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How Consensus’s scores are calculated

The full audit trail, recomputed from the verdict data at build time through the same code that produced the leaderboard: verdict × quality × story weight per cell, cells sum to dimension scores, dimensions blend into the PA Score. Every number on the product page is reproducible from this page alone; for why the formula looks like this, see the methodology.

verdict factors: full ×1.0 · partial ×0.6 · disputed ×0.3 · none ×0.0 · n/a excluded from both sides · cell points = weight × quality × factor · cell max = weight × 10

PA Score19/100

Agent-ready 16.6 × 0.30 = 4.98

API quality 0.0 × 0.20 = 0.00

Openness 14.4 × 0.20 = 2.88

Built-in AI 56.7 × 0.15 = 8.51

Automation 18.0 × 0.15 = 2.70

(4.98 + 0.00 + 2.88 + 8.51 + 2.70) ÷ (0.30 + 0.20 + 0.20 + 0.15 + 0.15) = 19.07 ÷ 1.00 = 19.1

Scores are stored to 1 decimal; the product page’s pills round to whole numbers for display. Each dimension below shows the stories, verdicts, and cited evidence behind its number.

Agent-ready16.6/100×0.30 of the PA blend

Outside-in: can YOUR agent reach and drive this product — API, MCP, CLI, headless runs, agent docs.

Point an agent at llms.txt or agent-oriented docsweight 2

2 (weight) × 8 (quality) × 1.0 (full) = 16.0 of 20 max

  • [probe] https://consensus.app/llms.txt“PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 200 at https://consensus.app/llms.txt # Consensus > Consensus is an AI-powered scientific search engine that finds, ranks, and synthesizes peer-reviewed rese”
  • [probe] https://consensus.app/home/resources/how-consensus-works/.md“PROBE docs-md: HTTP 404 at https://consensus.app/home/resources/how-consensus-works/.md”

Run the product headlessly / in CI for automationweight 2

2 (weight) × 4 (quality) × 0.6 (partial) = 4.8 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Connect the Consensus API within your project to seamlessly integrate up-to-date peer-reviewed citations into your own custom workflow.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Save your team hours of manual discovery research and run automated searches with our API to quickly and easily find the most relevant and reliable research.”

Plug MCP servers into this product so it can use their toolsweight 3

n/a — not applicable to this product: excluded from numerator and denominator

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Connect an agent via an official MCP serverweight 3

3 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 30 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Connect the Consensus API within your project to seamlessly integrate up-to-date peer-reviewed citations into your own custom workflow.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Save your team hours of manual discovery research and run automated searches with our API to quickly and easily find the most relevant and reliable research.”
  • [probe] https://consensus.app/llms.txt“PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 200 at https://consensus.app/llms.txt # Consensus > Consensus is an AI-powered scientific search engine that finds, ranks, and synthesizes peer-reviewed rese”

Use an official CLIweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/llms-full.txt“a REST API and an MCP server expose the same retrieval and synthesis surface that powers the web app”

Drive the product through a documented public APIweight 3

3 (weight) × 5 (quality) × 0.6 (partial) = 9.0 of 30 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Connect the Consensus API within your project to seamlessly integrate up-to-date peer-reviewed citations into your own custom workflow.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Save your team hours of manual discovery research and run automated searches with our API to quickly and easily find the most relevant and reliable research.”
  • [probe] https://consensus.app/llms.txt“PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 200 at https://consensus.app/llms.txt # Consensus > Consensus is an AI-powered scientific search engine that finds, ranks, and synthesizes peer-reviewed rese”

Issue scoped/least-privilege API credentials for an agentweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Connect the Consensus API within your project to seamlessly integrate up-to-date peer-reviewed citations into your own custom workflow.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Save your team hours of manual discovery research and run automated searches with our API to quickly and easily find the most relevant and reliable research.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/llms-full.txt“a REST API and an MCP server expose the same retrieval and synthesis surface that powers the web app”

Build against official SDKsweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Connect the Consensus API within your project to seamlessly integrate up-to-date peer-reviewed citations into your own custom workflow.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Save your team hours of manual discovery research and run automated searches with our API to quickly and easily find the most relevant and reliable research.”
  • [probe] https://consensus.app/llms.txt“PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 200 at https://consensus.app/llms.txt # Consensus > Consensus is an AI-powered scientific search engine that finds, ranks, and synthesizes peer-reviewed rese”

Subscribe to events via webhooksweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Agent-ready = 29.8 ÷ 180 × 100 = 16.6

API quality0.0/100×0.20 of the PA blend

The programmable surface once an agent is there — machine-readable spec, interactive docs, sandbox, versioning discipline.

