Methodology & data sources

How Seoulchart gathers review data and calculates rankings — published in full.

Data sources

• Google — We periodically collect each clinic's rating and total review count via the Google Places API. We do not collect review text.
• Naver — Not collected. Naver offers no official review API and actively blocks automated access, so lawful collection is not possible. Naver reviews also face manipulation concerns. Rankings therefore use Google data only; you can check Naver reviews yourself via the N button on each row.

Refresh cadence

Google metrics refresh daily on a rotating basis (oldest first) to control API cost. Figures reflect the time of collection; use the verification links to see live values.

Scoring formula

A 0–100 score combining three signals. Review volume uses logarithmic damping so very large clinics don't dominate.

• Review volume 50% — Google review count (log-normalised)
• Rating 30% — Google rating mapped from 3.0–5.0 to 0–1 (neutral if absent)
• Recency 20% — new reviews in the last 7 days. Until a 7-day baseline exists this shows “Measuring”, and the score is re-normalised over the remaining signals so a missing value doesn't unfairly depress it.

We currently run on a single (Google) source, so single-source is the norm and no confidence penalty is applied (cross-source adjustment is enabled once a second source such as Naver goes live). Clinics marked AD are paid advertising shown in a separate area apart from the ranking and are never factored into rank or score — paying does not improve ranking.

Inclusion criteria

Only clinics with at least one public review appear in rankings. Clinics without review data appear automatically once collected.

How procedure pages are sorted

Procedure pages filter to clinics offering that procedure, then sort by the clinic's overall review metrics, because Google does not publish per-procedure review counts. Procedure availability is classified by specialty; corrections are welcome.

Limitations

These rankings are reference information based on public review metrics. They do not guarantee medical quality, outcomes or safety. Always combine them with a specialist consultation and your own circumstances.