A guide is only useful if you can trust it. This page explains how we decide what goes on The EC Guide, what we won’t do, and how to tell us when we get something wrong.
The locally owned rule
We list only locally owned, independent businesses. National chains are not listed, no matter how popular they are.
“Locally owned” isn’t always black and white, so here’s how we judge it:
- Owned and run here. The business is owned by people or a small company based on the Emerald Coast or elsewhere in the region, and decisions are made locally.
- Local businesses with more than one location. A family that runs three restaurants between Destin and Panama City Beach is still a local business. We welcome regional, multi-location businesses as long as ownership stays local and independent.
- Franchises are excluded. Even when a franchise is owned by a local operator, the brand, menu and playbook come from a national company. We leave those out.
- Owned by a larger group. If a business was once independent but is now owned by a national company or private equity group, we treat it as a chain and remove it.
- Gray areas. Sometimes the answer isn’t obvious (a small Southeastern brand with a few locations, for example). We look at where the owners are based, how many locations there are, and whether the place is rooted in the community, then make a judgment call we’re happy to revisit.
How listings are reviewed
Any business can submit a listing for free. Every submission is reviewed by a person before it’s published. We check that the business is real, open, locally owned and within the area we cover, and we edit descriptions for clarity and tone.
We may decline a submission that doesn’t meet the locally owned rule, falls outside our coverage area, or that we can’t verify. Owners can claim their listing and keep it current through a secure link sent to their email.
How stories pick places
Our stories (roundups, guides and seasonal picks) are written with local contributors and people who know the coast. Places are chosen because they fit the story and we think they’re genuinely worth your time.
Where we can, we base picks on firsthand experience. When we include a place we haven’t personally tried, we say so. We don’t call anywhere “our favorite” or “the best” unless we mean it.
A business doesn’t need to be listed in the directory, pay anything, or have a booking link to appear in a story.
Paid placements don’t buy recommendations
We offer optional paid placements for businesses, such as Featured listings and Homepage Spotlight placements.
Here’s what paying does and doesn’t do:
- Paid placements are always labeled as advertising, so you can tell them apart from our editorial picks.
- Paying does not get a business into a story, move it up in a roundup, or change what we say about it.
- Not paying never counts against a business.
- A business still has to meet the locally owned rule to buy a placement.
Booking links
Some listing pages include links to book tours, activities or stays through partners such as TripShock. If you book through them, we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Pages with booking links say so clearly.
Commissions never decide what we list or recommend. We only recommend what we would recommend without one. Read the full Booking Link Disclosure for details.
No fake reviews
We never publish fabricated reviews, AI-invented reviews or testimonials, or anything presented as a customer opinion that isn’t one. We don’t accept payment or perks in exchange for a positive write-up.
Descriptions supplied by business owners are edited by us, and we don’t present an owner’s own marketing copy as an independent review. If someone with a personal connection to a business ever contributes to a story about it, we’ll disclose that relationship.
If we are ever hosted by a business (a free meal, tour or stay), the story will say so near the top, for example: “Example Charters hosted us on this trip.” We have not published any hosted stories to date.
Keeping things current
Businesses change hours, move, change hands and sometimes close. We update listings when owners tell us, when readers let us know, and when we spot changes ourselves. If a business closes, we remove the listing or mark it as closed. If a business is sold to a chain or national group, we remove it under the locally owned rule.
Corrections
We try hard to get things right, and we fix mistakes quickly when we don’t.
If you spot an error (wrong hours, a closed business, an incorrect detail in a story, or a business you believe isn’t locally owned), please email theemeraldcoastguide@gmail.com with:
- The link to the page
- What’s wrong
- The correct information, and a source if you have one
We review every correction request. Small factual fixes are made quietly. If we correct something significant in a story, we’ll add a short note at the end of the story explaining what changed.
Questions
If you have questions about how we work, get in touch. We’re always happy to explain a decision.