How Bariz™ actually scores a positioning gap

Two inputs, not one

Every report starts from two separate inputs: your own self-assessment (your field, specialism, the problem you solve, and who you serve), and anonymous responses from people who actually work with you, describing the same four things from their side. A positioning gap is the measured difference between the two — not a guess, and not something you can see just by asking someone what they think of you.

Three axes, three different chance baselines

Bariz measures agreement across three axes: sub-niche, challenge type, and audience. Each axis has a different number of real options in the taxonomy, so a random guess is far more likely to land correctly on some axes than others. Scoring every axis the same way is exactly how positioning tools end up congratulating people for luck.

• Sub-niche agreement — a 1-in-304 chance, since Bariz's taxonomy currently has 304 active specialisms.
• Challenge-type agreement — a 1-in-5 chance, across the five challenge categories (zero-to-one, scaling, optimization, transformation, turnaround).
• Audience agreement — a 1-in-4 chance, across the four audience categories Bariz tracks.

Only agreement that beats an axis's own chance baseline counts as real signal — matching your own self-description by coincidence never inflates a score.

A 5-response minimum, enforced before anything unlocks

Fewer than 5 responses isn't treated as a weak signal — it's treated as insufficient data, full stop. Nothing about your action plan unlocks until you clear that floor. This is the same threshold the free-to-paid unlock, the wave-advance gate, and every displayed score all check against.

Eight archetypes, derived from three strong/weak axes

Each axis is collapsed to a simple Strong or Weak reading based on whether your score cleared its chance baseline. Three axes, two states each, gives eight possible combinations — and each combination is what names one of the eight archetypes. The archetype isn't a personality type layered on top of your score; it's a direct readout of which specific combination of axes is or isn't landing.

Anonymity is structural, not a policy

A respondent's submission is never linked to their identity at the database level — there is no column that could make that connection, for you, for us, or for anyone. This is why a report only ever shows aggregates once the 5-response floor is cleared, never individual answers.

Referral-ready rate: the practical summary

The three axis scores answer "do people get each piece right." Referral-ready rate answers the more practical question: what share of respondents got sub-niche, challenge type, and audience all correct at once — meaning they could actually refer you to the right opportunity, not just recognize one part of what you do.