Research methodology
The full, detailed version of how PROJECT ARGOS researches, verifies, and corrects the partner network and country coverage.
Verification categories
Every record — partner or country — carries exactly one of these labels, applied consistently across every research wave:
| Verified | Confirmed via a real, cited source this research pass — company registry, official website, named contacts, industry-body membership. |
|---|---|
| Needs confirmation | Found via research but conflicting or unconfirmed across sources — flagged, not presented as settled fact. |
| Corrected out | An original candidate turned out not to correspond to a real, signable entity. Kept on record with the correction and, where possible, a replacement candidate — never silently dropped. |
| Not yet researched | On the target list (spec.md §1.7) but no wave has run yet — shown honestly as pending, not filled with placeholder content. |
Source use
Each research pass uses live web search and direct source verification (official sites,
company registries, review platforms) rather than relying on general background knowledge.
Every partner record's source_count field and linked research file
(partners/wave*.md in the underlying research archive) show exactly how many
independent sources informed that record.
Research waves
Research happens in controlled waves — one country or partner tier at a time — rather than attempting the entire target list at once, specifically to avoid the fabrication risk that comes with trying to cover too much ground too fast. As of this page: 4 waves complete, 33 companies researched, 3 countries with partner-level data.
Corrections
When a candidate turns out not to be real (a name that doesn't correspond to an actual signable business, a domain collision with an unrelated company, etc.), it is marked corrected out with the reasoning documented — never quietly removed from the record, and never allowed to appear as a normal listing anywhere on this site, including by direct URL.
Recommendation methodology
Reliability ratings (1-5 stars) reflect a documented, non-arbitrary assessment: legal entity verification, years in operation, review evidence where found, ownership/franchise structure, and any flags (complaints, ownership changes, unresolved discrepancies). The reasoning is stated on every partner profile, not just the number.
Limitations
This is a real, honest list of current gaps — not hidden:
- No country-level intelligence (taxes, visas, healthcare, cost of living) has been independently verified for any country yet — only partner/agency-level research exists so far.
- No partner has been contacted for outreach yet — every listing is research-stage, not a confirmed signed relationship.
- Review data, where cited, is often search-summarized rather than independently re-confirmed on the original platform — this is noted per-record where it applies.
- Coverage is currently limited to the countries and tiers researched so far — see the country index for what's covered and what's queued.