Metodologia
Questo documento descrive la metodologia generale di valutazione utilizzata da Trust Capital Index™ per calcolare le valutazioni della fiducia digitale. I pesi generali e le definizioni delle dimensioni sono pubblicati per garantire trasparenza. Gli algoritmi di valutazione dettagliati, le funzioni di normalizzazione e la logica di elaborazione dei segnali sono proprietari.
Formula del Punteggio Composito
Il Punteggio Composito TCI è una media ponderata di sei sotto-punteggi, ciascuno normalizzato su una scala 0–100:
TCI = 0.25 × Visibility + 0.25 × Authority + 0.15 × Sentiment + 0.15 × Consistency + 0.10 × Risk + 0.10 × AI Perception
I pesi sono fissi e non vengono regolati per entità. La formula viene applicata uniformemente a tutte le valutazioni indipendentemente dal tipo di entità, dimensione o settore.
Realistic Score Range
Every TCI score is presented with a ±2 point realistic range to reflect the inherent variability in digital reputation data. For example, a score of 72 is displayed as 70–74, acknowledging that minor fluctuations in source availability or timing can produce slight variations in the computed result.
Sei Dimensioni di Valutazione
Visibilità (25%)
Measures the extent to which an entity is discoverable across search engines, news outlets, and digital platforms. Factors include search result count, presence on authoritative domains, and breadth of coverage across distinct sources.
Autorità (25%)
Evaluates the quality and trustworthiness of sources where the entity appears. Key signals include Wikipedia presence and article quality, domain authority of linking sites, and references from established institutional sources.
Sentiment (15%)
Analyzes the aggregate sentiment distribution across public mentions. Computed using keyword-based sentiment analysis and, on higher tiers, AI-powered natural language processing. Measures the ratio of positive, neutral, and negative mentions.
Coerenza (15%)
Assesses the coherence of the entity's digital identity across sources. Evaluates name consistency, description alignment, and profile uniformity. Inconsistencies may indicate fragmented or contested identity representations.
Esposizione al Rischio (10%)
Identifies adverse signals including controversies, legal proceedings, regulatory actions, and negative media patterns. Risk keywords are matched against news articles and public records to quantify exposure to reputational risk categories.
Percezione IA (10%)
Measures how accurately AI language models represent the entity's public profile. This dimension assesses whether AI-generated descriptions align with verifiable public information, indicating the entity's digital footprint quality. Available on Strategic and Executive tiers.
Normalizzazione
I valori grezzi dei segnali da ciascuna fonte di dati vengono normalizzati su una scala comune 0–100 prima della ponderazione. La normalizzazione tiene conto delle differenze di grandezza tra le fonti di dati e garantisce che ciascuna dimensione contribuisca proporzionalmente al punteggio composito indipendentemente dall'intervallo dei dati sottostanti.
Le specifiche funzioni di normalizzazione, i parametri di confine e i coefficienti di scala utilizzati in questo processo fanno parte del modello di valutazione proprietario e non sono divulgati pubblicamente.
TCI Rating Scale (AAA–D)
Every numeric TCI score maps mechanically to a letter-grade rating on a 7-band scale. The mapping is deterministic — no analyst override or committee review applies.
| Score | Grade | Label | Classification |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85–100 | AAA | Prime Trust | Investment Grade |
| 75–84 | AA | High Trust | Investment Grade |
| 65–74 | A | Strong Trust | Investment Grade |
| 55–64 | BBB | Moderate Trust | Investment Grade |
| 45–54 | BB | Speculative Trust | Speculative Grade |
| 35–44 | B | Weak Trust | Speculative Grade |
| 20–34 | C | Very Weak Trust | Distressed |
| 0–19 | D | Default / No Trust | Distressed |
Outlook Indicator
Computed automatically from 90-day (or 6-month) score and risk deltas.
Score Stabilization
To prevent erratic score fluctuations caused by temporary data source variations, TCI employs a score stabilization mechanism that ensures ratings evolve gradually and reflect genuine reputational changes.
Maximum Drift Cap
Scores cannot shift by more than ±8 points within any 30-day rolling window. This prevents sudden, large swings from transient data anomalies while still allowing meaningful movement when genuine reputation changes occur.
Minimum Change Threshold
Score updates smaller than ±3 points are suppressed to avoid noise. Only changes that cross the 3-point minimum threshold are reflected in the published score, ensuring that reported movements represent substantive shifts in digital reputation.
