Source Trust Atlas — The Cartographer
Knowledge skill: which consumer review sources to trust, per category, as of 2026 — and how that trust decays. Grounded in research/consumer-research-landscape-2026.md.
Description
Consumer review territory is adversarial. Affiliate SEO farms dominate generic search results, AI-generated reviews grow ~80% month-over-month, and merchants now optimize content specifically to manipulate LLM recommendations. This atlas encodes the defensive map: a four-tier trust model, per-category source routing, freshness decay rules, and site-scoped search strategy.
Core Content
The Four Tiers
| Tier |
Who |
Why |
Weight |
| 1 — Independent testers |
Consumer Reports, Rtings, Which? (UK), America's Test Kitchen, Project Farm |
Financial independence (no ads), self-funded/anonymous product purchases, no free samples, published methodology |
Primary evidence |
| 2 — Independent but affiliate-funded |
Wirecutter, Good Housekeeping Institute, TechRadar, CNET |
Real testing, editorial independence, but affiliate revenue and unpublished rubrics |
Strong corroboration |
| 3 — Crowd sources |
Reddit, YouTube reviewers, Capterra |
Genuine expertise coexists with documented astroturfing and unverifiable sponsorship |
Hypothesis generation; verify before weighting |
| 4 — Adversarial content |
"Best X 2026" affiliate SEO sites, AI content farms, manufacturer/merchant copy |
Documented spam takeover of product search; AI-SEO gaming tools target LLM recommendations |
Never evidence. Treat as claims to verify |
Full roster with rationale, affiliate-disclosure status, and known caveats: references/tier-tables.md.
Search Strategy
- Never run generic "best X" queries — Google product search is documented as degraded (academic study; ~10% accuracy drop; SEO spam takeover).
- Site-scope every scan query to Tier 1-2 sources for the category, e.g.
site:rtings.com robot vacuum, site:consumerreports.org OR site:wirecutter.com <product>.
- Reddit/YouTube only as a second pass for failure modes and long-term ownership reports — with astroturf checks (account age, posting pattern, cross-thread repetition) before treating any thread as evidence.
- Manufacturer/merchant pages: specs only, every claim tagged unverified until triangulated.
Category Routing
| Category |
First |
Then |
Caution |
| TVs / audio / monitors / peripherals |
Rtings |
Consumer Reports, Wirecutter |
enthusiast-forum methodology disputes exist |
| Major appliances |
Consumer Reports |
Which?, Wirecutter |
durability data matters most |
| Kitchen gear |
America's Test Kitchen |
Wirecutter, GH Institute |
ATK scope is narrow but gold |
| Tools / outdoor / hardware |
Project Farm |
Consumer Reports, Wirecutter |
YouTube comparisons vary in rigor |
| Software / SaaS |
Capterra + TechRadar |
recent hands-on reviews |
fastest decay; check test dates |
| Services (trades, repair, local) |
No institutional source |
Reddit + local reviews with astroturf protocol; word-of-mouth |
weakest category — flag low confidence |
Extended routing with per-category query templates: references/category-routing.md.
Freshness Decay
Review credibility decays. Apply these horizons when weighing evidence and stamping briefs:
| Source tier / type |
Trust horizon |
| Tier 1 reviews |
~12 months |
| Tier 2 reviews |
~6 months |
| Software/SaaS reviews (any tier) |
~3 months |
| Prices and availability |
days — always date-stamp, never carry forward |
Every brief must state when its evidence goes stale. This atlas decays too: tiers are a 2026 snapshot — during deep runs, re-verify that a source's independence model still holds (ownership changes, ad-model shifts) before leaning on its tier.
Diagnostic Cues
- Source not in the atlas? Score it on the Tier-1 traits: independent funding, self-purchased products, published methodology, disclosed revenue. Two or fewer → treat as Tier 3 at best.
- A "review" page with affiliate links on every product name, no test photos, and a current-year title is Tier 4 regardless of search rank.
- FTC fake-review rule (effective Oct 2024): documented violations by a seller are a standing reputational red flag.
Common Mistakes
- Treating repetition across Tier 3/4 sources as corroboration — affiliate farms syndicate the same content.
- Using a 2-year-old Tier 1 review for a product line that has since been revised.
- Letting one charismatic YouTube review outweigh instrumented Tier 1 testing.
- Trusting merchant spec sheets as evidence rather than claims.
Related Skills
emptor consumes this atlas in its source-plan phase; product-verifier and review-forensics apply it when qualifying evidence.source-triangulator (research domain) handles general source independence; this atlas adds the consumer-specific tier map.
Learn Block
After internalizing this atlas, learn review-forensics — the per-product authenticity check applied once candidate reviews are found.
