Decision and verification worksheet
Creator Lane | Reviewed October 24, 2026
https://creatorlanehq.com/blog/search-grounding-vs-prompted-citations

SEARCH GROUNDING VS ASKING AN LLM TO ADD CITATIONS
Original Creator Lane decision worksheet | 2026-10-24

TASK
Audience / project:
Required outcome:
Current workflow and its specific limitation:
Options actually available without a new purchase:
Source material and permission:

DECISION QUESTIONS
Why can a citation-shaped answer still be wrong?
Your evidence / answer:
Unresolved detail / owner:

When do you need live search?
Your evidence / answer:
Unresolved detail / owner:

Can supplied documents replace web search?
Your evidence / answer:
Unresolved detail / owner:

How should grounded claims be checked?
Your evidence / answer:
Unresolved detail / owner:

What belongs in a research handoff?
Your evidence / answer:
Unresolved detail / owner:


PRACTICE BRIEF
Ask for the current export options of a subtitle tool twice: once with supplied official documentation and once with a working search tool. Compare claim support, not answer confidence. If either answer cites an unrelated pricing page for a file-format claim, mark it unsupported and find the actual export documentation before publishing.

ACCEPTANCE CHECKS
[ ] Verify retrieval actually occurred
Evidence:
[ ] Read the supporting passage
Evidence:
[ ] Preserve scope and uncertainty
Evidence:

RESULT LOG
Option / exact version / account or interface:
Date / source URLs checked:
Input / settings / output version:
What was actually tested (leave blank if not tested):
Accepted results / failures / correction time:
Actual charges, if any (do not estimate as measured):
Privacy / permissions / delivery checks:
Decision and main limitation:
Next action / owner:
Recheck trigger:

REFERENCES
Gemini grounding with Google Search: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/google-search
ChatGPT Search documentation: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9237897-chatgpt-search
Google people-first content guidance: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content

You may adapt this original worksheet for personal and client work. Third-party materials retain their own licences.