Glossary
Placement agency
Also called: Referral agency, Senior living referral service
A placement or referral agency helps families find a senior living community and is paid a referral fee by the community when the family moves in.
The model is standard across the industry, including on Senior Places. What differs between services is how they choose which communities to show a family. Senior Places scores every community on the family’s own care needs, lifestyle preferences, and budget and writes a Match Report; families never pay.
Related terms
Match Score
A Match Score is the Senior Places rating of how well a specific community fits a specific family, computed from the family’s own quiz answers on care needs, lifestyle preferences, and budget against the community’s data.
Match Report
A Match Report is the AI-written, per-family explanation on Senior Places of why a community fits, where it falls short, and what to confirm on a tour.
Definitions reviewed September 5, 2026. Rules vary by state and change over time; confirm specifics with the community and the licensing agency.