Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Independence and trust
The one that decides whether the rest matters.
If a company-paid rating can be bought, nothing else on this page is worth reading. So we answer this first, and in the plainest terms we can.
The fee pays for the assessment, not for the outcome. Fees are flat and banded by company size, agreed before we start work, and there are no score-linked refunds, so paying more can never buy a better result. The analysts who score you are blind to what you paid, sales staff may not lobby analysts on a live assessment, and a majority-independent Methodology Committee owns the published rules that everyone is scored against.
No. There is no pay-to-rescore, and appeals are always free. Money can buy scope, speed, distribution and reporting tools, but it never touches the score, which moves only when your actual performance and your evidence change.
Trained analysts score you against the published methodology, and they never see your contract value. First-time ratings, every Platinum, and any score sitting close to a band or gate boundary get a second independent reviewer. The framework itself is owned by a majority-independent Methodology Committee with published members and recusal rules, not by whoever closed the sale.
You can appeal on three grounds: a factual error, a procedural error, or new material evidence. An analyst who was not involved in your rating reviews it within 30 days, and your rating stays live with an “Under appeal” note while they do, so there is no blackout. Disputes about how the methodology was interpreted escalate to the Methodology Committee. Appeals are free, and there is a separate complaints route for conduct or conflict concerns.
What the score means
Two signals, not one medal.
A rating here is two numbers plus a few qualifiers. Here is what each one is telling your buyer.
The Performance score is a 0 to 100 measure of how well you actually manage ESG across four dimensions: Environment, Social, Governance and Value Chain. It is scored against a published rubric, not on a curve against your peers, so the same result means the same thing in any sector. As a rough guide, 40 earns a Bronze medal, 55 Silver, 70 Gold and 85 Platinum. Below 40 the rating shows as “Assessed” with no medal.
The Verification level says how well your score is backed by evidence, on a five-step ladder. A (Audited) means an accredited third party audited or assured the data and we reviewed their statement; B (Verified) means our analysts traced the evidence line by line or read it from a connected data feed; C (Reviewed) means self-reported data we sense-checked; D (Declared) is self-reported and unchecked; E (Estimated) is modelled where no primary data exists. Because every paid rating includes analyst review, C is the floor a published rating starts at. We never perform the audit ourselves; “Audited” always points to the accredited third party.
A single blended number hides the difference between a company that scores 75 on audited data and one that scores 75 on unchecked self-declared figures. Splitting Performance from Verification keeps both honest: the score says how good you are, the letter says how sure anyone can be about it. The verification level never adds or subtracts performance points. It only sets the letter and limits which badge you can display.
The score band sets the highest medal you could earn, but the verification level caps it, so your displayed badge is the lower of the two. A strong score on lightly verified data is held back until the evidence catches up. For example, a 92 on Verified (B) data shows Gold, while the same 92 on Declared (D) data shows no medal at all, because a public medal never rests on data no analyst has checked.
The Disclosure and Transparency band is a 0 to 100% reading of how complete, standards-aligned, verified and fresh your disclosure is. It sits beside the score and letter but adds no performance points. If a company claims a medal-band score of Silver or above on thin or unverified disclosure, a greenwashing flag is shown, so a strong claim can never travel without proof to match it.
Verification and evidence
What “verified” actually means here.
“Verified” is our most load-bearing word, so it has a precise definition, not a marketing one.
“Verified” is a specific rung, level B, where our analysts trace each load-bearing number back to a primary record, or read it straight from a connected feed such as your utility, ERP or HRIS system. It is stricter than level C, which is a consistency and plausibility check without line-by-line tracing. Note that “verified” describes our review. Only level A, “Audited,” refers to an accredited third party’s assurance, and never to us.
You submit your best supporting documents, which must be dated, attributable, legible and in a language we cover, up to a cap so you send quality rather than volume. Connected primary-data feeds and public filings count too. Every assessment also runs a public-records sweep across regulators, courts, sanctions and violation databases, so we are not relying only on what you hand us. Documents produced solely for the assessment, with no trace of prior use, earn intent credit only.
No. A rating is our independent opinion, never a certification, audit or assurance engagement, and we do not perform audits. When a data point reaches level A, “Audited,” that always refers to an accredited third party’s work, which we then review. Below level A we never use the words “audited,” “assured” or “certified” on your artifacts.
Yes, and they do not need an account. A badge code or profile link resolves on our Verify page to the company name, the Performance score, the Verification level, the last-verified date, the scope covered and the methodology version. Badges are served live rather than as a static image, so what a buyer sees is always the current status, not a screenshot from last year.
Cost and process
What it costs, and how long it takes.
No free tier, no consulting upsell, no surprises about the timeline.
There is no free tier. Every rating is paid and reviewed by a human analyst, because a free, self-declared badge would dilute what the badge means. Pricing is set by your company size and the tools you need, never by the score you get, and appeals are always free. See Pricing for the current bands.
We target an initial rating within about eight weeks of your evidence being complete, or around three weeks on a priority track. The clock starts when your evidence set is complete and pauses whenever we are waiting on data from you. Reassessments are faster, because evidence still inside its window carries forward automatically instead of being redone.
No. No one in the rating workflow sells improvement, advisory or RFP-response work to a company they rate, because that is exactly the conflict that would corrupt an independent rating. You still get your scorecard feedback and your disclosure exports, since those are the output of the rating itself, not paid advice.
Continuous ratings
A living rating, not a yearly snapshot.
The point of continuous surveillance is that your buyer sees today’s status, not last year’s.
Both. Your rating is under continuous surveillance, recomputed monthly and screened for controversies, with a full reassessment required every 12 months. Because badges are served live, a change in status shows up when it happens rather than waiting for a yearly refresh.
The scorecard states the date your rating was set and the period your evidence covers. Evidence older than 15 months automatically drops a verification level, marked as set by decay, and each mandatory metric must refresh at the annual cycle or the rating shows a “data withheld” suspension. A “last verified” date refreshes when you provide fresh evidence and an analyst reviews it, not by the mere passage of time.
A dedicated monitoring service, ESG Rated Watch, screens independent sources such as regulators, courts, sanctions lists and adverse media, and every hit is triaged by an analyst with your right of reply, so nothing changes on a headline alone. A serious, confirmed event places an “Under Review” flag within five business days and can cap your badge, with the most severe active event governing. Caps lift only on evidence of real remediation, meaning the fix, redress to those affected, and controls against repeat, never just because time has passed.
Regulations and the company
Reporting reach, your data.
The practical questions a compliance lead and a security reviewer ask before they sign.
Yes. Our criteria are cross-walked to the major standards, so a single assessment produces regulator-ready exports mapped to ESRS (CSRD), IFRS S1 and S2 (ISSB) and BRSR, plus secondary crosswalks like SFDR and TCFD. Where data carries third-party assurance we report that engagement’s standard and level as found. We do not certify that it satisfies any specific filing regime, because that depends on the engagement’s own scope.
Your data, including the primary records you upload such as utility bills, payroll filings, or exports from your ERP or HR systems, is governed by a published Confidential Information Policy: need-to-know access, use only for your assessment, secure retention and disposal under the Terms and Conditions, and breach notification to you.