KINDEX: reputation you can actually verify.
Every business and every member on The KIN App carries a KINDEX score — a live, public number from 0 to 900 that moves with real, recent activity. Not a one-time average. Not something you can buy. Here's exactly how it works, and what keeps it honest.
A real leaderboard, not a static badge.
This is the actual KINDEX Spotlight card in the app — top businesses and top members, ranked live, with a real number attached. The names above are illustrative, not the real current standings.
That scrolling bar at the top? That's the point.
Every business and every member gets a live line in the ticker — a short symbol and a real KINDEX score, the same way a stock ticker shows a price. It's not decoration. It's proof the trust behind it is real, and it's built so you can watch your own number move.
Why a ticker at all? Because a raw trust score is easy to shrug off, and a stock symbol isn't. If you've ever pulled up a ticker to see how something's actually doing today — not the pitch, the real number — that's the same instinct this is built to satisfy. Your KINDEX isn't a badge you're handed once. It's a live standing you can watch, the same way anyone who follows the market watches theirs.
A short, anonymized handle — not your name
The moment you join, you get a 5-character KINDEX ticker symbol, generated for you to start — and it's yours to change any time from your profile. Pick your own 4-5 character symbol so it's one you'll actually recognize scrolling by, not one we picked. It's still anonymized either way — nobody sees it and knows who you are.
Real activity only — read the same way a stock is
The score behind your symbol only changes when something genuine happens — a verified visit, a review, a real connection. Green means it's climbing. No arrow means nothing's moved yet — never a guess standing in for data we don't have.
Not just when you happen to check — recalculated daily
Every KINDEX score on The KIN App — businesses and members alike — recomputes overnight, every single night. What's scrolling by this morning reflects last night's real activity, not a number frozen from whenever you last opened the app. Consistent effort compounds the same way it does anywhere else that keeps score.
Try your own symbol →See what your own quote page looks like →
Reviews go stale. KINDEX doesn't.
Five stars from three years ago tell you almost nothing about a business today. KINDEX is built around ongoing, recent, real engagement instead of a number frozen the day it was set.
A star average
- Set once, barely moves again
- Anyone can leave a rating — no proof they were ever there
- One bad actor with five fake reviews can swing it
- Says nothing about whether a business is active right now
A living score
- Recomputed continuously off recent activity
- Only counts a review from someone who actually checked in
- One person's opinion can't be repeated to inflate a score
- Reflects who's genuinely engaged with the community lately
If it's real engagement, it moves KINDEX.
Not just reviews and check-ins. A verified visit, a call, a text, an email, showing up to a Community Event, backing another member's post in the Exchange — every genuine connection between a member and a business is part of the same living score. That's true today, and it stays true as new ways to connect get added.
What builds your Supporter score
- 📍 A verified check-in — earns KIN Quest points and unlocks leaving a review
- ⭐ Leaving a review after that check-in — this is what actually moves your score
- 📞 Calling, texting, or emailing a business straight from the app
- 🗺️ Getting directions and following through on a visit
- 🎟️ Attending a Community Event
- 🤝 Posting, sharing, or backing someone else's post in the Exchange
What builds your Business KINDEX
- 🙌 Members leaving real reviews after a genuine, verified check-in
- 📣 Hosting a Community Event people actually attend
- 🧭 Being part of a KIN Trail members complete
- 💬 Members calling, texting, and emailing in because they're genuinely interested
- 🛍️ Real activity on the Exchange, the Marketplace, and every feature still growing alongside them
Genuine engagement builds it. Going quiet doesn't. KINDEX rewards a business and a member who keep showing up for each other — it isn't a number you set once and forget.
KINDEX Co-Pilot tells you exactly what to do next.
Open your own KINDEX page and you don't just see the score — you see whether last night's update moved it, how far you are from your next band, and the fastest real ways to move it further. No guessing what counts.
Real movement, explained honestly
- 📉 If your score dipped from a quiet stretch, it says so — and what stops the slide
- 📈 If you're active with no decay, it says that too
- 🎯 Always shows exactly how many points to your next band
Ranked by real point value, not a guess
- 🧭 Complete a KIN Trail — the single biggest one-time boost
- 📤 Share the app with a friend
- 📞 Call, text, or get directions from a business profile
Every number on the card is real. No AI guessing at advice — it's read straight from the same scoring weights and nightly recompute that actually move your KINDEX, so what it tells you to do is exactly what will work.
