One
The grader cannot be the vendor.
Agencies may do excellent work, but a visibility number they grade themselves is still a claim. Lodestar Index exists as the outside record.
Pilot edition · Chicago HVAC · August 2026
36 of 58 Chicago HVAC businesses never get named by AI.
Lodestar Index is the independent monthly scoreboard for one question: when someone asks AI who to hire, does it say your name?
22 named
36 never named
New edition monthly. DRAFT/noindex stays on until the full methodology cycle is fielded.
Live mini-board from the edition CSV
Top named rows, then the first never-named rows. The full roster has all 58 businesses.
1Hero Airmyheroair.com5✓ Named
2Eco Temp HVACecotemphvac.com11✓ Named
3Oasis Plumbing, Heating & Coolingoasisheating.com9✓ Named
4Browns Heating & Coolingbrownshvac.net3✓ Named
...and 36 shops no AI ever names
14Around the Town Heating & Coolingaroundthetownhvac.com0Never named
15Compass Heating and Air Conditioningcompassheatingandair.com0Never named
16DLS HVAC & Appliancesdlshvac.com0Never named
Email me if this shop moves
Free move list.
Enter your email and confirm the link. We only add you after that double opt-in. You’ll hear when this shop’s stamp changes — rank, visibility, or when AI starts naming it. No alert blast this week.
Weekly move digest
Free weekly rollup of who got named and who shifted on the Chicago HVAC board. Not “email me if this shop moves” — that’s a different list for one shop. Soft launch (DRAFT). Payment never touches the grade.
Digest = the whole board, once a week. Shop-moved = one shop, when it moves.
My market isn't Chicago HVAC
The pilot is one market on purpose. Tell us your trade and city and you'll be first to know when Lodestar Stamp covers it — an honest waitlist, no other email. Double opt-in. Payment never touches the grade.
We publish coverage by demand. Your request is the signal that picks the next market.
Charter: payment never touches the grade. Scores are free and public for every business, and corrections require evidence or the next reproducible edition run.
What can be bought is notification: a monthly readout of what changed, why it changed, and which public signals need a recheck.
The manifesto, cut to the essentials
Two
The whole market gets scored.
Every business in the covered market is indexed whether it asked or paid. You cannot buy in, buy out, or buy a better row.
Three
Watching is not ranking.
Paid plans notify you when the public record moves. They never move the public record for you.
Pricing is for watching, not placement
Owner watching
One business, one monthly alert when visibility or machine-readiness moves.
$149 / month
- Monthly delta email
- Human domain confirmation
- Scorecard remains free
Agency book
Independent watchlist for the clients whose AI visibility you need to defend.
$500–1,500 / month
- Book-level movement report
- Client-ready proof trail
- No influence over ranks
Public Index
The scoreboard, scorecards, data files, and method stay open for the market.
$0 / always
- Search every listed business
- Open the full market board
- Review methodology
Never for sale: ranking, placement, leads, or a private override. If money could change the result, the result would not be a trust index.