Anyone can scrape a map. The llama checks.
Every listing starts from OpenStreetMap or a reader submission. That gets you a name and a dot on the map — but map data goes stale: shops move, close, change hands, and nobody updates the pin. So we verify by hand, shop by shop.
A human found the shop's own website or active social page and confirmed three things against it: the address (right street, right city), the hours, and the specialty — what the shop is actually known for, in its own words. Only then does the badge go on.
Verification isn't decorative. So far it has caught six stores that OpenStreetMap had in the wrong city, and scrubbed more than a dozen dead links — expired domains, 404s, and one listing whose "website" was a phone number. When we can't confirm hours, the listing says "hours unverified — call ahead" instead of guessing. We never invent ratings.
30 Wisconsin shops verified and counting, with the Midwest states next in line. It's slow on purpose — that's the point.
Own a shop? Claim your listing — you'll get the badge treatment plus photos and hours you control, free while we're new. Love a shop? Nominate it and the llama will do the homework.
