Sources and citations

Every answer that uses your documents shows where it comes from. You can open each cited page, see the exact passage highlighted, and check the answer yourself.

Citations in an answer

Inline markers. Numbered markers such as [1] follow the parts of the answer they support. Hover over a marker to preview the passage; select it to open the page.
Linked values. Values copied from a page, such as an amount or a date, are links too. Hover to preview the passage and select to open the page with the value marked.
Source list. Under the answer, a line such as 3 sources opens the list of cited pages, each with its document name and page number.
Skills. If Brain followed a skill, the answer says so, for example Followed the skill vat-returns, with the version it used.

If an answer cites nothing from your documents, the line under it reads General knowledge, not from your documents.

Open a cited page

Select a marker, a linked value, or a page in the source list.
The document reader opens on that page with the cited passages highlighted. The passages of the part you selected are in focus.
Use Previous and Next, or type a Page number and select Go, to move through the document.
Switch to Summary to read the document’s Overview and Key facts, or back to Document pages.
Select Download original to download the original file.

The reader shows the indexed text of each page, the same text Brain read. Some pages have no indexed text, like the overview of an audio recording: open the document in Studio to read them. You can open the same reader from the Documents tab of a knowledge base.

Tables across many documents

For questions that cover many documents, such as “total of all invoices by client”, Brain can read every document into a table, labeled for example Table of 42 documents.

Each row shows its Document and Page. Select a row or a value to open the page with the value marked.
Totals are calculated from the values in the table.
Values marked Counts against the totals, such as a refund, are subtracted.
Select Download CSV to download the table.

Notes above the table tell you what it does not cover:

Note	Meaning
Documents without matching data	Documents where Brain found no value for the table.
Could not be read	Documents that failed while being read.
Values discarded because they did not match their pages	Values Brain left out because they were not found on the cited page.
More rows not shown	Rows hidden from the table. The totals include them.

Checks and their limits

Brain checks parts of its answer against the pages it cites: that values appear on their pages, that tables match the rows they come from, and that calculations add up. When a check finds a problem Brain can fix, it corrects the answer; View activity shows Corrected the answer. When it cannot, the part is set apart with a To check note and the pages to check it against.

Keep in mind:

A citation points to the page Brain read, not to every page that mentions the topic. Other relevant pages may exist.
Brain answers only from the knowledge bases you selected and the documents they had indexed when you asked.
If Brain cannot give a reliable answer, it says so instead of guessing. Name a document, a period, or a specific point and ask again.