# About PoaIndex

> Canonical URL: https://www.poaindex.com/ai/about.md

PoaIndex helps people explore turfgrass species and cultivars with evidence-backed rankings.

## Why PoaIndex exists

I started PoaIndex after one too many afternoons squinting at NTEP's raw trial tables, trying to figure out which seed was actually right for my lawn. The data is excellent, but it's locked inside dense, year-by-year tables that are hard to compare across seasons, let alone turn into a real answer. I wanted something that could parse multiple years of trial data and surface not just which grass species work, but which cultivars perform best. I know a lot of people go through the same frustration digging through NTEP by hand, so what started as a personal tool became PoaIndex.

## Principles

- Independent and evidence-backed: species suitability and cultivar rankings are shown separately, grounded in curated NTEP history.
- Transparent and complete: species returned for a location are listed even when cultivar evidence is thin.
- No invented retail inventory: PoaIndex does not claim current seed-store availability.

## Independence

PoaIndex is independent and not affiliated with NTEP or AOSCA. Results are informational and not a performance guarantee.

## Privacy (product surface)

PoaIndex does not offer accounts or shopping carts. ZIP codes and optional lawn-condition answers are used to resolve location and generate rankings; they are not stored in an application database. The Contact form delivers name, email, and message by email only.