Methodology & Verification

How we verify every planner

Every planner in our directory passes the same check we call Two-Source Verification: it must be cross-checked against at least 2 independent sources, show its reviews per platform, and carry no bought rankings. Today that’s 56 verified planners across 10 countries (last audited July 2026).

What is the Two-Source Verification check?

It’s the five-point test every listing must pass before it appears — and keep passing to stay. It exists so the directory is first-party, verifiable data: not a scraped list, and not an ad board.

1. 1
   It exists and is active. A real, currently-operating business — reached via its own website and at least one independent listing, not a dead page or a lead-gen middleman.
2. 2
   Two independent sources agree. Name, location, and service are cross-checked against at least 2 independent sources (its site plus platforms like Google Business Profile, Trustpilot, or an industry directory). Single-source-only planners are held back.
3. 3
   Reviews are shown per platform. We don’t blend one averaged star rating. Ratings are shown by platform so you can see where the reputation comes from — and judge it yourself.
4. 4
   Real, current contact details. A working way to reach them (site, email, or phone) that we could confirm at audit time.
5. 5
   No pay-to-play on rank. A planner can’t buy a listing, a rank, its score, or a rival’s removal. The only paid option (Premium) is a single fixed banner for planners already rated 4.0+, and it changes none of the above. See our Editorial Policy.

Why show reviews per platform instead of one score?

Because a single blended rating hides where trust comes from — and is easy to game. Ten reviews on one platform is a different signal from a hundred across three. We show the breakdown so you can weigh it, the way you would yourself.

How is a planner’s score set?

The score is aggregated from independent review sources — Trustpilot, Google reviews, Reddit, and other independent review sites where available — never from anything a planner tells us or pays us. Because it’s built from outside signals, a planner can’t inflate it from the inside. Ranking follows the verified score, top first.

The score also gates our one paid option: only planners rated 4.0+ may buy a banner in one fixed placement on their listing, and even then it cannot change their rank, their score, or how they’re verified. So money can put a well-rated planner’s banner in one fixed spot — it can never buy rank, score, or verification.

What gets a planner excluded or removed?

We hold back or drop a planner that we can’t confirm from a second independent source, that has gone inactive, whose contact details no longer work, or where reviews look manipulated. Exclusion is honest: a smaller verified list beats a bigger unverifiable one.

How often is it re-checked?

The directory is re-audited on a rolling basis and carries an audit date (currently July 2026). When a planner’s details change or a reader flags an issue, we re-verify that entry and, if needed, log a correction.

Who does the verifying?

The The whatisbabyshower Editorial Team, using the public sources above. The planners themselves are the real practitioner layer behind the site — a network of 56 independent professionals whose work we check, not a set of invented in-house “experts”.

Method last reviewed July 2026. Directory last audited July 2026.