Explore an interactive API reference with runnable examplesweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Connect the Consensus API within your project to seamlessly integrate up-to-date peer-reviewed citations into your own custom workflow.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Save your team hours of manual discovery research and run automated searches with our API to quickly and easily find the most relevant and reliable research.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/llms-full.txt“a REST API and an MCP server expose the same retrieval and synthesis surface that powers the web app”

Download a machine-readable API spec (OpenAPI or equivalent)weight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Save your team hours of manual discovery research and run automated searches with our API to quickly and easily find the most relevant and reliable research.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/llms-full.txt“a REST API and an MCP server expose the same retrieval and synthesis surface that powers the web app”
  • [probe] https://consensus.app/llms.txt“PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 200 at https://consensus.app/llms.txt # Consensus > Consensus is an AI-powered scientific search engine that finds, ranks, and synthesizes peer-reviewed rese”

Test against a sandbox environment without touching production dataweight 1

n/a — not applicable to this product: excluded from numerator and denominator

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Rely on versioned APIs with a documented deprecation policyweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/llms-full.txt“a REST API and an MCP server expose the same retrieval and synthesis surface that powers the web app”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Save your team hours of manual discovery research and run automated searches with our API to quickly and easily find the most relevant and reliable research.”

API quality = 0.0 ÷ 60 × 100 = 0.0

Openness14.4/100×0.20 of the PA blend

Can you leave, inspect, or self-host — data export, open source, portability.

Do everything through the API that I can do in the UIweight 2

2 (weight) × 6 (quality) × 0.6 (partial) = 7.2 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/llms-full.txt“a REST API and an MCP server expose the same retrieval and synthesis surface that powers the web app”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Save your team hours of manual discovery research and run automated searches with our API to quickly and easily find the most relevant and reliable research.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/features/reference-manager/“The Consensus Library brings your entire research library into one searchable, AI-powered workspace.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/features/library/“Import from Zotero ... or import from BibTex, PDF, or RIS”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/features/citation-graph/“The Consensus Citation Graph turns a single seed paper into a complete map of the work that built it, the work it inspired, and the studies most often read alongside it.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/llms-full.txt“The Consensus Meter is a visual aggregator that, for a yes/no/possibly question, classifies each relevant paper as supporting, refuting, or mixed/inconclusive, then displays the distribution.”

Export all of my data in open formats and leaveweight 3

3 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 30 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/features/library/“Import from Zotero ... or import from BibTex, PDF, or RIS”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/features/library/“Import from Zotero”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/features/reference-manager/“The Consensus Library brings your entire research library into one searchable, AI-powered workspace.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/features/library/“Turn your library into a research engine. Import thousands of papers in one click - then search, find gaps, and put your collection to work.”

Read the product's source under an open licenseweight 2

n/a — not applicable to this product: excluded from numerator and denominator

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Self-host the core productweight 3

n/a — not applicable to this product: excluded from numerator and denominator

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Openness = 7.2 ÷ 50 × 100 = 14.4

Built-in AI56.7/100×0.15 of the PA blend

Inside-out: how agentic the product itself is for its users — built-in assistants, autonomous features.

