Most of these sites operate as lead generation businesses first. An agent pays a subscription or a referral fee to appear, and the ranking criteria, when published at all, weigh how recently a profile was updated over how many houses that agent actually closed.
That leaves a real gap between a directory's opinion and a licensed record. Joel Dyck holds 72 five star Google reviews earned directly from clients, which is a different kind of evidence than a paid ranking slot, and it is checkable independent of any directory's methodology.
A list worth trusting discloses how it ranks and lets you verify the number underneath the badge. Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.