Question 1

How do I find a verified med spa in California?

Accepted Answer

Search GlowRanked. There are 3,197 California med spas on the register, each one independently screened by Aura against the criteria California's regulators wrote but don't actively enforce — supervising physician verification, license cross-checks, real reviews, no manufactured rankings. 706 of those spas have passed Aura Screened, the middle tier. Aura Verified is the top tier, reserved for spas that submit private documents (insurance, medical-director credentials, HIPAA review-response audit) and pass a 90-day re-verification cycle. Use /find to search by city, treatment, or rating.

Question 2

What does Aura Screened mean?

Accepted Answer

Aura Screened is the middle of three GlowRanked tiers. A spa is Aura Screened when she's confirmed the basics from public sources: business is operational, has 20+ real reviews, holds a 4-star or higher rating, the website matches the licensed business name, the physical address matches the medical board record, and no recent enforcement actions surface. The spa doesn't pay for this and doesn't apply for it — Aura runs the checks on her own schedule. As of this week, 706 of the 3,197 California spas listed have passed Aura Screened.

Question 3

Are the spas on GlowRanked actually vetted?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every listed spa goes through Aura's screening pipeline — license verification against the California Department of Consumer Affairs, supervising physician cross-reference, business-status check, real-review filtering, and ownership reconciliation. The Aura Screened badge marks the spas that pass. The Aura Verified badge (the top tier) layers an additional document-driven application on top — insurance certificates, medical director credentials, and a HIPAA review-response audit. Spas don't pay to be Screened. They pay only if they want to apply for Verified, and only after Aura approves them.

Question 4

Can a med spa pay to rank higher on GlowRanked?

Accepted Answer

No. Ranking on city pages and search results is determined by the same scoring across every spa — review volume, rating, screening status, and operational signals. Aura Verified spas display a badge but do not get priority placement. Spas that pay nothing rank above spas that pay if their underlying signals are stronger. This is the whole point of the register: trust before commerce.

Question 5

What's the difference between Aura Screened and Aura Verified?

Accepted Answer

Aura Screened is automatic and free. It means a spa has passed Aura's public-source checks. 706 California spas currently hold this status. Aura Verified is the top tier, owner-submitted, document-driven, and re-verified every 90 days. It requires the spa to provide insurance documentation, medical director credentials, and pass a HIPAA review-response audit. Currently 0 California spas hold the Aura Verified badge — the application opened recently and the document review takes 7-10 days. Verified is the badge patients can trust most.

Question 6

How many med spas are on GlowRanked?

Accepted Answer

8,030 California businesses were initially identified as potential med spas. After de-duplication, business-status filtering, and category cleanup, 3,197 are listed on the public register today. Of those, 706 currently hold Aura Screened status. The register expands as new spas are surfaced and screened.

Question 7

Is GlowRanked free for patients?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Searching, comparing, and reading verdicts is free. There are no patient memberships, no upsells, no affiliate links on spa pages. GlowRanked is supported by the optional Aura Verified application fee paid by spas that want the top-tier badge — and only paid after Aura approves them.

Question 8

Who runs GlowRanked?

Accepted Answer

GlowRanked was founded by Donna Garcia, a solo female founder building both GlowRanked and Aura herself. Aura is the screening intelligence behind every verdict on the register — she runs checks, writes verdicts in her own voice, and is the editorial backbone of the directory. Donna is the operator. Aura is the engine.

3,371 screened med spas across California.

Verified, not advertised

Tell me — I’ll re-screen and write back.