Methodology & Ranking Criteria

Every ranking on Machinery Dealer Index is produced by a fixed formula using only published, objective facts. We do not rank on opinion, reviews, star ratings, or payment. Claiming or upgrading a listing never changes a dealer's rank.

What "verified" means

A fact is marked verified when it was confirmed against a public source on the date shown ("verified July 2026"). Our checks are:

• Association membership — the dealer appears in the public member directory of the association shown (e.g. MDNA).
• Active-inventory count — the number of machines the dealer publicly lists, read from public listing pages on the date shown.
• Location & contact — street address, city, state and phone as published by the dealer or a public directory (association directory, trade-show exhibitor directory, or auction-platform directory).
• Years in business — derived from the founding year the dealer itself publishes (e.g. "established 1962" on its own website). Recorded only when the published year is unambiguous.

"Verified" is a dated, objective statement of what a public record showed. It is not an endorsement, a quality judgement, or a guarantee of any outcome.

How dealers are ranked

On every category, state, and brand page, dealers are ordered by this sequence of objective criteria, in order, each one breaking ties left by the one before:

1. Verified active-inventory count (higher first).
2. Association membership — members verified in a public association directory rank above non-members.
3. Years in business (longer first), where published.
4. Alphabetical by dealer name (final tie-break).

The word "best" on a page such as "best [brand] used machinery dealers" refers strictly to this ranking — the dealers listing the most verified inventory in that segment — and to nothing else.

Where the data comes from

Facts are compiled from public directory pages and public listing pages — association member directories, trade-show exhibitor directories, auction-platform auctioneer directories, and dealers' own websites — gathered politely (rate-limited, honoring each site's robots.txt, public pages only). We index facts — names, locations, membership, inventory counts, published founding years — which are not copyrightable. We do not copy descriptions, photographs, or other creative content.

How often it refreshes

Active-inventory counts and membership status are re-verified monthly, and each profile carries the date of its most recent verification. If a fact is wrong or out of date, any dealer can correct it for free on our correction page.