If you GOOGLE ‘Do you have good credit?’ the AI search engine returns this: “A credit score from 670 to 739 is considered a good credit score.”

Proof:

Below AI’s answer, you’ll find tons of articles battling it out in the SEO space. The credit bureaus¹, for me, pop up first. They are titled: “What is a good credit score.” (boldness added for emphasis).

After the bureaus, the banks and the credit unions appear in the search, frequently with identically titled articles. Eventually, if you dare to drift beyond the second page of search results, you’ll see derivatives of this general proposition. Articles begin to address the “how” instead of the “what” with respect to credit score improvement.

What you don’t see anywhere in the results is the answer to the question I was looking for.

The reason is that the search results return this query:

Do you [meaning me, I guess, as a consumer?] have [a] good credit [score]?

But I wanted the results to return this query:

Do you [SEARCH ENGINE] have good credit [options that are available for me as a general borrower]?

Admittedly, that requires some interpretation by the search engine. However, the leap to “good credit [score]” comes attached to its own set of implied interpretations:

Do you [meaning me, I guess, as a consumer?] have [a] good credit [score]?

Certainly, this is a war of semantics. And, to be fair to AI, search engines, and SEO, they are likely answering based on all sorts of data analysis, probabilistic reasoning, and perhaps even my own user history. The search engines, AI and SEO results may also be influenced by common terminology used by consumer-finance authorities. The FTC itself uses nearly identical terminology. One prominent subheading in its article ‘Understanding Your Credit’ asks, ‘How Do You Know If Your Credit Is Good?’²

The point isn’t that AI got the answer “wrong.” The point is that it answered an ambiguous question without acknowledging the ambiguity.

ChatGPT showed its contrition:

So what is good credit?

It’s a complex question with complex answers. A little less complex is figuring out where to start.

“Credit” is not a credit score or an evaluation of a credit score. At least for purposes of the Truth in Lending Act and its implementing Regulation Z, “credit” is defined as the “RIGHT to defer payment of debt or to incur debt and defer its payment.” 12 CFR § 1026.2(a)(14) (capitals provided for emphasis).⁴

If we take that definition as our starting point, then perhaps the word “good” in the phrase “good credit” can modify the credit being extended—not necessarily the person receiving it.

In other words, we might reasonably understand good credit to mean:

a right to defer payment of debt or incur debt and defer its payment [on good terms].

To answer whether the credit being offered is “good,” we might reasonably look at the terms of that credit, including but not limited to the interest rate, the APR, finance charges, payment amounts, loan terms, payment frequencies, late-payment provisions, grace periods, and other terms disclosed to the borrower. These are some commonly required disclosures under the Truth in Lending Act. I say “commonly” because whether a particular disclosure is required depends on the loan product and the circumstances of the transaction.⁴

Which brings me to the point of this post: our collective consciousness, all the way down to how humans and computers alike interpret ambiguous phrases, is so focused on whether the PERSON is good enough for SOMETHING.

Good enough for a job, good enough for a loan, good enough to rent an apartment, good enough to obtain insurance.

Maybe we should start asking a little bit more about whether the PROVIDER of the job, the service, the apartment, the insurance, the loan, is good enough.

When we change, so shall our search engines.

1. https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/credit-education/score-basics/what-is-a-good-credit-score/; https://www.equifax.com/personal/education/credit/score/articles/-/learn/what-is-a-good-credit-score/; https://www.myfico.com/credit-education/credit-scores. ↩︎
2. https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/understanding-your-credit?utm_source=chatgpt.com (““Good” or “bad” credit is based on your credit history. You probably have “good” credit if your credit history shows that you paid your bills on time and didn’t borrow more than you could afford to pay back. You might have “bad” credit if your credit history shows few or no bills paid back, that you paid your bills late, or that you couldn’t afford to pay back the full amount you borrowed.”) ↩︎
3. 15 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq. ↩︎
4. For purposes of closed-end loans, see generally 12 CFR 1026.18- content of disclosures. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/18/ ↩︎

Boyledown Lending Inc. is a consumer finance company licensed by the Virginia State Corporation Commission. The license number assigned by the commission to the licensee is CFI-256.

This disclosure is provided to comply with Title 10 Agency 5 Chapter 60 Section 35(A) of the Virginia Administrative Code.