---
name: "deep-research-with-citation-checks-method"
description: "Use when you need to Get a deep research report you can trust, with every citation checked. Run a deep research report and check its citations in seven steps"
---

# Run a deep research report and check its citations in seven steps

Job: [Get a deep research report you can trust, with every citation checked](https://aiagents.org/canai/deep-research-with-citation-checks)

## Need

- ai agent: [Deep research agent](https://aiagents.org/agents/deep-research-agent)

## Steps

1. Frame a single, exact question that names the decision, the period and which kinds of sources you accept.
2. Review the agent's plan first, cutting off-topic branches and adding sources you already rely on.
3. Run the research so the report finishes with a table giving, for every claim, the link, the date and the sentence that backs it.
4. Using a new session with no memory of the draft, have an agent test every link, marking each claim as backed, partly backed or not backed.
5. Personally read the sources for any claim you plan to use or publish, plus a sample of the others, checking the date and that it is the original page.
6. Remove claims whose sources are dead or invented, tone down those only partly backed, and keep a note of each change.
7. Add a brief note on how the report was made and what it could not cover, such as sources behind paywalls, and share it yourself.
8. Optional: The source includes a research prompt and a link-check prompt; they are linked there, not copied here.
9. Note: The steps are in source order, restated in our own words from the Agents Handbook (CC BY 4.0). Repeat for each research question.

## Credit

Method author Agents Handbook editors (CC BY 4.0)
Source: https://agentshandbook.com/p/run-a-deep-research-report-and-verify-its-citations