ZEILX.AI — Verification Flow
← Verification
Verification · Method & Practice

How a source moves
through the four passes

Every citation enters at the top and exits into the appendix — including the ones that fail. Nothing is removed silently.

Main path Fails a pass Verification pass Both paths end in the appendix
Intake

Draft with citations

A drafted report, its claims and cited sources not yet checked. Sources arrive here from research, from an assisting workflow, or from an AI-generated draft.

Pass 01 · Existence

Does it exist?

Resolve the citation against a retrievable record — a live URL, or a registry match in Crossref or OpenAlex. Author, title, outlet, and year must agree with the record.

Catches → fabricated and corrupted citations
Unresolvable

No matching record, or metadata that contradicts the record. The citation is removed from the claim, or retained only as evidence of a claim's weak origin.

→ logged as flagged
Pass 02 · Provenance

Where did it originate?

Trace the claim back past whoever repeated it. If several outlets cite one study, the citation is reassigned to the study. Outlet standing and author accountability are assessed here.

Catches → the single-source cascade
Origin not traceable

The claim circulates without an identifiable source. Treated as uncorroborated and disclosed as such rather than cited onward.

→ logged as flagged
Assign

Provisional tier

The source is tiered for the specific claim it supports — not for its masthead. The same outlet can tier differently elsewhere in the same report.

T1 primary T2 secondary T3 contextual T4 flagged
Pass 03 · Corroboration

Does anyone independent confirm it?

Load-bearing claims are checked against at least one genuinely independent account. Two outlets running the same wire copy count as one source, not two.

Catches → the isolated or misreported claim
Load-bearing rule triggered

A key claim resting on a lone T3 or T4 source cannot proceed. Either independent T1/T2 support is found, or the claim is softened or cut.

→ back to research, or logged as contested
Pass 04 · Disconfirmation

What would prove it wrong?

Actively search for retractions, failed replications, author disavowals, methodological critiques, and live scholarly disputes. Whatever is found is recorded rather than dropped.

Catches → confirmation bias
Contradicting evidence found

Tier is downgraded, or the claim is marked contested and the dispute disclosed in the body text alongside the claim itself.

→ logged with disclosure
Checkpoint · not automatable

Human review

Everything above can be assisted by a workflow. This cannot. Final tier assignment, the judgment call on contested material, and clearance to publish are made by a person — who is accountable for the result either way.

Confirm or revise tier Weigh contested claims Clear, cut, or soften
Terminal · published with the report

Verification appendix

Cleared sources and flagged ones land in the same place. An entry records what was checked and what was found, so a reader can audit the reasoning rather than take the reference list on faith.

identifier tier what was verified origin flag / dispute
KC-01 (T1)  verified: institutional report, figures checked against source PDF  ·origin: primary report
USAT-02 (T2)  verified: database figures corroborated by two independent trade reports  ·origin: outlet database
BIRD-01 (T4)  verified: attribution confirmed  ·flag: object of study, not evidentiary support  ·origin: supplied artifact
The identifier then travels unchanged from the appendix into the body text beside the claim it supports — so any statement in the report leads back to its verification record, and back again.

Illustrative entries. The method is a living document: passes, tiers, and the appendix format are revised as weaknesses are found.