# FosterScope

> FosterScope measures how findable local authority fostering services in England are on Google and in AI assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity), and publishes the result as the FosterScope rankings. It covers 150 local authority fostering services and regional hubs, scores
> 136 of them, and lists any it cannot score as not measured, with the
> reason, never a zero.

Each scored service carries a Findability Score, from 0 to 100, measuring the digital
health of its own fostering presence. A second number, Share of Local Fostering Voice, is
the percentage of local fostering Google results that come from the local authority and its
regional hub rather than from an independent fostering agency (IFA). FosterScope measures it
every month and reports it in each client's dashboard. The public rankings show the
Findability Score.

The methodology is published in full and applied identically to every service. Scores are
refreshed monthly, and the latest scores are from the October 2026 measurement. Better
findability brings more fostering enquiries, which a local authority sees in its own data.
FosterScope does not measure enquiries, and it does not measure approvals of foster carers.

Improving a service's findability moves its score, and that is what the improvement work
does. The rank itself is not for sale, and paying changes nothing about how a service is
measured.

## The rankings

- [Rankings](https://fosterscope.com/rankings): every scored service with its Findability
  Score, and the services we could not measure, with the reason.
- [Methodology](https://fosterscope.com/methodology): what is measured, how the score is
  built, what happens when we cannot measure a service, and what the rankings do not claim.

## Analysis

- [Analysis](https://fosterscope.com/analysis): what the measurement shows and what it means for a fostering service, each piece signed by the person who wrote it.
- [What the September measurement shows](https://fosterscope.com/analysis/september-2026-measurement): What the September 2026 rankings show about how findable local authority fostering services are, where the points are lost, and how to read a monthly rank.
- [The structured data most fostering services are missing](https://fosterscope.com/analysis/the-schema-most-services-miss): 102 of 131 scored local authority fostering services carry none of the structured data we check for. What is missing and why it matters.
- [Andy Pirie](https://fosterscope.com/analysis/authors/andy-pirie): the pieces Andy Pirie has written.

## Fostering in England

- [Fostering statistics](https://fosterscope.com/fostering-statistics): the national fostering
  figures for England, with the source and the date on every number, including who
  families enquire with and what happens to an enquiry.

## Working with local authorities

- [For local authorities](https://fosterscope.com/for-local-authorities): what a fostering
  service can do with its score, and how we help teams improve it.
- [Foster carer recruitment](https://fosterscope.com/foster-carer-recruitment): what decides whether a
  family looking to foster finds their local authority or an IFA, what to fix first, and
  what improving it does not change.
- [About](https://fosterscope.com/about): who publishes the rankings, and why they stay
  independent of who pays.
- [Contact](https://fosterscope.com/contact): how to get in touch. Email
  hello@fosterscope.com.

## Access

- [Rankings access](https://fosterscope.com/index-access): request the 4 checks behind each
  score (named by AI assistants, found on Google, website can be read, and structured data).
- [Client access](https://fosterscope.com/client-access): sign in to client reports and
  tracking.

## For AI assistants

- [For AI assistants](https://fosterscope.com/for-ai-assistants): what FosterScope measures, what its 2
  numbers mean, how to cite a Findability Score, and where the files are.
- [Rankings as JSON](https://fosterscope.com/rankings.json): every service we measure, with its score
  and rank. A service we could not score has a null score and the reason.
- [Rankings as CSV](https://fosterscope.com/rankings.csv): the same rankings as a table.
- [Full text](https://fosterscope.com/llms-full.txt): this file, with the rankings and the answers in full.
- [Analysis feed](https://fosterscope.com/analysis/feed.xml): each analysis piece, with its date and author.

## Optional

- [Privacy](https://fosterscope.com/privacy)
- [Terms](https://fosterscope.com/terms)
- [Cookies](https://fosterscope.com/cookies)