Every finding, checked against its source
Source checking is the step in every Buteo validation that holds each finding to the text of the page it cites. A claim the page supports can back the verdict. A claim it does not support is flagged and stays in view. A link the search never returned is removed.
By Buteo · Updated
A finding
Teams in this segment lose hours every week to the problem, and the tools everyone recommends did not fix it.
The page it cites
The text of that page
… honestly we lose hours every week to this. We went through the tools everyone recommends and none of them fixed it …
Supported
The page says it. The finding can back a confirmed point in the verdict.
Not supported
A real page that does not say it. Flagged, kept in view, and it cannot back a confirmed point.
Link removed
An address the search never returned. The link is stripped from the finding.
What a source weighs · a fixed formula, never a model
- Class of source
- 40%
- How recent
- 20%
- Stated confidence
- 25%
- Agreement between passes
- 15%
How it works
Every finding names its page
Research keeps the address and the text it read, not only the claim it drew from them.
The claim is held to that text
Its numbers have to be there, and enough of its wording. The same two tests every time.
The result travels with the finding
Supported, not supported or link removed. It decides what the verdict may rest on.
What you get
Findings you can open
Each one links to the page it came from, so checking Buteo takes one click.
Unsupported claims in plain sight
Flagged with what the page lacked, and never hidden.
No invented links
An address the search did not return is stripped from the finding.
Quality from a formula
Source class, date, stated confidence and agreement between passes. Never a model's opinion.
A verdict held to its sources
A confirmed point with no supported source behind it is downgraded to uncertain.
A last attack on the strongest claims
A pass that searches to break the best supporting evidence before the verdict is written.
How does Buteo check a source?
It reads the page a finding cites and holds the claim to that text. Every number in the claim has to appear on the page, and so does enough of its wording. No AI model is involved in the check: it is the same two tests every time, so it cannot be talked round.
The exact thresholds are in the methodology.
What happens to a claim that fails?
It depends on how it failed, and the two are not the same.
- The page is real but does not say it. The link is kept and the finding is labelled as unsupported by its source, so you can open the page and see for yourself.
- The address was never in the search results. The link is removed. There is nothing there to check.
Either way the finding stays in your evidence ledger, counted and labelled, and the verdict is not allowed to rest a confirmed point on it.
How much does a source weigh?
As much as a fixed formula says: the class of site it is, how recent it is, the confidence the finding states (never above what the source itself is worth), and whether separate research passes agree. It is never a model's judgement, which is what makes two runs comparable. The weights and the table of source classes are in the methodology.
What does the check not catch?
A page that is wrong. The check shows that a source says what the finding claims, not that the source is right. Two things work on that gap: a weak class of site weighs less whatever it says, and before the verdict a separate pass searches specifically to break the strongest supporting evidence.
That pass may find nothing, and is told that nothing is a valid result. A critic made to criticise invents something.
Where it sits on the way to a startup
01 Find the idea
02 Validate
- Idea validation
- Source checking
- Competitor map
03 Test
04 Build
05 Launch
06 Grow
- Find leadsSoon
- Marketing campaignsSoon
Questions people ask about this
Can an AI validator invent its sources?
A model can write a link that does not exist. Buteo removes any address its own search never returned, and labels a finding whose real page does not support it. Neither can back a confirmed point in the verdict, and both stay visible in the ledger.
Does Buteo hide evidence that failed its check?
No. An unsupported finding stays in the evidence ledger with a note saying what its page lacked. Hiding it would also hide how much of the research did not hold up, which is something you should see.