The four places buyers look, and how each one leans#
Most buyers check four places: the provider's site, a directory, an AI answer and a salesperson. They're all useful. None of them is on your side, and reading all four doesn't cancel the bias out.
| Source | Leans toward | Still best for |
|---|---|---|
| Provider's own site | Generous counts, planned space next to built space, self-declared certifications | Site codes, addresses, and what they'll put in writing |
| Data center directories | Counting network closets as data centers, and listings years out of date | Cross-checking a provider's own list |
| AI answers | Whoever publishes the most, whether or not they fit you | Getting oriented and learning what to ask |
| A salesperson | Whatever they're paid to sell | What's actually available, at what price, on what date |
What provider sites get wrong#
Provider marketing is rarely false. It's counted generously, and the counting rules are almost never shown. We hit all three patterns below building our own directory.
Counts that make a footprint look bigger#
Providers pick whichever unit gives the bigger number: campuses, buildings, site codes or cities. One provider's own site advertised about three times as many edge data centers as its own directory listed as rentable.
One provider's audited filing showed far fewer sites and megawatts than its marketing. When the filing and the marketing disagree, trust the filing.
Planned space shown next to built space#
Announced campuses sit on the same page as buildings you can move into now. The megawatts are often the planned total, not what's built. We left several sites out of our directory for exactly that reason.
Certifications they gave themselves#
This one costs real money, because it gets past procurement review. Uptime Institute Tier certification is a real, outside audit of how a building's built to stay up. A lot of the "Tier" language on provider sites isn't that:
- "Tier III design" means the provider says it built to that standard. Nobody checked.
- "Tier III equivalent" and "Tier III quality" have no certifier behind them at all.
- "Tier 5" doesn't exist. One provider runs it through a standards group it founded itself.
Compliance works the same way. A logo on a trust page isn't an audit letter. One provider's federal approval covers three named buildings out of seventy-six.
What data center directories get wrong#
Directories are useful, and we use several. They fail in two ways, because adding a listing is easier than removing one.
Network closets counted as data centers#
A rack of a provider's network gear inside someone else's building isn't space you can rent. Listed by address, it looks just like a data center. One provider showed about thirty-six listings against sixteen real data centers.
Listings that outlive the provider#
Directories go stale and nobody tells you. We found a provider still listed in Phoenix although its own site lists nothing there. Another was listed at a building it left around 2016.
What AI answers get wrong#
AI answers repeat whoever publishes the most. The biggest providers write the most, so they show up whether they fit you or not.
The provider most often named for US data center space has had no Phoenix building since 2012. It's a fine answer to "who are the big providers?" and a wrong one to "who should quote me in Phoenix?"
And no AI can tell you who has space today. Here's what AI answers can and can't do.
Common questions#
Are data center directories accurate?#
Is a Tier 3 data center certified?#
Why does ChatGPT keep recommending the same data center providers?#
What a view on your side looks like#
You can test any source against these six, including this one:
- It names providers by fit, not by who the author works with.
- It says who each provider is wrong for. Fit cuts both ways.
- It says where every number came from: the provider, an outside estimate or an audited filing.
- It marks what it doesn't know, so you know where to ask.
- It never claims availability. Only the provider knows, and it changes fast.
- It's dated. A fact without a date is a rumor.
The useful version of all this isn't a page. It's what you get when every provider that fits answers the same questions at the same time. Clectiv AI gets you exactly that, backed by 20+ years on the buyer's side.