diff --git a/implementation/auditing/audit_engine.py b/implementation/auditing/audit_engine.py
index b2ff25a..351317e 100644
--- a/implementation/auditing/audit_engine.py
+++ b/implementation/auditing/audit_engine.py
@@ -63,12 +63,14 @@ def _normalize_phone(phone):
 
 
 def _normalize_address(addr):
-    """Lowercase, strip extra whitespace, remove suite abbrev variances."""
+    """Lowercase, strip extra whitespace, remove suite abbrev variances, drop commas."""
     if not addr:
         return ""
     s = re.sub(r'[\U000E0000-\U000EFFFF]', '', addr or '')
     s = re.sub(r'\s+', ' ', s.strip().lower())
     s = re.sub(r'\bst[e]*\.?\b', 'ste', s)
+    s = re.sub(r'\bsuite\b', 'ste', s)
+    s = s.replace(',', '')  # ponytail: comma is pure formatting, not a material diff
     return s
 
 
@@ -393,6 +395,31 @@ def check_review_text_quality(contract):
     return findings
 
 
+# ponytail: small explicit synonym map; extend when new variants appear in the wild
+_CATEGORY_SYNONYMS = {
+    "beauty salon": "beauty salon",
+    "beauty and spa": "beauty salon",
+    "beauty & spa": "beauty salon",
+    "beauty & spa": "beauty salon",
+    "salon and spa": "beauty salon",
+    "hair salon": "hair salon",
+    "hair & beauty salon": "hair salon",
+    "hair and beauty salon": "hair salon",
+    "day spa": "day spa",
+    "spa": "spa",
+    "medical spa": "medical spa",
+    "barber shop": "barber shop",
+    "barbershop": "barber shop",
+}
+
+
+def _normalize_category(cat):
+    if not cat:
+        return ""
+    c = re.sub(r'\s+', ' ', cat.strip().lower()).replace('&', '&')
+    return _CATEGORY_SYNONYMS.get(c, c)
+
+
 def check_category_alignment(contract):
     """Category consistency and fragmentation across surfaces."""
     findings = []
@@ -403,7 +430,7 @@ def check_category_alignment(contract):
         data = _safe_get(contract, "sources", src_data, default={})
         cat = data.get('category')
         if cat:
-            categories[src_name] = cat.lower().strip()
+            categories[src_name] = _normalize_category(cat)
 
     if len(categories) < 2:
         return findings