Recognition Use Guide
Formal guidance for the accurate and authorized use of The Economy Rankings distinctions
The Economy Rankings publishes sector-specific rankings, reviews, and institutional recognition lists across capital markets, advisory services, healthcare, private wealth, and related professional industries. Institutions included in a The Economy Rankings list may wish to reference their recognition in corporate communications, websites, investor materials, media announcements, client presentations, or internal display materials. This guide explains how recognized institutions may use The Economy Rankings distinctions in a clear, accurate, and proportionate manner.
This guide explains how recognized institutions may refer to their inclusion accurately, when simple factual citation is permitted, and when formal recognition-materials licensing is required. Recognition by The Economy Rankings does not constitute a financial rating, regulatory approval, product endorsement, certification, or universal assessment of an institution. It reflects inclusion in a published ranking or recognition list within a specific category and year.
What the recognition means
Recognition by The Economy Rankings indicates that a firm or institution has been included in a published category-specific ranking following editorial review. Rankings are designed to create structured market references for professional audiences, especially in specialist sectors where firms can be difficult to compare through general search results or broad media coverage.
Each recognition should be understood in relation to the specific ranking title, category, desk, and year. A firm recognized in one ranking should not describe the distinction as a general endorsement of all firm activities.
What may be referenced without a license
Recognized institutions may make a simple factual reference to their published inclusion without a license, provided the reference is accurate, limited, and clearly tied to the relevant ranking title, category, tier (where applicable), and year. This applies to ordinary announcements on company websites and corporate social media accounts, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X. Example wording:
- Sample: “[Firm Name] was recognized in the [Ranking Title] ranking by [Ranking Brand].”
- eg. “[Firm Name] was recognized in the Top 5/15/30 Regulatory & Enforcement Advisory 2026 ranking by Advisory Ranking under The Economy Rankings.”
A simple factual announcement may link directly to the published ranking page and tag The Economy Rankings where supported. No license is required merely to state a published ranking position or tier in the institution’s own words. This permission does not extend to copying the article or its images, displaying official The Economy Rankings logos, box or strip badges, trophy artwork, branded recognition graphics, or using approved extended promotional copy. Those materials require the applicable license or separate written authorization. Automatically generated link previews may be displayed as provided by the social platform when sharing the original URL.
What requires authorization
Formal use of The Economy Rankings recognition materials requires authorization under the applicable recognition-materials license. This includes official box or strip badges, digital trophy badge artwork, The Economy Rankings-branded recognition graphics (including graphics made for corporate social media), approved extended website or LinkedIn announcement copy, proposal-safe wording, pitch-deck language, press-reference wording, physical plaques, or other branded display materials. A plain-text factual social media post with a link is different from a licensed badge or promotional graphic, even when both appear on the same corporate account.
Licensed materials may be used only within the approved scope, category, desk, recognition year, and review cycle. The Digital Badge License covers approved assets on the institution’s own website and organic corporate social media; broader professional communications require the Professional Communications License or a higher applicable tier. Paid advertisements and sponsored social campaigns require separate written authorization. Institutions should not alter, redesign, recolor, crop, recreate, or combine official recognition assets in a way that changes their meaning or visual integrity. For license scopes and permitted-use categories, please see:
Editorial independence
The Economy Rankings lists are determined independently of licensing, advertising, sponsorship, or commercial participation. Inclusion in a ranking is based on editorial evaluation within the relevant sector framework and is not conditional upon purchasing a license or recognition package.
Declining to license recognition materials does not remove an institution from a published ranking. Entering into a license agreement does not influence ranking position, tier classification, category inclusion, future eligibility, or editorial treatment. This separation between editorial review and commercial usage rights is central to The Economy Rankings framework.
Search, AI visibility, and structured recognition
Recognition on The Economy Rankings is not only a decorative badge or media mention. It creates a structured third-party reference point that may support how a firm is described across search engines, AI Overviews, and generative answer systems. In the AI-search era, professional reputation is increasingly shaped not only by website traffic, but also by how firms appear when clients, analysts, partners, journalists, competitors, and internal decision-makers search for category-specific market validation.
The Economy Rankings profiles are structured around firm names, categories, sectors, tiers, peer context, and explanatory descriptions. This structure can support traditional search visibility while also making ranking content easier for AI-assisted search systems to interpret.
SEO, AEO, GEO, and Generative Visibility
Search and AI results vary by geography, timing, platform, query structure, and user settings. The Economy Rankings does not guarantee search placement, AI Overview inclusion, or generative-answer selection. However, structured recognition pages can provide clear, category-specific reference material for both human readers and AI systems.
For further context, please see:
- SEO Is No Longer Enough: Why AEO and GEO Are Turning Ranking Websites Into Market Infrastructure | The Economy Rankings
- Advisory Ranking in Google AI Overviews: Evidence of AEO/GEO Strength Across Advisory Firm Searches | The Economy Rankings
- AI Content Licensing Must Pay for the Machinery of Truth | The Economy
- From Search Traffic to Synthetic Circulation: AI Content Licensing and the Political Economy of Verification | The Economy Research
For marketing and communications teams
This guide may be used by marketing, communications, business-development, investor-relations, and leadership teams when evaluating how to reference a distinction from The Economy Rankings.
The practical distinction is simple:
Without a license: An accurate, limited factual announcement in the institution’s own words, including an announcement on its website or organic corporate social media, with attribution and a link to the published ranking.
With the applicable license: Use of official recognition assets, badge artwork, approved extended wording, proposal-safe language, The Economy Rankings-branded social media graphics, or physical display materials. The Digital Badge License permits approved badge display on owned digital channels and organic social media; more extensive professional use requires a higher license tier. Paid promotional campaigns are subject to separate written authorization.
For recognition-materials inquiries, please contact:
For factual corrections to published profiles, please contact: