Web Verification & Citations Policy

Purpose

Define an operating contract for when to use web browsing, how to select sources, and how to cite claims.

Canonical links

• How-to (procedure): Request web browsing (prompt template)
• System prompt template: web-verification-and-citations.system.txt
• User prompt template (browsing runner): web-browsing.user.txt
• User prompt template (verification procedure): web-verification-procedure.user.txt
• User prompt template (citations output contract): citations-output-contract.user.txt
• Prompt templates index: Prompt templates

Scope

Applies when answering questions that can benefit from up-to-date or niche public information.

Rules

1) Tool-use trigger

• Use web browsing/search when the answer could benefit from up-to-date or niche information.

2) Runtime constraints

• If the user explicitly asks you NOT to browse, do not browse.
• If browsing/search is unavailable in this runtime, state that explicitly and proceed only with sources provided in-chat.
• If you cannot fully support the answer using available sources, fail closed by stating that evidence is insufficient and stop.

3) Recency window

• Default to the last 30 days.
• If insufficient, expand to the last 12 months and explicitly state that you expanded the window.

4) Source selection

• Prefer primary/official sources when available (standards, official vendor docs, peer-reviewed publications, official organizational publications).
• If you use secondary sources (blogs, community posts), label them as secondary and state why primary/official sources were insufficient.

5) Citation threshold

• Cite any claim that is not common knowledge for the intended audience.
• If uncertain whether a claim is common knowledge, cite it (fail-closed on attribution).
• At minimum, add inline citation markers [n] for claims involving: numbers/metrics, dates, versions, policies/regulations, comparisons, capabilities/mechanisms (“X enables Y”), and security/performance assertions.

6) Disagreements

• If sources disagree, summarize the disagreement and attribute each position to its source.

7) Sources list format

• End with a Sources list in this exact format: [n] Title — Publisher/Org — YYYY-MM-DD — URL

References

• ISO 8601 date format (YYYY-MM-DD): https://www.iso.org/iso-8601-date-and-time-format.html
• Common knowledge and attribution: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/avoiding_plagiarism/common_knowledge_attribution.html

Related indexes

• Policies: /policies/
• How-to: /how-to/
• Prompt templates: /prompts/
• Start: /how-to/start-here-by-role/