Methodology
- Normalize the claim as it is commonly quoted (number, unit, population, date, attribution).
- Follow citations hop by hop to the organization that collected the data.
- Read the primary source: publisher, publication and fieldwork dates, method, sample, exact metric and the exact sentence.
- Compare the quote with the source on number, subject, metric, population and date; list every mismatch ("drift").
- Note the publisher's commercial interest. Look for newer or independent data.
- Assign a verdict and a confidence level, and write a safe rephrasing.
Verdicts
- Verified
- Primary source found; it says the same thing, the scope matches, and it is reasonably current.
- Misquoted
- Primary source found, but the way it is quoted changes the subject, metric, population or precision.
- Outdated
- Source found and quoted correctly, but old enough that the market has changed.
- Unsourced
- No primary data found; the trail ends in a roundup, a disowned quote or a circular citation.
Confidence
- High: primary document opened, method and sample stated, quote matches.
- Medium: thin method, or the primary was read only through a reliable secondary summary.
- Low: trail incomplete or conflicting.
We list only pages we actually opened. "Unsourced" means no primary data was found. It does not mean the idea behind the number is false.
Reference facts and dates
Besides debunking repeated stats, we keep reference facts: numbers agents and marketers need often (platform use from Pew Research Center, e-commerce share from the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. digital ad revenue from IAB/PwC, FTC disclosure and penalty rules), taken directly from the primary source. Every entry carries as_of (the period or publication the number describes) and last_checked (when we last opened the source). Numbers change: check the as-of date before you quote one.
Who does this
GroundedKit is a project of Organic Media Buying, LLC, a Delaware (US) limited liability company.
The GroundedKit team does the research with AI assistance: AI tools help search and follow citation trails, and every verdict is based on the primary documents we actually opened, which are listed on each claim page. Not every verdict has yet had a separate line-by-line second review, so check the sources yourself before you rely on one, and tell us if we got something wrong.
Corrections
Email [email protected] with the claim and the source. If we change a verdict, we update the page and its review date.