Sourcing and evidence methodology

Evidence before publication

Numbers, customer outcomes, product capabilities, competitor claims, rankings, quotes, and market-wide conclusions require a traceable source. A page cannot enter the release bundle unless every material claim maps to an approved source from its research pack.

Source hierarchy

1. Official product documentation, regulatory records, public customer stories, and original research.
2. Attributable research from established institutions and publishers.
3. Secondary analysis used for discovery and context, not as the sole proof for a material claim.

AI-generated summaries are discovery aids. They are not evidence unless the underlying native source URL is preserved and reviewed.

Evidence statuses

• Ready: every material claim is traceable to an approved source.
• Weak support: a source is linked but is not part of the approved research pack. Release is blocked.
• Unsupported: at least one material claim has no qualifying evidence. Release is blocked.

Measurement disclosure

AI mentions, provider-native linked citations, Google generative-AI impressions, organic search performance, AI referral traffic, and backlinks are reported as separate metrics. API observations are labeled as proxies and are not presented as identical to consumer application results.