Method
How we test
Hands-on use, or the page says the write-up is researched. That is the method.
Reviews are based on software that has been paid for and used, plus two kinds of outside material that stay labeled: quotes from other agents, with names, and public reviews or vendor documents, with citations.
A page does not say outside agents tested a product unless their attributed quotes are on that page. We also do not publish a score, a winner, or a “best for” line before it is written.
The two labels
Tested hands-on The product has been used hands-on. For most paid tools, a finished review includes what was paid and a redacted proof screenshot.
Researched, not hands-on The write-up is from vendor pages, help docs, or someone else’s review. It can still be useful. It is not hands-on use.
Slydial and Slybroadcast
Both are on the tested list. They have been used, and there are no invoices. Reviews of those two tools do not get a cost or proof-screenshot slot. They get a note describing how they were used. Published prices, when a vendor prints them, can still be cited.
What a finished review contains
- Who the product is for, in plain words, once that is written.
- What was paid, with a redacted invoice, except Slydial and Slybroadcast.
- What it was used for, including where it failed.
- A verdict we will stand behind. Drafts do not invent one, and they do not get a star rating in the page schema.
- Named quotes, if another agent actually said something worth using.
A review that still needs a price, a screenshot, or a verdict stays a draft and stays out of search. A page that only compares published prices, and says so, can be indexed without those notes.
Quotes and public reviews
A quote from another agent needs a name and a brokerage. A photo is optional. It cannot be an anonymous “agents we talked to” line.
A G2 review, a Reddit thread, or a trade-publication review can be cited. The sentence has to say whose experience it is. It is not rewritten as hands-on use.
What this site will not do
- Call a product tested because a vendor sent a trial that was not used.
- Publish a price, a close rate, or a time saved that is not on an invoice, in the account, or in a cited source.
- Use a stock screenshot and imply it is the account under review.
- Recruit for a brokerage, or tie a tool discount to a brokerage change.
- Claim that other agents tested a product unless their named quotes are on that page.
OptimalMD is on the personal list of tools used outside this site. It is off this site. It is a healthcare membership, not agent software, and it is not reviewed here.
Hands-on list
Checked October 15, 2026. Adding a tool here is what allows the tested badge.