Playbook: Design a verdict-score rubric you can defend

Playbook: Design a verdict-score rubric you can defend

A score out of 10 with no methodology is the #1 thing that makes a review look fake to readers AND to AI evaluators. Build a real rubric once, reuse forever.

— Pick 4-6 weighted criteria PER CATEGORY. A VPN review weights speed and logging; a kitchen-gadget review weights durability and cleanup. Don't reuse one rubric across niches.
— Assign explicit weights that sum to 100%. "Value 30%, ease 25%..." — show the math on the page.
— Score each criterion 1-10, then compute the weighted average. No rounding up to make a 7.8 look like an 8.
— Publish the rubric on a standalone "how we rate" page and link every review to it.
— Recalculate when products update; a frozen 2-year-old score erodes trust.

Gotcha: if every product on your "best" list scores 8.5-9.5, your scale is broken and readers know it. Let losers score 5. The spread IS the credibility.

Bottom line: weighted criteria summing to 100%, niche-specific weights, visible math, a real low score for the dud. A rubric where everyone wins fools no one.