Get AI-generated insights and suggestions from my data inside the productweight 2

2 (weight) × 8 (quality) × 1.0 (full) = 16.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/resources/how-consensus-works/“It searches over 200 million academic papers and uses language models to help you find, understand, and synthesize the literature faster.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/resources/how-consensus-works/“Every response includes citations, so you can trace each insight back to the original source.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/llms-full.txt“The Consensus Meter is a visual aggregator that, for a yes/no/possibly question, classifies each relevant paper as supporting, refuting, or mixed/inconclusive”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/llms-full.txt“The Consensus Meter is a visual aggregator that, for a yes/no/possibly question, classifies each relevant paper as supporting, refuting, or mixed/inconclusive, then displays the distribution.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/llms-full.txt“Extracted population, intervention, comparator, and outcome (PICO) where applicable”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/features/literature-review/“Consensus is an AI-powered research engine built to speed up literature reviews. Search, screen, extract, and synthesize evidence faster—while keeping full transparency and scholarly rigor.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/features/reference-manager/“The Consensus Library brings your entire research library into one searchable, AI-powered workspace.”

Set up automations that run autonomously in the backgroundweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Delegate tasks to a built-in AI assistant inside the productweight 3

3 (weight) × 7 (quality) × 1.0 (full) = 21.0 of 30 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/features/research-agent/“Citation crawling, DOI lookup, author search, similar papers, and more - chained together on top of the worlds best academic search engine.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/features/literature-review/“Search, screen, extract, and synthesize evidence faster—while keeping full transparency and scholarly rigor.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/features/literature-review/“Consensus is an AI-powered research engine built to speed up literature reviews. Search, screen, extract, and synthesize evidence faster—while keeping full transparency and scholarly rigor.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/resources/how-consensus-works/“It searches over 200 million academic papers and uses language models to help you find, understand, and synthesize the literature faster.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/resources/how-consensus-works/“Every response includes citations, so you can trace each insight back to the original source.”
  • [probe] https://consensus.app/llms.txt“PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 200 at https://consensus.app/llms.txt # Consensus > Consensus is an AI-powered scientific search engine that finds, ranks, and synthesizes peer-reviewed rese”

Operate the product with natural-language commandsweight 2

2 (weight) × 7 (quality) × 1.0 (full) = 14.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/resources/how-consensus-works/“It searches over 200 million academic papers and uses language models to help you find, understand, and synthesize the literature faster.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/llms-full.txt“a REST API and an MCP server expose the same retrieval and synthesis surface that powers the web app”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/llms-full.txt“The Consensus Meter is a visual aggregator that, for a yes/no/possibly question, classifies each relevant paper as supporting, refuting, or mixed/inconclusive”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/llms-full.txt“The Consensus Meter is a visual aggregator that, for a yes/no/possibly question, classifies each relevant paper as supporting, refuting, or mixed/inconclusive, then displays the distribution.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/resources/how-consensus-works/“Think of Consensus as an AI-native alternative to Google Scholar with a more-refined corpus.”

Built-in AI = 51.0 ÷ 90 × 100 = 56.7

Automation18.0/100×0.15 of the PA blend

Depth of automation primitives — rules, scheduling, bulk operations, webhooks.

Perform bulk operations across many items at onceweight 2

2 (weight) × 6 (quality) × 0.6 (partial) = 7.2 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/features/library/“Import thousands of papers in one click - then search, find gaps, and put your collection to work.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/features/library/“Turn your library into a research engine. Import thousands of papers in one click - then search, find gaps, and put your collection to work.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Save your team hours of manual discovery research and run automated searches with our API to quickly and easily find the most relevant and reliable research.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/llms-full.txt“a REST API and an MCP server expose the same retrieval and synthesis surface that powers the web app”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/.well-known/pricing.md“Deep Searches (more comprehensive Lit Reviews across many studies)”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/features/library/“Import from Zotero ... or import from BibTex, PDF, or RIS”

Define rules that trigger actions automatically on eventsweight 3

n/a — not applicable to this product: excluded from numerator and denominator

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Schedule recurring jobs or workflowsweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/home/api/“Save your team hours of manual discovery research and run automated searches with our API to quickly and easily find the most relevant and reliable research.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://consensus.app/llms-full.txt“a REST API and an MCP server expose the same retrieval and synthesis surface that powers the web app”

Version, review, and roll back my automationsweight 1

n/a — not applicable to this product: excluded from numerator and denominator

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Automation = 7.2 ÷ 40 × 100 = 18.0