Check current information and sources

You learn when web searching is necessary, how to evaluate sources, and how to verify an answer step by step.

After this chapterAfter this chapter, you can separate factual claims from advice and follow a verifiable source path for important information.

Your progress0 of 48 lessons

5.1

When current information is needed

Let ChatGPT search when date, price, regulations, schedule, or recent events determine the outcome.

Many answers change over time: opening hours, software features, rates, legislation, news, and product availability. Then explicitly ask for current information and sources when web searches are available.

Note the reference date. A source from yesterday may be useful for news, but an old page may be unsuitable for a current rate. Without web searches, ChatGPT must clearly state that current verification is needed outside the conversation.

Recognize time-sensitive claims
Ask for current web sources
Record reference date
Check publication and validity

How you can use this

Personal use: train times and travel advice. Study: current statistics. Work: software versions. Entrepreneurship: current rates or permits.

Try this prompt

Find current information about [topic] as of [date]. Prefer official primary sources. For each claim, give the source, publication date, and any period of validity.

Your practical exercise

Choose a time-sensitive question and note in advance which date and type of source are needed.

Source for this lesson

OpenAI — Web search
Web searches and source references; availability may vary with settings.
Checked: 2026-09-07

5.2

Sources in a sensible order

Start with the organization that publishes the rule, data, or product information itself.

A primary source comes as close as possible to the fact: legislator, government agency, research report, manufacturer, or original dataset. A specialist source can help interpret. A blog or social post can provide a clue, but is rarely the best final evidence.

Authority alone is not enough. Check whether the source really concerns your country, date, product version, and situation.

Primary source first
Use specialist sources for interpretation
A commercial source may have a vested interest
Check scope of application

How you can use this

Belgian regulations: first check with the competent authority or official legislation. Product function: check in the current documentation from the supplier.

Try this prompt

Provide a source plan in three levels for [claim]: primary source, reliable interpretation, and independent verification. Explain what each source does and does not prove.

Your practical exercise

Take a concrete claim and find the original source behind a summary article.

5.3

Check claim by claim

A source for an answer is only useful if it supports the specific claim.

A long paragraph can contain multiple claims. Split them up and ask which source is needed for each claim. Open the source and look for the relevant passage. A correct URL alongside an incorrect interpretation is still a wrong answer.

Pay attention to numbers, comparisons, causes, conditions, and words like always, never, or average. Those often require separate evidence.

Split composite claims
Open the source
Find the supporting passage
Check conditions and exceptions

How you can use this

'This scheme applies to all self-employed persons from January' contains at least target group, start date, and universal application as separate claims.

Try this prompt

Split this text into verifiable claims: [text]. Make a table with claim, required source, relevant passage, status, and uncertainty.

Your practical exercise

Take an answer with three facts. Open each source and write a short passage for each fact in your own words.

Source for this lesson

European Union – Languages
Real source for the guided check of the number of official EU languages and the historical entry for Dutch.
Checked: 2026-09-07

Guided practice · then try it yourself

Open and check one real source together

Here you use a real public source. The incorrect answer below was invented by the course author; it is not an observed ChatGPT response. You can perform the entire check in your ordinary browser, even without web search in ChatGPT.

Deliberately incorrect practice answer: “The European Union has 27 official languages.” Source cited: European Union, Languages.

Write down the precise claim: the number of official EU languages is 27. Check the number of languages; do not turn this into a question about countries or languages spoken at home.
Open the official page yourself using the link below. Check the domain european-union.europa.eu in the address bar and read the page title, Languages. A search result or an AI-supplied title is not enough.
Search the main text for “official languages”. Read the sentence before the list of languages. Look for evidence in the content, not just in the website’s language selection menu.
Compare the number you found with the claim. Also record the date of your check. If you cannot find a publication or update date on the page, write “not stated”; do not invent a date.
Correct the claim and retain the direct source link. If the link stops working later, search the official EU website for the Languages page. Without a supporting passage, the claim remains unchecked.

Open the official EU Languages page

Field	Completed example log
Claim	The EU has 27 official languages.
Source and location	European Union, Languages; main text immediately before the list of languages.
Supporting passage	“The EU has 24 official languages” (short exact quotation).
Date and scope	Checked on 7 September 2026. No visible publication/update date found. This concerns official EU languages.
Decision	The practice claim is incorrect: replace 27 with 24. Merely citing the official source did not make the first answer reliable.

Corrected version: the EU has 24 official languages, according to the EU page opened for this check. The link is above. One relevant primary source is usable for this small, low-risk fact. For decisions with major consequences, also check independently, as this chapter explains.

Now try it yourself: check the deliberately invented claim “Dutch became an official EU language in 1973”. Use the same page, but find a different passage this time. Record the claim, location, evidence in your own words, your checking date, uncertainty and corrected conclusion. Only then look at the answer.

View the answer and assessment criteria

Under History, Dutch is listed under 1958. The practice claim of 1973 therefore becomes 1958. A sufficient log refers to that historical list, identifies the difference and states your actual checking date. Referring only to the general list of languages does not support the year. If the source has changed, record what you actually see.

