Paid Placement Disclosure

Last updated: 16 May 2026

Some businesses on HelpSorted pay us for additional features. This page sets out exactly what they get, what they don't get, and what stays the same no matter how much a business pays.

1. The pricing tiers

HelpSorted operates on a tiered subscription model for service providers. The current ladder:

• Free - $0/month. Basic directory listing, customer enquiries via callback form + social deflectors, public reviews, weekly performance digest.
• Reply - $54/month. Adds masked HelpSorted SMS number, instant SMS alerts on every lead, auto-reply, saved templates.
• Review - $84/month. Adds Verified-ABN badge surfacing, top-of-category placement, auto-review SMS after each job.
• Refer - $199/month. Adds unlimited conversations, multi-suburb coverage, team inbox with seat add-ons.
• Studio - $299/month. Adds a custom .com.au website, programmatic suburb pages, monthly AI content refresh.

See the full breakdown on /get-found.

2. What paid placement DOES change

• Search ranking on category-suburb pages. Paid-tier listings rank above Free-tier listings by default. Within paid tiers, higher tiers rank above lower tiers, with rating + reply time as secondary tie-breakers.
• Featured badge. Base tier and above show a small "Featured" label on listing cards.
• Top-of-category placement. Core tier and above are eligible for the top result slot in their primary category-suburb.
• Customer can sort by rating or reply time. Users can override the default ranking using the sort controls. When sorted by rating or fastest reply, the listing order changes - paid placement does not override these explicit user choices.

3. What paid placement DOES NOT change

The following are not influenced by payment at any tier:

• ABN Verified badge. Awarded by a server-side check against the Australian Business Register. Cannot be bought.
• Insurance badge. Self-declared by the provider. Cannot be bought, and we may ask for evidence at random.
• Reviews. Public reviews are written by real customers who used the platform. We do not pay for reviews, do not fabricate reviews, and do not remove negative reviews unless they violate our review policy (defamation, off-topic, identifiably fake). See Review Disclosure.
• Reply time stats. Reply time is measured from real conversation data. Paying more does not improve your displayed reply time - you have to actually reply faster.
• Dispute outcomes. If a customer raises a dispute, we follow the same process regardless of the provider's tier. See Disputes.

4. How we label paid placements

Featured listings carry a visible "Featured" badge. Top-of-category slots may carry a "Top result" label. These labels are intentional - we want you to know what is paid placement and what is organic ranking.

We do not bury this disclosure in fine print, and we do not use ambiguous language like "Recommended" or "Sponsored" that could be misread.

5. ACCC reference

This disclosure is provided in line with ACCC guidance on transparency for online platforms and paid search ranking. If you are concerned about how a particular listing is being promoted, contact us at hello@helpsorted.com.au or the ACCC directly at accc.gov.au.

We will update this page if we change how ranking works. Past versions are available on request.