Temporal Smoothing
When monitoring is active, historical data points are weighted to produce a smooth trend line. This gives stakeholders confidence that score movements are based on sustained patterns rather than momentary data fluctuations.
TCI Transparency Standard™
The TCI Transparency Standard™ is our framework for evaluating whether an entity's public profile provides sufficient data for a reliable trust rating. A profile is classified as Certified Transparent only when all four criteria are met simultaneously.
≥ 3 Public Sources
The entity must be referenced across at least three independent public data sources (search engines, news, social media, Wikipedia, AI profiles, or verified identity).
Consistent Digital Identity
The entity must maintain a consistent identity across at least two digital platforms, with a Consistency sub-score of 50 or higher.
≥ 90-Day History
At least 90 days must have elapsed between the first and most recent analysis, ensuring the rating reflects sustained patterns rather than a single snapshot.
Stability Score > 70
The entity's score volatility must remain low, with a Stability Score exceeding 70/100, calculated from the standard deviation of historical scores.
Transparency Levels: Certified Transparent (4/4 criteria met) · High Transparency (3/4) · Partial Transparency (2/4) · Low Transparency (0–1/4). The transparency level is displayed in each report and on embeddable badges.
Fonti dei Dati
Trust Capital Index™ utilizza esclusivamente dati pubblicamente disponibili da API ufficiali. Non effettuiamo web scraping di piattaforme ristrette.
Search Engines
TCI queries five search engines to build a comprehensive view of an entity's digital footprint, accounting for regional indexing differences and search market diversity.
DuckDuckGo
Privacy-focused search engine. Used as the primary search source for unbiased, non-personalized results across all tiers.
Google Search
World's largest search index. Country-aware queries via localized Google domains (e.g., google.de, google.co.jp) for region-specific results.
Yahoo Search
Secondary search engine providing additional coverage and cross-validation of search result counts and domain references.
Baidu Search
China's dominant search engine. Essential for entities with significant Chinese-market presence or cross-border operations.
Yandex Search
Russia and CIS region search engine. Provides coverage for entities operating in Eastern European and Central Asian markets.
News & Media
GDELT Project API
Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone. Used for news coverage analysis, sentiment distribution, and media volume tracking. Free, open access.
Google News RSS
Real-time news feed aggregation via Google News RSS endpoints. Provides recent media mentions, headline sentiment, and publication frequency analysis.
Reference & Verification
Wikipedia REST API
Official Wikimedia API with language-specific Wikipedia support. Used for entity verification, article quality assessment, and authority scoring. Queries localized Wikipedia editions based on entity country.
HTTP Link Auditing
Standard HTTP HEAD requests to verify link reachability and HTTPS adoption. No scraping — only checks HTTP response status.
Perplexity AI
AI-powered research engine used for enhanced entity profiling, social media discovery verification, and cross-referencing public information across sources.
OpenAI API (Optional)
Used on Strategic and Executive tiers for AI perception analysis, enhanced sentiment processing, executive summaries, and visual consistency analysis via GPT-4o.
Social Media Intelligence
TCI employs a 3-layer social media discovery system to identify and verify an entity's presence across 10+ social platforms including LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, GitHub, TikTok, Medium, and more.
Layer 1: Slug Probing
Systematic URL-pattern probing across major social platforms using common handle derivations from the entity's name. Verifies profile existence through HTTP response codes without requiring API access or authentication.
Layer 2: Cross-Platform Handle Matching
Once profiles are discovered on one platform, the system attempts to find matching handles across other platforms. This cross-referencing approach identifies consistent digital identities and improves confidence in profile attribution.
Layer 3: Perplexity AI Verification
AI-powered verification layer that uses Perplexity to confirm social media profile ownership, resolve ambiguous matches, and discover profiles that elude pattern-based detection. Provides the highest confidence level for social media attribution.
Visual Consistency Analysis
On higher tiers, TCI performs cross-platform visual identity comparison using GPT-4o vision capabilities. This analysis compares profile images, logos, and visual branding elements across discovered social media profiles and web presences.
The visual consistency engine captures profile images from each discovered platform and submits them for AI-powered comparison. The system evaluates whether the same person or brand is consistently represented, detecting mismatches that could indicate impersonation, outdated profiles, or fragmented digital identity. Results contribute to the Consistency sub-score dimension.
