In any area of expertise, intelligent people “refer” to those with specialized expertise. That is not a hiddush. Anyone in any field will over time tend to develop specialized expertise. That’s how the world works. The cooks in the neighborhood will know who is best at pastry, and who makes the best cholent. The gardeners know who can plants the best roses, and who raises the best tomatoes.
The title of “rabbi” has only a single “rank”. It’s a degree that at most is equivalent to a first undergraduate degree (a newly “graduated” rabbi is qualified to teach high school student. There are no “Jewish” equivalents of masters, doctorates, etc. And depending on their interests and career tracts, there are Talmidim Hachamim who never worry about semicha. It’s not a structured system similar to the goyim’ s degrees.