Getting useful AI help
Set source requirements for an AI research request
Decide before the request what counts as a good source, how recent it must be, and what each citation must include. Put those rules in the question and ask the assistant to mark any claim it cannot support, so weak spots are easy to find.
A text to start with
I need research on [question]. Use only these kinds of sources: [source types]. Prefer material from [date range or recency need]. For every claim, give the source title, publisher, date and exact link. If you cannot support a claim, say so and leave the gap. Keep summaries separate from direct quotes. State which sources you could actually inspect. If you cannot access the needed material, say what I must supply rather than inventing a citation.
Example request. Change the details to fit your situation.Source requirements and verification log
Research question: [ ] Why I need it: [ ] Acceptable source types: [ ] Source types to exclude: [ ] Recency needed (earliest acceptable date): [ ] Citation detail required: [title / publisher / date / link / page or section] Claim 1: [ ] Source and link: [ ] Opened successfully: [yes / no] Source supports the claim: [yes / partly / no] Claim 2: [ ] Source and link: [ ] Opened successfully: [yes / no] Source supports the claim: [yes / partly / no] Claims dropped as unsupported: [ ] Still to research: [ ]
Sources that look right but fail
A link can be formatted perfectly and still be useless. Open every one. A source may fail to load, sit behind a login you lack, or exist but say something different from the claim attached to it. Check that a summary matches the relevant passage on the page. Compare publication dates with your recency need. Treat a source with no named author or publisher as unverified until you find the original. If a claim has no usable source, remove it or mark it unsupported.
Ask another agent to check the result
Compare each claim with the cited passages I provide or sources you can actually inspect. Mark sources you cannot access as unchecked, and do not pretend their contents are known. For a mismatch, quote the claim and the relevant passage, then suggest whether to narrow it or seek better evidence.
Verify before you reuse anything
Open each source and compare it with the claim it supports. Record which claims you confirmed and which you dropped. Ask the assistant to redo only the unsupported claims under the same source rules. When you share the result, include the source list so a reader can repeat your checks.