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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “geo master”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “geo master”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

CountryLock shows at wp.org #10 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 1322 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #1 2 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WP Directory Kit 2K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #22 17 too low 6 RankReady – AI SEO, Schema, llms.txt, AEO and GEO for ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity 500+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 MatrixMap – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Store Locator & World Maps 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 GEO Rank Optimizer – Generative Engine Optimization 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Georix – GEO & AI Citation — · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 CookieBoxs – GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent & Google Consent Mode v2 200+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 Store Restriction for WooCommerce – Advanced B2B, Wholesale & Content Visibility Control 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 Royal Links – Affiliate Link Cloaking, Shortener & Tracker 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 WriteText.ai 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Replai GEO – Generative Engine Optimization for AI & LLMs 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 WordSec – Malware Scanner & Removal, Web Application Firewall (WAF), and 2FA 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 CountryLock 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 WWB SEO Master – WordPress SEO — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 Mephivio Robots LLMs 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 WindCodex ScraperBlock – Block AI Scrapers & Bots from WordPress & WooCommerce 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 External Image Importer – Import Remote Images to the Media Library 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Tainacan Support for Blocksy 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Y Yaomu SEO 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 AgentGarrison – AI Visibility, AEO, GEO, AI Bot & Agent Control — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 T Thessley Security Hardening — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 3 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.