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How-to Jun 16, 2026 4 min read

How to check AI citations before you trust an answer

AI answers can sound confident even when the sources are thin. AI FactScan gives you a quick way to inspect the citations before you rely on them.

You ran an AI search, got a clean answer with three citations, and moved on. Later, reviewing your notes, finishing the report, preparing for a meeting, you clicked the first link. It went nowhere. The second linked to a Reddit thread. The third was the AI company's own help page.

That is what a weak source list looks like before you check it.

The short version

AI FactScan does not tell you whether an AI claim is true. It helps you answer a narrower, useful question: what kind of sources is this answer relying on?

That difference matters. A strong-looking answer with weak sources deserves a slower read. A source list full of official pages, journals, and trusted references gives you a better starting point.

Basic workflow

  1. Open an AI answer that includes citations, source cards, URLs, DOI links, arXiv IDs, or PubMed links.
  2. Click AI FactScan and select the citation block on the page. If page selection is blocked, paste the answer into the extension instead.
  3. Review the A-F source grades and source proportion chart.
  4. Open any C, D, or F sources directly before using them in homework, research, reporting, or decisions.
  5. Ask the AI tool for better citations when sources are missing, self-referential, invalid, or weak.

What the grades mean

A
Official / authoritative sourceGovernment agencies, institutional databases, major international organizations, journals, and other high-authority references.
B
Trusted reference sourceRecognized media, publishers, standards bodies, and reference sources with stronger editorial or institutional signals.
C
Media / community / general sourceNot automatically bad, but worth opening before you cite or rely on it.
D
Content farm / review recommendedA caution signal. Read carefully and ask for stronger sources.
F
Self-reference / invalid sourceEmpty links, AI self-citations, invalid resolver links, or other source failures.

How to read the result

Do not look only at the biggest letter. Look at the mix.

  • Mostly A/B: good starting point, but still read the cited source.
  • Mostly C: common for news, blogs, and general web answers. Review before citing.
  • Any D/F: slow down. Open the source and ask the AI for stronger evidence.
  • High concentration: the answer may be relying too heavily on a narrow set of domains.
Use AI FactScan as a first-pass source quality check. It helps you decide where to spend your attention.

What to ask the AI next

If the source list looks weak, paste a prompt like this into your AI tool:

Please replace weak or general sources with original sources, official documents, peer-reviewed papers, primary data, DOI links, arXiv IDs, PubMed pages, or government / institutional sources where possible. If no strong source exists, say so clearly.

Common mistake

A real URL does not always mean a good citation. Sometimes AI gives a real page that is only loosely related to the claim. AI FactScan helps with source quality and link risk; you still need to check whether the cited page actually supports the sentence.

Start small

Try AI FactScan on one answer you already planned to use. If the sources look strong, continue. If they do not, ask for better citations before the answer enters your notes, essay, report, or decision.

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