What Earwax Finder is
Earwax Finder is an independent comparison directory. It is not a clinic, regulator or professional register and does not decide whether a treatment is suitable for an individual patient.
How provider facts are checked
Provider-owned service, pricing, location and booking pages are the preferred sources. Relevant official registers can support specific professional claims. Commercial directories, booking platforms and map results can be used for discovery, but are not treated as sufficient proof by themselves.
Provider-sourced records
Non-duplicate discovery leads can appear automatically after passing evidence, non-pharmacy, contact and location checks. They are labelled provider-sourced until enhanced editorial review is complete. These records do not make unsupported price or treatment claims. Individual provider-sourced profiles stay out of the XML sitemap and are marked noindex until enhanced editorial review is complete. Visitors must confirm the provider, location, service and price directly.
When location pages are indexed
A place page is eligible for the search sitemap only when the directory has at least one enhanced local listing or at least two local provider-sourced listings. Pages that only show nearby clinics remain accessible to visitors, but are marked noindex and excluded from the sitemap until stronger local evidence exists. Search demand can decide which evidence-backed places are released first; it cannot create a page without provider evidence.
Who writes guides and service pages
General guides and service explainers are written by the Earwax Finder editorial team from the sources named on each page. We prioritise NHS, NICE and other official sources for clinical background. These pages do not claim clinical review unless an identified reviewer has actually reviewed the material.
How default ranking works
The recommended order uses editorial quality signals only. Evidence tied to the individual branch is weighted above evidence found only on a group or parent-provider page. A direct clinic email or branch-level booking route is preferred over a group switchboard because it gives a patient a usable contact path.
Repeated branches from Boots Hearingcare, The Hearing Care Partnership, Audika and Amplify receive a soft brand-duplicate demotion when evidence and contact quality are otherwise comparable. There is no hard cap: a well-evidenced branch can still appear above a weaker independent listing. This is a quality and diversity rule, not a commercial one.
Evidence and freshness
Profiles show when material facts were checked. Prices, availability, opening hours and review counts can change, so visitors should confirm them with the provider before booking. Unsupported facts are omitted rather than inferred.
Provider updates
A provider can claim a profile and propose corrections. Ownership is checked before account access is granted. Material edits are reviewed against a supporting source before they alter the public profile.
Paid listings and offers
Payment does not allow a provider to change independent evidence, professional-register information or safety guidance. Any sponsored placement or paid offer must be clearly labelled and must not be presented as an editorial ranking.
Subscriptions, paid lead access and claim status are not ranking inputs. Earwax Finder does not currently sell editorial placement. If a paid placement is introduced later, it will be visibly labelled as sponsored and kept separate from the recommended order.
Corrections
Providers and visitors can use the correction route to identify incorrect, duplicated, moved, closed or privacy-sensitive information. Corrections should include a provider-owned or official supporting source wherever possible.