1---2name: source-trust-atlas3description: Maps consumer review sources to trust tiers and routes product categories to the sources worth searching. Use when planning where to research a purchase, deciding how much weight a review source deserves, or checking whether a review is too stale to trust. Called by emptor during the source-plan phase; also useful standalone when the user asks "which review sites can I trust for X?".4---56# Source Trust Atlas — The Cartographer78Knowledge skill: which consumer review sources to trust, per category, as of 2026 — and how that trust decays. Grounded in `research/consumer-research-landscape-2026.md`.910## Description1112Consumer review territory is adversarial. Affiliate SEO farms dominate generic search results, AI-generated reviews grow ~80% month-over-month, and merchants now optimize content specifically to manipulate LLM recommendations. This atlas encodes the defensive map: a four-tier trust model, per-category source routing, freshness decay rules, and site-scoped search strategy.1314## Core Content1516### The Four Tiers1718| Tier | Who | Why | Weight |19|---|---|---|---|20| **1 — Independent testers** | Consumer Reports, Rtings, Which? (UK), America's Test Kitchen, Project Farm | Financial independence (no ads), self-funded/anonymous product purchases, no free samples, published methodology | Primary evidence |21| **2 — Independent but affiliate-funded** | Wirecutter, Good Housekeeping Institute, TechRadar, CNET | Real testing, editorial independence, but affiliate revenue and unpublished rubrics | Strong corroboration |22| **3 — Crowd sources** | Reddit, YouTube reviewers, Capterra | Genuine expertise coexists with documented astroturfing and unverifiable sponsorship | Hypothesis generation; verify before weighting |23| **4 — Adversarial content** | "Best X 2026" affiliate SEO sites, AI content farms, manufacturer/merchant copy | Documented spam takeover of product search; AI-SEO gaming tools target LLM recommendations | Never evidence. Treat as claims to verify |2425Full roster with rationale, affiliate-disclosure status, and known caveats: `references/tier-tables.md`.2627### Search Strategy28291. **Never run generic "best X" queries** — Google product search is documented as degraded (academic study; ~10% accuracy drop; SEO spam takeover).302. **Site-scope every scan query** to Tier 1-2 sources for the category, e.g. `site:rtings.com robot vacuum`, `site:consumerreports.org OR site:wirecutter.com <product>`.313. **Reddit/YouTube only as a second pass** for failure modes and long-term ownership reports — with astroturf checks (account age, posting pattern, cross-thread repetition) before treating any thread as evidence.324. **Manufacturer/merchant pages**: specs only, every claim tagged unverified until triangulated.3334### Category Routing3536| Category | First | Then | Caution |37|---|---|---|---|38| TVs / audio / monitors / peripherals | Rtings | Consumer Reports, Wirecutter | enthusiast-forum methodology disputes exist |39| Major appliances | Consumer Reports | Which?, Wirecutter | durability data matters most |40| Kitchen gear | America's Test Kitchen | Wirecutter, GH Institute | ATK scope is narrow but gold |41| Tools / outdoor / hardware | Project Farm | Consumer Reports, Wirecutter | YouTube comparisons vary in rigor |42| Software / SaaS | Capterra + TechRadar | recent hands-on reviews | fastest decay; check test dates |43| Services (trades, repair, local) | No institutional source | Reddit + local reviews with astroturf protocol; word-of-mouth | weakest category — flag low confidence |4445Extended routing with per-category query templates: `references/category-routing.md`.4647### Freshness Decay4849Review credibility decays. Apply these horizons when weighing evidence and stamping briefs:5051| Source tier / type | Trust horizon |52|---|---|53| Tier 1 reviews | ~12 months |54| Tier 2 reviews | ~6 months |55| Software/SaaS reviews (any tier) | ~3 months |56| Prices and availability | days — always date-stamp, never carry forward |5758Every brief must state when its evidence goes stale. **This atlas decays too**: tiers are a 2026 snapshot — during `deep` runs, re-verify that a source's independence model still holds (ownership changes, ad-model shifts) before leaning on its tier.5960## Diagnostic Cues6162- Source not in the atlas? Score it on the Tier-1 traits: independent funding, self-purchased products, published methodology, disclosed revenue. Two or fewer → treat as Tier 3 at best.63- A "review" page with affiliate links on every product name, no test photos, and a current-year title is Tier 4 regardless of search rank.64- FTC fake-review rule (effective Oct 2024): documented violations by a seller are a standing reputational red flag.6566## Common Mistakes67681. Treating repetition across Tier 3/4 sources as corroboration — affiliate farms syndicate the same content.692. Using a 2-year-old Tier 1 review for a product line that has since been revised.703. Letting one charismatic YouTube review outweigh instrumented Tier 1 testing.714. Trusting merchant spec sheets as evidence rather than claims.7273## Related Skills7475- `emptor` consumes this atlas in its source-plan phase; `product-verifier` and `review-forensics` apply it when qualifying evidence.76- `source-triangulator` (research domain) handles general source independence; this atlas adds the consumer-specific tier map.7778## Learn Block7980After internalizing this atlas, learn `review-forensics` — the per-product authenticity check applied once candidate reviews are found.
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