How The Expert Index works

What the Index is

The Expert Index ranks coaches, consultants, speakers and advisory firms by evidence. Each category has one annual list, updated with a smaller "Rising" addition every quarter. Every listed person or firm has a profile page that shows the evidence we used.

No one can pay to be listed. Nominations are free. Paid features and verified profiles exist on this site and are labeled; they never affect a ranking.

The five criteria (methodology 1.0)

We score each candidate on five criteria. The weights are fixed for the whole edition and published here.

Criterion	Weight	What we look at
Client evidence	30 %	Documented client outcomes, named references, case studies with numbers, repeat engagements
Credentials and practice	20 %	Recognized accreditation (for coaches: ICF, EMCC, AC or equivalent), years in practice, supervision, continuing education
Body of work	20 %	Books, published methods, peer-reviewed or professional publications, teaching roles
Peer and market recognition	15 %	Awards from independent bodies, invitations from professional associations, positions in other independent rankings
Transparency	15 %	Public pricing or engagement models, clear scope of practice, ethics commitments, willingness to provide references

Scores are 0 to 100. A candidate needs a score of at least 60 and evidence in at least three of the five criteria to be listed.

Where the evidence comes from

We use, in this order of priority: documents the candidate provides during verification, primary sources (association registers, publisher records, court and company registers), independent reports and studies, professional media, and finally the candidate's own website and social profiles. A claim that we cannot check against at least one source outside the candidate's control is not scored.

Entries marked "public-record profile" were built from public sources only and have not yet gone through verification. The profile says so. Verification is free and starts with a nomination.

What we do not do

We do not rank people on follower counts, ad spend, or how often they appear in the press. We do not accept payment, gifts, or hospitality in connection with a listing. We do not publish negative assessments of people who are not listed; not being listed is not a judgment.

Independence

The Expert Index is published by Elevate Knowledge Network LLC. Editorial decisions are made by the editorial team named on the About page. Advertising, sponsored features and verified profiles are sold separately, labeled on the page, and have no access to the scoring.

Nominations, verification, appeals

Anyone can nominate a coach, consultant, speaker or firm, including themselves. We check the nomination against the criteria and ask the nominee for evidence. Listed experts can request corrections at any time. If you believe a ranking or a profile is wrong, write to [email protected]. We answer within 14 days and publish material corrections in the corrections log.

Versioning

This is methodology 1.0 (September 2026). Each list states the methodology version it was built with. When the criteria change, we publish the new version here and keep the old one available.