How we rank agencies
Every agency in this directory is reviewed against the same five criteria and re-reviewed every quarter. This page explains exactly what those criteria are and how the rankings are produced, because a ranking you cannot interrogate is not worth reading.
The five criteria
Demonstrated client work
We look for work we can verify: named clients, described outcomes, or a reference call. Case studies with no client, no numbers and no contact behind them count for very little.
Technical depth
Whether the agency can build the thing or only assemble it. We look at error handling, documentation, testing and what happens when something breaks at 2am.
Specialization fit
A firm that does one category well outranks a generalist claiming all of them. Our listings say who each agency is for, which is only useful if the answer is narrow.
Pricing transparency
Agencies that state real numbers rank above agencies that will not. This is the single most common complaint from buyers in this market.
Responsiveness
We contact every agency as a prospective client would. How long they take to reply, and what they ask before quoting, both count.
Review cadence
Every listing is re-reviewed quarterly. The date on each ranking page and profile is the date of the most recent review, not the date the page was published. If an agency has changed materially between reviews, we update the listing sooner.
Independence
No listed agency is connected to this site's operator. Any agency can be added for free, and no agency can pay for a position in a ranking. Where a paid placement exists in future it will be labelled as such and will never affect rank order.
Every listing carries at least one drawback. This is a requirement of the format, not an editorial mood: a directory where every entry is excellent is a directory that is not telling you anything.
Corrections
If a listing is wrong, write to hello@aiagencyradar.com and we will check it. We correct factual errors on any listing, including our own assessments where the evidence supports it.