Who Coined It
Greg Cummings
Founder of Power100, and the person who named the search that already knows your name.
Who he is
Greg Cummings is the founder of Power100, the independent platform that ranks top CEOs and companies in the home-improvement industry, evaluating leadership, growth, culture, community and customer experience before any commercial relationship begins. He is the author of the book Reputation Intelligence, and the person who coined the term Affirmation Search.
Why he named it
The question behind the term started at a kitchen table that was not his. A homeowner liked him and trusted him, and then asked how they could know the rest of the company was like him, whether the owner would follow through, and whether anybody would even come back. They were separating the salesperson from the organization behind him, and he had no independent way to prove who that organization was.
That gap is part of the reason Power100 exists. Years later, the same question is being asked about every company, by people and platforms that never meet the salesperson. He gave the moment it gets asked a name: Affirmation Search.
The mission underneath it
He describes Power100's mission from both sides of the table.
Our founding mission is to make sure every homeowner has the ability to find the best contractor for them.
Greg Cummings, June 16, 2026
And from the other side, that every contractor can find the customers it will best serve. Power100 takes on as clients only independently owned and operated, privately held companies that are ranked on its platform, which is why he calls Power100 an unbiased platform: it shares what it knows with the companies that have earned a place, and the evidence does the rest.
AI is the ultimate truth serum ... it doesn't mean a bad company can look great.
Greg Cummings, June 16, 2026
Where the term shows up in his work
It is the headline of the private AI findability workshop he runs for company leadership teams, where each company works through three questions of its own: what is its identity, how does it acquire its customers, and what is its Affirmation Search. It has a chapter in his book. And it is the unit Power100 measures with, month by month, for the companies it works with.
Elsewhere
- gregcummings.us, his own site
- Greg Cummings, Power100 Expert Contributor
- Reputation Intelligence, the discipline and the book