where the data comes from
These are the factors considered in the study, with their data source and why we take them into account.
Search engine positioning
Where each agency appears when someone searches for the service in their country, through the main keyword, a relevant keyword and a set of related keywords. It is the most direct indicator of visibility: it reflects the positioning work the agency achieves for its own site. Source: Ahrefs.
Presence in artificial intelligence
Whether the agency is mentioned by artificial intelligence assistants when a user asks for the best options in the sector. More and more people begin their search by asking an AI, so its recommendation has become a visibility factor in its own right. Source: language-model queries via the DataForSEO API.
Reputation on Google Business Profile
The quality and volume of real client reviews on each agency’s Google Business Profile listing (the reviews shown on Google Maps). We distinguish reviews from frequent users (Local Guides) from the rest and weigh rating and quantity with a logarithmic index, so that an agency with many good reviews isn’t tied with one that barely has a handful. Source: Google Business Profile, collected via SerpApi.
Domain authority and backlinks
The strength of each agency’s domain, measured by its authority (a 0 to 100 scale) and by the quantity and quality of the links other sites point at it. Links work as votes of confidence: when one site links to another, it vouches for its content before search engines. Source: Ahrefs.
Organic traffic and ranking keywords
The volume of organic visits the agency’s site receives and the total number of terms it ranks for in search engines. Together they show the real reach of its digital presence, beyond a single keyword. Source: Ahrefs.
Social media activity and engagement
The real interaction each agency generates on its social profiles, not just how many people follow it. Engagement measures how alive its community is: comments, reactions and participation relative to total followers. Source: Apify (data collection from Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok and YouTube).
Social reach
The size of each agency’s community: followers and subscribers on Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok and YouTube. It complements engagement, because a large community amplifies the reach of every post. Source: Apify.
How much each factor weighs
The final score is distributed as follows over 100 points:
| Factor | Points |
|---|---|
| Reputation on Google Business Profile | 20 |
| Search engine positioning (relevant keyword) | 15 |
| Search engine positioning (main keyword) | 5 |
| Search engine positioning (related keywords) | 5 |
| Presence in artificial intelligence (main keyword) | 10 |
| Social media engagement | 14 |
| Social reach (followers and subscribers) | 5 |
| Domain authority and backlinks | 10 |
| Number of ranking keywords | 8 |
| Organic traffic volume | 8 |
| Total | 100 |
The distribution prioritizes what best reflects an agency’s quality and trustworthiness: the reputation of its real clients and its effective visibility in search engines and artificial intelligence, backed by its authority and community. The whole calculation runs on scripts that apply these weights equally to every participant.
Neutrality and transparency
No company pays to appear in our rankings or can influence its position. We don’t know the participants: each one’s score comes exclusively from the data collected by the research scripts, and this methodology is published and open to review.
If you have any comments on our methodology or suggestions to improve it, you can leave us a message and we’ll gladly get back to you.
How the data is updated
Positioning, reputation, authority and social activity change over time. That’s why the rankings are reviewed and updated periodically: the snapshot you see reflects the data available at the time of each study, not a permanent position.
About MKTONS
MKTONS is an independent research platform that produces objective rankings of professional service providers.
Each ranking is built on verifiable data and a public methodology: search engine positioning, online reputation, domain authority, presence in artificial intelligence responses, and social media activity. We don’t know the participants, and we don’t charge for taking part.
Our goal is to provide a neutral, up-to-date source that helps businesses and professionals make better decisions when choosing a provider.