Country-Aware Analysis
TCI supports localized analysis for 40+ countries, adapting its data collection and processing pipeline to account for regional differences in digital presence patterns.
Localized Search Domains
Google queries are routed through country-specific domains (e.g., google.de for Germany, google.co.jp for Japan, google.com.br for Brazil) to capture region-relevant results that may not appear on google.com.
Language-Specific Wikipedia
Wikipedia queries target the appropriate language edition (e.g., de.wikipedia.org for German entities, ja.wikipedia.org for Japanese entities) to find articles that may only exist in the entity's native language.
Regional Search Engine Selection
Baidu is prioritized for Chinese entities, Yandex for Russian and CIS-region entities, and Yahoo for Japanese market coverage. This ensures that entities are evaluated using the search engines most relevant to their operating geography.
Limitazioni e Avvertenze
Temporal snapshot. Ratings reflect data available at the time of analysis. Digital reputations evolve, and a rating may not reflect subsequent events.
Public data only. The framework does not access private databases, social media accounts behind authentication, or proprietary datasets. Entities with limited public presence may receive lower scores due to data scarcity rather than negative reputation.
Not a credit rating. TCI ratings measure digital trust signals. They are not financial credit ratings, character assessments, or endorsements. They should not be used as the sole basis for any consequential decision.
Not legal or financial advice. The information provided by Trust Capital Index™ is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice, financial advice, or any professional recommendation. Users should consult qualified professionals for specific guidance.
Name ambiguity. Common names may produce results that conflate multiple individuals or entities. Users should review the underlying data sources to confirm relevance.
API dependencies. Rating accuracy depends on the availability and quality of data from third-party APIs. Service disruptions or data gaps may affect individual scores.
Avviso di Proprietà Intellettuale
Il modello di valutazione Trust Capital Index™, inclusi gli algoritmi di normalizzazione, la logica di elaborazione dei segnali, i metodi di calibrazione dei pesi e il motore di valutazione composita, è proprietario e costituisce proprietà intellettuale protetta.
La riproduzione, il reverse engineering o l'uso non autorizzato della metodologia di valutazione oltre ai pesi generali e alle definizioni delle dimensioni pubblicati in questa pagina è severamente proibito.
© 2026 Trust Capital Index™. All rights reserved. The general framework description is provided for transparency purposes only and does not constitute a license to replicate the proprietary scoring system.
Livelli di Valutazione
La profondità dell'analisi varia in base al livello. Tutti i livelli utilizzano la stessa formula di valutazione e ponderazione.
Preview
FreeComposite score, top risk indicators, and positive signals. Limited sub-score detail.
Starter
€19Basic report with composite score breakdown, key signals summary, and downloadable PDF. Ideal for quick personal reputation checks. 3-day access.
Core
€49Full sub-score breakdown with feature-level detail, 5 recommendations, and exportable report. Trust Badge eligibility (score ≥60). 7-day access.
Strategic
€149Includes AI Perception analysis, competitor comparison (up to 2), 30-day action plan, radar visualization, score monitoring (5 entities), and Trust Badge eligibility. 14-day access.
Executive
€299Extended competitor mapping (up to 5), AI stress-test narrative, 90-day strategic roadmap, score monitoring (20 entities), AI Trust Analyst, Trust Badge eligibility, priority processing. 30-day access.
Independent Verification Readiness
Our methodology is designed from the ground up for independent third-party verification. Every scoring decision is documented, reproducible, and auditable.
Published Formula
Complete scoring formula, dimensional weights, and composite calculation are publicly documented. No proprietary black-box components.
Full Source Attribution
Every data point in a TCI report is traceable to its original public source. Auditors can independently verify each input signal.
Reproducible Results
Given the same input data, the scoring engine produces identical results. Deterministic processing ensures audit consistency.
Audit-Ready Architecture
Immutable analysis snapshots, timestamped data collection, and comprehensive logging provide the audit trail required by Big 4 and regulatory reviewers.
Designed for Review by Leading Audit & Advisory Firms
TCI's methodology documentation, audit trails, and reproducible scoring engine are structured to meet the standards expected by global audit and advisory firms.
Methodology Whitepaper v1.0
By Octavian Badescu — Full technical whitepaper with formula, stability score, transparency standard, data architecture, and rating tiers.
The Digital Trust Capital Manifesto
By Octavian Badescu — Why trust is the new capital, and how TCI defines a new category for institutional decision-making.