How We Rank

1. Lists start with research

We use AI to research each list from sources on the web. That research gives us the items and the order a list starts in. Where we have them, the sources are shown on the list page.

Until readers have weighed in, that is the order you see. AI research can get things wrong, which is one reason reader votes matter.

2. Readers reshape the order

Items are ordered by a simple points total, recalculated after votes come in.

• Each upvote on an item is worth 1 point.
• Readers can also submit their own personal ranking. Their first pick earns 10 points, their second 9, and so on down to 1 for tenth place. Those points count double.
• The item with the most points moves to the top.

points = upvotes + 2 × (personal ranking points)

3. Breaking ties, and why age matters

When two items have the same points, we look at how readers voted on each. We compare the share of upvotes to downvotes, and we are careful with small numbers: an item with three upvotes and no downvotes does not automatically beat one with 200 upvotes and a few downvotes.

• Votes carry full weight for a list's first week, then fade gradually. They never drop below two-fifths of their original weight.
• An item that collects 10 or more votes in a single day gets a 1.5 times boost.
• An item with fewer than 5 votes keeps the position that the research gave it for this comparison.

4. Spotting mistakes

Each list page shows the date it was published, and the date it was last updated when that is meaningfully later. You can report a list, or a comment, using the report option, and we will take a look.

If something looks wrong, tell us. It is the quickest way to make a list better.