Three bands, everywhere KINDEX shows up.
The same 0–900 scale, read the same way across the app, the Spotlight leaderboard, and this site.
Building
New, or coming back from a quiet stretch. For a business, this is exactly where a Power Hour or Boost campaign helps most. For a member, it just means there's more verified activity ahead to earn.
Growing
Real, steady engagement — verified reviews and completed KIN Trails building up over time, for businesses and members alike. (A single check-in unlocks the ability to leave a review and earns scavenger points toward KIN Quest rewards - it's the review or trail completion after it that actually moves KINDEX.)
Thriving
Strong, sustained community trust the whole app can see, ranked in the open on the Spotlight leaderboard.
A public number invites cheating. We built against it.
Every safeguard below is enforced by the system itself — none of it is a policy we're just asking people to follow.
No review without a real visit
A rating only counts toward a business's score if that member had a genuine, verified check-in there. A review with no visit behind it earns nothing.
Movement is rate-limited
Scores can't spike overnight, no matter how big a single day was. Real momentum reads as a climbing trend — the way trust actually builds.
Owners are excluded from their own score
A business owner's own review of their own business never counts, even if they technically checked in. You can't be your own best customer.
Going quiet costs real points — so does an upheld report
A listing that's gone stale — no updates, no engagement — drifts down, not just stalls. And a report our team actually upholds carries a real, direct penalty. Neither is cosmetic; both move the same score everyone else sees.
A score for businesses. A score for the community behind them.
The same trust system, answering two different questions.
Business KINDEX
Reflects whether a business is genuinely earning member trust right now — built from verified reviews and real, ongoing engagement from the businesses that show up for their community too.
Community Supporter score
Reflects how genuinely engaged a member is — real visits, reviews, and community activity. It's a reputation you build by showing up, not a badge you unlock by spending.
No pay-to-win, on either side. A business's subscription plan changes what visibility tools it can use — Boost, Power Hour, premium map placement. None of that touches the KINDEX score's math directly. It's still earned the same way for everyone.
About how KINDEX works.
Can a business or member pay to raise their KINDEX score?
No. A business's subscription plan changes what visibility tools it can use — Boost, Power Hour, premium map placement — but none of that touches the KINDEX score's math directly. It's earned the same way for everyone, on both the business and member side.
How often does my KINDEX score update?
Every KINDEX score — businesses and members alike — recomputes overnight, every single night. What's showing this morning reflects last night's real activity, not a number frozen from whenever you last opened the app.
What are the three KINDEX bands?
Building (0–299) is new or coming back from a quiet stretch. Growing (300–599) is real, steady engagement building up over time. Thriving (600–900) is strong, sustained community trust, ranked in the open on the Spotlight leaderboard.
Does my KINDEX ticker symbol reveal who I am?
No — it's a short, anonymized handle, not your name. You get one automatically when you join, and you can change it to your own 4-5 character symbol any time from your profile. Either way, nobody sees it and knows who you are.
What stops someone from gaming their own KINDEX score?
Several enforced guarantees, not just a policy: a rating only counts if the member had a genuine, verified check-in first; scores can't spike overnight no matter how big a single day was; and a business owner's own review of their own business never counts, even if they technically checked in.
What happens to my score if I go quiet, or if someone reports me?
A listing that's gone stale — no updates, no engagement — drifts down over time, not just stalls. And a report our team actually upholds carries a real, direct penalty. Neither is cosmetic; both move the same score everyone else sees.
What's the difference between Business KINDEX and the Community Supporter score?
Business KINDEX reflects whether a business is genuinely earning member trust right now, built from verified reviews and ongoing engagement. The Community Supporter score reflects how genuinely engaged a member is — real visits, reviews, and community activity, not a badge unlocked by spending.
Check today's KINDEX Spotlight.
The live, public leaderboard of top-earning businesses and members — right on the homepage.
See the Spotlight →