As part of its assessment process, Ecovadis rates a company based on four main categories: Environment, Labour & Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement. Each category is given a specific weight in the overall assessment. However, the specific weighting of each category is not publicly disclosed.

The Environmental category focuses on a company's environmental performance and sustainability initiatives. It includes the assessment of environmental-related policies, measures, certifications, coverage, and reporting. Ecovadis also rewards companies for implementing external sustainability initiatives, for taking actions to mitigate environmental impacts, for obtaining certifications (e.g. ISO14001), and for reporting environmental key performance indicators (KPIs).

The Labour & Human Rights category focuses on a company's policies regarding labour rights, fair employment practices, and human rights practices. These include labour policies, training, security, endorsement of external initiatives, measures taken to ensure fair employment practices, certifications obtained, and reporting on KPIs related to labour and human rights.

The Ethics category focuses on a company's commitment to ethical business practices, anti-corruption measures, and compliance with ethical standards. Ecovadis examines various ethics-related factors, including policies, actions, and reporting. Condemnations, controversies and awards are also taken into account.

The Sustainable Procurement category focuses on a company's efforts to incorporate sustainable practices into its supply chain and procurement practices.

Based on this assessment and these four categories, Ecovadis assigns an overall score to a company (0-100). The score helps investors and stakeholders understand a company's sustainability performance relative to its peers.

Ecovadis also offers a range of industry-specific benchmarks and comparison tools to help companies and investors identify leaders within a sector.