Methodology

No black box.
Here is exactly how it works.

A score you can't interrogate is worthless. This page documents every analysis category, how each score is produced, the assumptions behind our revenue estimates, and — just as importantly — what this audit does not do.

How We Evaluate Businesses

Every audit runs the same structured pipeline. It is consistent on purpose: the same business analyzed twice should produce the same result, and two businesses with the same problem should be scored the same way.

  1. Collect. We gather the publicly available signals a customer and a search engine would see — your website, page structure, copy, load performance, calls-to-action, contact and conversion paths, and the public shape of your offer. On paid tiers, you can share additional context (analytics summaries, your offer details, target market) to deepen the analysis.
  2. Analyze by category. Each of the categories below is assessed against a defined checklist of factors drawn from established conversion, UX, and operations principles — not personal opinion.
  3. Score. Each category is converted to a 0–100 score using the rubric described further down.
  4. Prioritize. Findings are ranked by estimated impact and effort, so the report leads with what matters most.
  5. Review. On Professional and Enterprise tiers, a human reviews the output before it reaches you. AI assists the analysis; it does not get the final word unchecked.

The categories we assess

  • Website & Funnel — information hierarchy, clarity of the primary action, navigation, mobile experience, load speed, and the integrity of the path from arrival to conversion.
  • Offer & Positioning — whether a first-time visitor can tell what you do, who it's for, why it's different, and why it's worth the price within seconds.
  • Conversion — friction points, trust gaps, form and checkout design, and the specific moments where intent is lost.
  • Automation & Operations — manual steps, follow-up speed, and handoffs where time, margin, or leads are lost; where automation would pay for itself first.
  • Customer Journey — the full arc from discovery to repeat purchase, and the seams where experience and revenue degrade.

How scores are calculated

Each category produces a 0–100 score. A score is the weighted result of the individual factors in that category's checklist. Higher is better for the four product scores you see on the report — with one deliberate exception, explained below.

  • Conversion Score and Automation Score — higher is stronger. 100 means we found no meaningful weaknesses in that area.
  • Revenue Leak Score — higher means more estimated revenue is being lost. This is a problem indicator, not a grade.
  • Risk Score — higher means more compounding business risk (e.g. single points of failure, broken paths, dependence on manual effort). Also a problem indicator.

We surface both "good" and "bad" scores so the report can't be mistaken for a vanity grade. A business can have a strong Conversion Score and still have a high Revenue Leak Score — and that combination tells you something specific.

Confidence flags

Every finding carries a confidence level — High, Medium, or Low — based on how directly the available evidence supports it. We would rather flag a finding as Medium-confidence than present a guess as a fact. You should weight your decisions accordingly.

What Your Audit Includes

Regardless of tier, every audit returns a structured report — never a wall of generic advice. Depth scales with the tier, but the shape is consistent:

  • Executive Summary — the whole picture in plain language on one page, written to be shared with a partner, team, or board.
  • Four core scores — Risk, Revenue Leak, Automation, and Conversion, each with a one-line interpretation.
  • Findings — specific, evidence-backed issues, each tagged with a category and a confidence level.
  • Priority Fixes — findings ranked High / Medium / Low by estimated impact, so you know where to start.
  • Strategic Roadmap — a sequenced plan describing what to address and in what order, so effort compounds instead of scattering.
  • Revenue Opportunity ranges — conservative estimates of what addressing the top issues could be worth (see below for exactly how these are derived).

See a complete example on the Sample Report page.

How Findings Are Prioritized

A list of 40 problems isn't intelligence — it's noise. The value is in the ordering. Every finding is scored on two axes:

  • Estimated impact — how much this issue is likely costing you, in revenue, conversion, or operational drag.
  • Estimated effort — how hard it is to fix, from a copy change to a structural rebuild.

Findings are then sorted so that high-impact, low-effort items rise to the top — the fixes that pay back fastest. High-impact, high-effort items are flagged as strategic priorities. Low-impact items are included for completeness but clearly marked as such, so you never spend your first week on something that doesn't move the number.

Understanding Revenue Opportunity Estimates

This is the figure that deserves the most scrutiny, so we'll be the most transparent about it. When we estimate what a fix could be worth, we are not claiming to know your exact future revenue. We are showing a defensible, deliberately conservative range based on stated inputs.

A revenue-opportunity estimate is built from inputs such as:

  • The volume of traffic or activity affected by the issue (from the data you share, or conservative public estimates where you don't).
  • A reasonable, evidence-based range for how much the issue suppresses the relevant outcome (e.g. a known range for how much a specific friction point affects conversion).
  • Your stated or estimated average order value or customer value.

We then present a range — not a single number — and we state the assumptions next to it. If we don't have a reliable input, we say so and widen the range rather than inventing precision.

Our rule on numbers

Conservative beats impressive. We would rather under-promise a recovery range you actually beat than headline a figure you can't reproduce. Any estimate that can't be traced to a stated assumption does not belong in the report.

Assumptions we make

  • That the public-facing version of your business is reasonably representative of how customers experience it.
  • That the context you provide on paid tiers (offer, audience, AOV) is accurate — estimates are only as good as their inputs.
  • That established conversion, UX, and operations principles apply to your business, while accounting for industry context where we can.

Limitations — what this audit does not do

An honest method states its boundaries. This audit:

  • Does not access private systems. We analyze public signals and what you choose to share. We don't ask for passwords, admin access, or sensitive credentials.
  • Is not a guarantee of results. We identify and prioritize opportunities. Outcomes depend on execution, which is in your hands.
  • Is not a substitute for your judgment. You know your business and market better than any audit. Findings are inputs to your decisions, not commands.
  • Is a point-in-time snapshot. Businesses change. A finding accurate today may not hold in six months — which is why re-audits exist.
  • Does not provide legal, tax, or financial advice. Revenue estimates are directional planning figures, not financial projections.

The role of AI — stated plainly

AI is used to analyze signals at speed and apply our scoring framework consistently. It is a tool inside a defined process, not the process itself. The framework, the rubrics, the assumptions, and — on paid tiers — the final review are designed and checked by people. We say this directly because "is this just ChatGPT with a theme?" is a fair question, and the honest answer is no: a chatbot gives you a different answer every time and no audit trail. This gives you a consistent, structured, reviewable report.

See a real sample report      Read the FAQ