Use Web Search When Current Facts Matter

Outcome

Sourced answer

Returns an answer supported by inspected public sources, with citations attached to the claims they support.

Use case

Current or hard-to-verify public facts

Use for recent events, product changes, documentation updates, pricing, standards, regulations, niche terms, or public claims.

Failure mode

Stop when evidence is insufficient

Requires an explicit insufficiency result when search is unavailable or sources do not support the answer.

Scope and best-fit use

Use this prompt when public web evidence is required. Do not use it for files-only tasks, private data, or claims that must stay inside user-provided artifacts.

Primary focus

Search before answering current public claims

Use web search when the answer may depend on public information that is recent, changing, specialized, or outside reliable model recall.

Evidence boundary

Cite only sources that support the claim

Each material factual claim should be backed by an inspected source. Do not attach citations to claims the source does not directly support.

Use another prompt when

The task is files-only, private-source, or non-public

Use a files-only prompt when the answer must stay inside supplied artifacts, or a private-source workflow when the evidence is not public web content.

Inputs required

Provide the question, scope constraints, source preferences, freshness requirements, and required citation behavior. If search is unavailable or evidence is insufficient, the prompt should stop instead of guessing.

Question or claim to verify

The exact factual question, claim, topic, product, policy, standard, or documentation point that needs public-source verification.

Scope constraints

Relevant organization, jurisdiction, version, product, timeframe, source type, or exclusion constraints.

Freshness requirement

The required date, release, version, recency window, or source-date boundary when current information matters.

Citation requirements

Whether the answer must include inline citations, source dates, source comparison, disagreement handling, or an explicit insufficiency statement.

Copy-ready prompt

Copy the prompt and replace the QUESTION, SCOPE, and SOURCE REQUIREMENTS blocks before running the request.

Use web search before answering.

TASK:
Answer the QUESTION using current public web sources when needed. Do not answer from unsupported model memory if the answer depends on current, changing, specialized, or citation-required public information.

SEARCH TRIGGERS:
Use web search when any of the following apply:
- The question asks for current, recent, latest, updated, active, or changing information.
- The answer depends on product documentation, platform behavior, pricing, schedules, standards, laws, policies, or public guidance that may have changed.
- The topic is niche, unfamiliar, or hard to verify from general model knowledge.
- The user asks to browse, search, verify, look up, cite, or check public sources.
- The answer requires citations or source comparison.

SOURCE RULES:
- Prefer official documentation, standards bodies, primary sources, recognized institutions, or directly relevant source material.
- Use secondary sources only when primary sources are unavailable or when the task asks for public reporting or comparison.
- Check source relevance, freshness, and direct support before using a source.

FAILURE RULES:
- If web search is unavailable and the question requires web verification, output: BROWSING_UNAVAILABLE.
- If the inspected sources do not support the answer, output: INSUFFICIENT_EVIDENCE.
- If sources disagree, attribute the disagreement instead of flattening it into one unsupported answer.
- If a claim cannot be supported by the inspected sources, remove it or mark it as not verified.

OUTPUT:
A) Answer
B) Evidence summary
C) Source-supported claims
D) Source limits or disagreements
E) Not verified / insufficient evidence
F) Sources

QUESTION:
"""
Replace this block with the question or claim to verify.
"""

SCOPE:
"""
Replace this block with organization, jurisdiction, product, version, timeframe, exclusions, or other constraints.
"""

SOURCE REQUIREMENTS:
"""
Replace this block with required source types, freshness window, citation format, and any source-comparison requirements.
"""