1. What the AI Location Score is
The Locus AI Location Score is a 0-100 rating of how suitable a given address is for a specific business type. It is generated by the Locus scoring engine, which reviews a structured local-market brief covering demographics, competition, accessibility, demand, and market saturation, then returns a score with written rationale.
Scores above 70 suggest strong conditions. Scores between 40 and 70 indicate a workable but competitive or demographically mixed area. Scores below 40 flag material concerns that you should weigh against any qualitative signal you have from the ground.
2. What goes into the score
Every score is produced from a fixed data brief. The brief contains:
- Demographics - local population, primary age group, household composition, income indicators, and age distribution where available.
- Competitive landscape - direct competitors within the catchment, average competitor rating, quality distribution, and the people-per-business saturation ratio.
- Local business dynamics - market growth and churn indicators where the relevant local series is available.
- Accessibility - nearby transport, walkability, travel-time context, and neighbourhood amenity richness where available.
3. Signal layers
- Local business graph - nearby operators, ratings, review volume, categories, and direct-competitor matching within the chosen catchment.
- Official demographic releases - population, income, household, and age indicators matched to the searched area where coverage is available.
- Neighbourhood context - nearby amenities, transit stops, and access indicators used to understand how the area functions day to day.
- Demand and mobility signals - search demand, visit patterns, travel-time context, and catchment behaviour where supported.
- Locus enrichment - niche-aware competitor filtering, scoring logic, report generation, and decision notes tailored to the selected business.
4. How the score is computed
The structured brief is evaluated on a 1-10 internal scale, then displayed as a 0-100 score for readability. The report includes a summary, opportunities, and verification notes so the recommendation is useful without pretending to be more precise than the evidence allows.
The people-per-business ratio and the rating-quality gap are the primary saturation signals; age, household, income, access, and demand data inform whether the local market matches the target customer profile.
5. Limitations
We are deliberate about what the score is not:
- It is not a prediction of revenue. It is a directional rating of local conditions for a business type.
- It does not include rent, lease terms, or availability. Two addresses a block apart will often score identically and yet have very different take-home economics.
- It is decision support, not a substitute for diligence. You should still verify lease economics, unit visibility, frontage, planning constraints, and any market context you know from being on the ground.
- Some markets have richer evidence than others. Where a signal is unavailable, Locus keeps the recommendation cautious rather than filling the gap with false precision.
6. Report discipline
Every report separates the case for a location from what still needs verification. That structure keeps the output practical for founders, property advisors, and expansion teams who need a clear recommendation without hiding the assumptions behind it.
7. Feedback
If a score looks wrong for an address you know well, tell us. We use disputed scores to calibrate the scoring brief and sharpen the recommendation. Contact us or use the in-app feedback button.