No fake reviews.
We do not aggregate, scrape, or invent reviews. There are no star ratings on PetGuides.au today. When we do ship reviews, they will require proof-of-visit.
Trust
How PetGuides handles your trust.
PetGuides.au refuses to publish fake reviews, fake star ratings, or invented social proof. Every listing carries an honest data-status label. Pet-owner enquiries are never resold. Sponsored placements are always labelled.
Commitments
Our 6 trust commitments
No lead resale.
Your enquiry goes direct to the business by email. We do not auction it to multiple businesses. We do not add a markup.
Data-status labels are visible on every listing.
Demo / Imported / Verified / Claimed / Partner - colour-coded so you always know what's verified and what's pending.
Sponsored slots are always labelled.
If a business pays for featured placement, that placement carries a 'Sponsored' label that matches the business name's font weight. We do not hide commerce.
Source provenance for every listing.
Every record links back to its source family, currently OpenStreetMap and LocalSearch public listing URLs. When we add new sources we publish them at /sources/.
Pet owners are free, forever.
Search, browse, enquire, and use every tool at no cost. We charge owners A$199/year only if they want a featured listing - see /pricing/.
Reviews
How our review system will work (when it ships)
- You contact the business through PetGuides - we record the enquiry timestamp.
- 7+ days after the enquiry, we email you a 1-question review prompt: "Did the visit go ahead?"
- If yes, you can leave a verified review. The review carries a "Verified visit" badge.
- Reviews are never weighted by ad spend. Sponsored businesses cannot bury negative reviews.
- We do not publish reviews until at least 5 verified visits exist for that business.
Until this ships, business pages display no star ratings rather than display fake ones.
Status
Listing status legend
| Status | Meaning | Where it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Demo | Sample data only - not a real business | Pre-launch placeholders only |
| Imported | Sourced from a public listing, not yet checked | OpenStreetMap or LocalSearch entries pending verify |
| Web-checked | Cross-referenced with the business's website | Confidence 40-69/100 |
| Verified | Web check passed at high confidence | Confidence >=70/100 |
| Claimed | The owner controls this listing | After successful claim flow |
| Partner | Commercial agreement in place | Always carries 'Partner' chip |
| Archived | Removed from public view | Hidden from search |
Refusals
What we do NOT do
- No fake "Trusted by 10,000 pet owners" claims
- No invented Google ratings copied to our pages
- No "verified" badge without a real verification step
- No upsell of pet insurance via undisclosed affiliate links
- No retargeting cookies on enquiry form pages
- No "claim this listing" extortion (the claim flow is free; featured placement is opt-in only)
Issues
Reporting an issue
Wrong listing details?
Use the "Claim listing" button on any business page - we route to a real human within 1-2 business days.
Claim a listingSpotted bad practice on PetGuides?
Email [email protected] with the page URL and a short note. We log every report and respond within 5 business days.
Email integrity