How we order results

A city page only shows profiles and requests close to the city centre: first within 5 km; when fewer than seven entries come together there, within 10 km and at most 15 km. Entries further away never appear there – the list simply stays shorter.

To be included, someone must have been active in the last 60 days and have a meaningful description in their own words: at least 80 characters and not identical to the text of another entry. Babysitters also need a profile photo our team has approved. In large cities we consider the 200 nearest entries that meet this.

Within that radius, profile quality mainly decides the order and distance only plays a small part. The count and the hourly-rate range a city page names refer to the same entries as the list. The babysitter search that partners embed on their own sites shows the same selection in the same order.

When you enter your postcode without an account, we show you babysitters who meet the same conditions as on the city pages: active in the last 60 days, a meaningful description in their own words and an approved profile photo. We search within 10 km of your postcode and widen to 20 km when fewer than five are found there. The order is by last activity: whoever was active most recently comes first.

When too few meet these conditions, we also show you the other visible profiles near you so the search does not stay empty: first those that meet the conditions, then those with an approved profile photo, then all others – each most recently active first. We only reach as far as needed: first within the same radius, then up to 20 km, up to 50 km and finally the nearest profiles anywhere; the text above the results then tells you how far they reach. The profile quality score, Premium and the daily rotation play no part in this order.

Signed in, your start page and the search only show entries within the search's radius (at most 50 km), and only from people who logged in, wrote a message or opened a link in one of our emails in the last three months. We consider the 100 nearest matching entries; those that have not been active or edited for a long time, or are barely filled in, are only added when fewer would come together otherwise.

The recommended order combines proximity with how likely the person is to answer: whoever is close and answers reliably comes first; an entry further away only moves up when hardly anyone nearby is likely to answer. For requests, that is how likely the family is to answer. When you search for babysitters as a family, activity, the profile photo, how well a profile fits your own request and a starting boost for new profiles also count.

As a babysitter, you can sort the requests on your start page by distance or by “Newest” (most recently posted) instead; that order then applies exactly. When you search without a postcode, you see the newest first: the most recently registered babysitters, or the most recently posted requests.

Proximity

On the city pages, distance mainly decides who is shown at all: at most 15 km from the city centre. Within that radius it only has a weak effect. Signed in, it has a strong effect – the closer, the higher – and nothing beyond the search's radius is shown. In the search without an account it only decides who lies within the radius, not the order.

Likelihood of an answer

Only when signed in: we estimate how likely someone is to answer a new enquiry. This takes into account how recently the person was active and how often over the last three months they answered a first enquiry within 24 hours. Anyone who has received only a few enquiries so far is judged mainly by their own activity – so individual unanswered messages do not immediately count against them. The answer rate is recomputed once per night.

Profile quality

How complete and well-maintained a profile or request is: a profile photo, a meaningful description in your own words, favourites received over the last three months, and how reliably incoming enquiries are answered. Favourites from brand-new accounts that have not written a message yet do not count. For babysitters, stated experience also counts. On the city pages, profile quality is the most important factor within the radius; signed in, it only tips the balance between entries at a similar distance with a similar likelihood of answering. The quality score is recomputed once per night.

Activity

Activity means logging in, writing or reading a message, opening a link in one of our emails, or editing their own offer or request. On the city pages, activity only decides who is included (active in the last 60 days), not the order. In the search without an account it decides the order. Signed in, it feeds into the likelihood of an answer; when you search for babysitters as a family, those active recently also move up. For a request, the older of two moments counts: the family's last activity and the last edit of the request – so an old request does not become current just because the family logs in every day.

Fit, profile photo and new profiles

Only when you search for babysitters as a signed-in family: a profile moves up a little the more of the times and age groups from your own request it covers. Profiles without a profile photo move down. New profiles get a small starting boost in their first weeks that fades over time, so they are seen too.

Premium boost

Profiles and requests with a paid Premium membership receive a small boost in the recommended order. On the city pages it only applies within the radius. Signed in, it only applies while the person has been active in the last 30 days, and only until four new enquiries have reached them since they last edited their offer, request or profile – or since they bought Premium; after that it only takes effect again after their next edit. In the search without an account Premium has no influence. Premium does not bring anyone from further away onto a city page and weighs less than a clear difference in quality or likelihood of answering. Whether you yourself have Premium has no influence on the order you are shown.

Daily rotation

On the city pages, a small random component that changes once per day ensures that the same entries are not on top every day. It mainly takes effect where entries are close together anyway; clear differences are preserved. Within one day the order is the same for everyone and stays stable when reloading and paging; it changes overnight. The search without an account, your start page and the search when signed in have no such rotation.

This list names the most important factors, but it is not exhaustive – further, much weaker signals also play a role, such as the individual building blocks that make up the profile quality score. The premium boost and the daily rotation carry much less weight than proximity, quality and likelihood of answering. Several offers by the same person appear only once, and so do several requests by the same agency. We do not publish the exact numeric weights.

These data have no influence on the order:

• Gender
• Religious affiliation
• Origin or nationality
• Native language – a language filter you set yourself only hides or shows profiles, it does not sort them
• Whether the person searching has Premium themselves – the boost only ever applies to the listed profile, never to the viewer

If we materially change the factors or their weighting, we update this page. Last updated: 9 November 2026.