This page is the canonical version of every “How we pick” line you’ll see on the platform. If a landing page says we picked something for a reason, the reason lives here. If a studio carries a Verified or Founding Studio badge, the rubric that earned it lives here. If we made an editorial choice that needs explaining, this is where the explaining happens.
Our argument is simple: a platform is worth what its standards are. If the bar is low, the brand is hollow. We’re publishing this page so the standards exist in writing, in public, before the platform has grown — not after, when it’s too late to set them honestly.
Inclusion criteria
A studio, artist, supplier, or event earns a listing on the platform when it meets three things, in order:
- Verifiable Vegas operation. A public address, a public phone, public hours. Something we can hand to a reader expecting a working door, or a working portfolio, or a working booking flow.
- Editorial review. We have either visited the space in person, spoken to the principal, or have written confirmation from someone authorized to represent the business. We do not list from a directory scrape.
- Permission to list. We do not publish a listing without the studio’s or artist’s consent. Every listing on the platform represents a deliberate choice to be here. Anyone listed can request removal — see the corrections section below.
What “Verified” means
The Verified badge is not a popularity signal. It is a specific editorial assertion that the platform has, on the date stamped in the listing’s audit trail:
- Confirmed the business address against publicly published sources
- Confirmed the phone number rings to the business
- Confirmed the listed hours match the studio’s own stated hours
- Received and recorded explicit permission to list, with the source noted in our internal audit meta
Verified status carries a “Last reviewed” date. If we cannot re-confirm a listing within a reasonable cadence (currently quarterly), the Verified badge is removed until we can. We will not carry stale verification forward.
What “Featured” means
Featured placement is a visibility tier within the platform. A Featured listing surfaces at the top of archive pages, qualifies for homepage strip placement, and carries the Featured badge. There are nine priority levels (1 highest, 9 lowest), and a studio can be Featured without being Founding or vice versa — the systems are intentionally separate.
Featured is also the layer through which paid placement will eventually flow. When it does, we will say so clearly in this section. Today, no studio on the platform has paid for placement. When that changes, every Featured listing acquired through payment will carry a “Sponsored” disclosure, and the editorial distinction between Featured (paid) and Founding / Verified (editorial) will be maintained in templates so prestige stays unambiguous.
What “Founding Studio” means
Founding Studio is an inaugural-cohort designation. It is not for sale. It is given by editorial invitation to the studios who chose to be on the platform during its launch year, who let us build our standards alongside their listings, and who agreed to be the public examples of what a real LVTS listing looks like.
We expect to close the founding cohort at no more than five studios. After it closes, no further Founding Studio badges will be issued — ever. The badge is meant to mean something. We are not diluting it.
Review methodology
Every listing on the platform moves through the same pipeline:
- Submission — the studio, artist, or supplier submits via /join/. The form sits in our admin as a Pending Submission, never on the public site.
- Verification — we cross-check the submitted details against public sources, contact the principal to confirm, and request any image permissions in writing.
- Editorial review — we decide whether the listing belongs on the platform per the inclusion criteria above. We document the decision in our internal audit meta.
- Listing creation — an approved submission is promoted to a public listing with the relevant CPT (shop / artist / supplier / event). The original submission record stays linked for the audit trail.
- Ongoing audit — every public listing carries a Last Reviewed date. Listings are re-verified on a cadence; verification status is removed if a check fails or lapses.
A dedicated /methodology/ page goes deeper on each step.
Image standards
Every image attached to a public listing has, in its admin audit meta:
- A source URL — where the image originated
- A permission note — who granted use, when, and any scope or expiration constraints
- A last verified date — when permission was last confirmed valid
We do not hotlink. We do not scrape copyrighted work. We do not use stock photography to dress up a real listing. If we don’t have a real image we’re permitted to use, the listing renders our cinematic CSS placeholder — which is intentional, not a missing-image fallback.
What we will not do
- Invent biographies, awards, specialties, pricing, or experience claims about an artist or studio
- Generate “ultimate guide” pages for SEO purposes that aren’t editorially substantial
- Rank studios numerically by quality — our 2026 lists are dated, not ordered
- Take payment in exchange for a Verified or Founding Studio badge — those are editorial designations, not commercial ones
- Carry stale verification — if we can’t re-confirm a listing’s facts, the Verified status comes off
- Mass-produce template-stamped neighborhood or style pages without genuine local editorial content
Correction policy
Listings reflect what we believed to be accurate on the Last Reviewed date. If something on the platform is wrong — a wrong address, a wrong phone, an outdated owner, a misattribution — please email editorial@lasvegastattoostudios.com with the page URL and the correction. We acknowledge corrections within two business days and update or remove the listing as appropriate. Editorial notes on substantive corrections appear in the listing’s metadata.
Studios and artists listed on the platform can request removal at any time, for any reason, without explanation. Removal is honored within two business days of confirmed identity.
Content integrity
The platform’s value depends on the platform being honest. The editorial standards published on this page are the working standards — not aspirational ones. If we ever fail to apply them — if a listing is published that doesn’t meet the bar — we will correct it openly and update this page if the failure exposes a gap in the standards themselves.
This page itself carries a Last Reviewed date and is updated when standards change. Substantive revisions are noted in the platform’s deploy log.