Bloomberg ESG gives you revenue-to-CO2 ratios. MSCI gives you controversy screens. Neither tells you whether a brand's claims hold up to scrutiny, what the regulatory exposure actually is, or what consumers at the shelf signal about that brand's market position. YKO does.
Standard ESG datasets are built for disclosure compliance, not investment research. The difference matters more than most analysts realize.
"The risk is not that companies are lying. The risk is that the gap between what they report and what's actually verifiable is invisible to everyone except the company itself." — The claim substantiation problem, YKO research note
Every YKO score is built from six independent assessments, each sourced, weighted, and accompanied by a confidence level. A score of 74 with high confidence is a different research finding than 74 with low confidence.
YKO intelligence includes scan data from GreenSpecs.app — when a consumer points a camera at a product in a store, that is intent data attached to a sustainability score. No ESG provider has this.
Sustainability positioning that doesn't convert at shelf is a liability, not an asset. YKO scan data shows you which brands' sustainability claims are actually reaching the purchase moment — and which ones are spending on credentials that consumers never encounter. That gap is a leading indicator of brand equity erosion before it shows up in revenue figures.
MSCI, Bloomberg ESG, and Sustainalytics aggregate what companies report. YKO assesses what companies can substantiate. The distinction is significant for research quality.
| Capability | MSCI ESG | Bloomberg ESG | Sustainalytics | YKO Intelligence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon intensity ratio (Scope 1/2) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Scope 3 disclosure assessment | Partial | Partial | Partial | Substantiation gap flagged |
| Claim-level label analysis | No | No | No | Yes — AI vision, 6 dimensions |
| Certification quality scoring | No | No | Partial | Rigor + independence + enforcement |
| Greenwashing narrative flags | Controversy only | Controversy only | Controversy only | Proactive, pre-controversy |
| Consumer purchase-intent signal | No | No | No | Shelf scan data by city |
| Regulatory exposure (SB 253, EU GCD) | Reporting only | Reporting only | Reporting only | Gap analysis + readiness score |
| SME and private company coverage | Minimal | Minimal | Minimal | $5M–$500M brand focus |
| Confidence level on each score | No | No | No | High / medium / low on every score |
| Coverage model | Disclosure aggregation | Disclosure aggregation | Analyst ratings | Independent assessment + AI vision |
YKO intelligence is structured for four distinct research workflows in sustainability-focused investment and advisory contexts.
YKO's dimension breakdown makes visible what a single ESG score conceals. These are two brands in the beverage category — a carbon intensity ratio alone would not surface the gap.
Both brands sold in the same retail channels. A carbon intensity ratio would not separate them. — View full Guayakí report →
YKO intelligence is available through three access levels, each calibrated to the research depth and coverage volume typical of different team sizes.
What a brand claims, what it can substantiate, and how consumers respond to those claims at the shelf — those three data points together define the real sustainability risk profile. YKO is the only source that connects all three.