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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “gsc”

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 “gsc”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 2 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

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 it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

DominoPost – Advanced Post Editor with AI Writer, Link Building Suite, Free Google Search Console & GA4 Analytics shows at wp.org #7 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 100+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #1 2 SEO Booster 800+ · 4.8★ (54) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 LinkBoss – Semantic AI Internal Linking 2K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 SEO Repair Kit – Spam Monitor, Meta Manager, Schema Manager, Internal Linking, SEO Content Monitoring, GSC Integration 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Free Backlinks & Guest Post Exchange – Consolety 40+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 SEO AI Audit Tool 50+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Newsroom OS – Google Discover, Google News, Schema & Editorial Workflow 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Rankiva – SEO & Keyword Insights for Google Search Console 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 9 LiveUXI GSC Connect — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 10 Mirolabs AI SEO — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Infy SEO – Image SEO Optimizer 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too low 12 DominoPost – Advanced Post Editor with AI Writer, Link Building Suite, Free Google Search Console & GA4 Analytics 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 Rapid URL Indexer for WP – Index Websites in Google 700+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Rank Bix SEO – Lightweight SEO Toolkit with Multi-AI 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓1 6 too low 15 CitedSEO 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 Hide GTM code 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Clarity SEO 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 Turbo Guard – Security & Malware Scanner 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 SEOBot AI – SEO Automation, Content Optimizer & Internal Linking — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 AT Search Console — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too high 21 FoundByAI — LLMs.txt & AI Bot Tracking 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 SerenityMind AI SEO — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 MetricQuill Search Reports — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 AgencyBoost Lite — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 2 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.