When to use this
- The answer includes numbers, dates, names or quotes.
- You're about to use it in homework or a presentation.
- You asked about recent news or something not many people write about.
Try asking
Paste one into any AI chatbot as it is — or, better, change it to fit your own subject.
For each sentence in your answer that has a number or a date, tell me where that information was first published. Mark anything you're not sure about as unsure.
Why it works · Asking for the original source gives you somewhere to go and check, and shows which parts are shaky.
Point out any part of your explanation that might be wrong, or where experts disagree.
Why it works · Getting it to flag its weak spots narrows down what to check — but don't take that answer on trust either; the final check is yours.
What search terms, and what kinds of sites — government agencies, museums, universities, news outlets — should I use to check this myself?
Why it works · Asking how to check sends you to the original material instead of the AI's word, and makes searching faster.
Avoid
- Believing it because it sounds sure — sounding confident and being true are two different things.
- Citing a link the AI gave you without opening it — you only know whether a link really says that by clicking it.
- Asking the same AI "are you sure?" and stopping there — the same source can repeat the same mistake, so check somewhere else.
How to check the answer
- Check numbers, dates, names and quotes where they were first published — the organization's own site, or the original book or paper.
- Open each link and make sure the page really says the same thing. If it doesn't, don't use that sentence.
- Look at three things — source, date and somewhere else: do two or three separate places say the same thing?
In one line
Sounding sure doesn't make it true.