5.4

Check figures and calculations

Check input, units, formula, and rounding separately.

ChatGPT can help with calculations, but figures may be copied or interpreted incorrectly. Provide units and definitions. Ask for a calculation you can check, and verify important amounts separately in a spreadsheet or with a reliable calculator.

A visible step-by-step plan is useful but does not prove that the steps are correct. Also check if the chosen formula fits the question.

A second calculation by the same assistant is an internal recheck. It may repeat the same error. When checking for yourself, first establish which number is the comparison base and which unit each number uses; do not blindly copy the AI’s formula.

Fictional calculation example: an amount rises from €80 to €100. The difference is €20; the percentage increase is €20 / €80 × 100 = 25%. Dividing by €100 gives 20%, but uses the wrong comparison base for this increase. Check the formula and calculate it yourself with a calculator.

Distinguish a written-out calculation from one actually performed using a calculator tool or program. A neat formula in a chat is not proof of tool use. If an analysis feature is available, it can execute calculations; check the data, formula and reported result. Executed code can also use wrong input or a wrong formula. Your own calculator is sufficient for this basic lesson: let ChatGPT suggest an approach and check it against the question yourself.

Input
Unit
Formula
Rounding
Independent recalculation

How you can use this

Personal use: a monthly budget. Study: a percentage problem. Work: the difference between planned and actual results. Entrepreneurship: a simple margin, not full accounting yet.

Try this prompt

Calculate [question]. Show the input with units, formula, intermediate results, and rounding. Recheck using another method. Specify which input and formula I should then verify myself using a calculator or spreadsheet.

Your practical exercise

Make a simple calculation, then change a unit and first predict the effect on the result yourself.

Source for this lesson

OpenAI — Code Interpreter
Technical background: a tool can execute code. The API examples are not required for this calculator exercise and do not demonstrate access on your account.
Checked: 2026-09-08

5.5

Higher stakes require a higher standard

Medical, legal, tax, and financial decisions require current sources and a qualified expert.

ChatGPT can help understand a letter, prepare questions, or structure options. It should not be the sole basis for decisions when health, rights, taxes, large amounts, or safety are at stake.

The safe route is: formulate the question, collect official information, note uncertainties, and discuss the concrete situation with a qualified professional. Do not unnecessarily share an entire file with AI.

Use AI for preparation
Search for current official information
Do not use a unique case file as practice material
Involve a qualified expert in the decision

How you can use this

Let ChatGPT organize questions for a doctor, lawyer, accountant, or bank advisor, but ask the professional for situation-specific advice.

Try this prompt

Help me prepare an appointment with [expert]. Organize my questions, mark missing information, and do not give individual advice or diagnosis.

Your practical exercise

Create a questionnaire for an expert around a fictional or anonymized problem. Make sure that the prompt does not request a diagnosis.

5.6

A verification log

Keep track of which claims you checked, against which source, and on which date.

A verification log prevents you from later forgetting why you trusted an answer. Note the claim, source, relevant passage, date of verification, status, and remaining uncertainty.

For recurring information, add a recheck trigger, for example annual rate, new software version, or changed legislation. This way, control becomes a process instead of a one-time check.

Claim
Source and passage
Check date
Status
Recheck trigger

How you can use this

Work: policy information. Study: sources for a report. Entrepreneurship: rates, obligations, and market data.

Try this prompt

Create a verification table with columns: claim, primary source, relevant passage, check date, status, uncertainty, and recheck trigger.

Your practical exercise

Fill in a verification log for three claims from an earlier answer.

Why is a real source link not yet proof for a sentence in an answer? Describe your checking process from memory.

Open the source and find the passage supporting the specific claim.
Check the period, audience and conditions; retain unknown or unsupported elements as such.

Worked example

A real link would not rescue an incorrect claim

Fictional practice material; incorrect answers have been created deliberately for this exercise.

An entirely fictional source exercise: Museum Voorbeeld exists here only as a practice case. Source excerpt: “September: open on Sundays from 14:00 to 17:00. Adults €6. Children under 12 free.” This is not a real website or current visitor information.

Input

Summarize the opening hours and admission price. Use only the fictional source excerpt.

First practice answer

The museum is open every day from 14:00 to 17:00 and admission is free. This answer is deliberately wrong so you can practise checking sources.

Check

“Every day” conflicts with “on Sundays”. “Free” applies only to children under 12. September must also remain in the answer. For a real check, open the actual official page, find the supporting passage, and check the date, eligible group, and exceptions. Then save the source and check date.

Improved version

According to the fictional excerpt, the museum is open on Sundays in September from 14:00 to 17:00. Adults pay €6; children under 12 enter free. This excerpt does not confirm other months.

Try it yourself

Check the claim “Admission is also free for everyone in October” using only the excerpt.

View the model answer

Unsupported: the excerpt covers September, not October. During the stated period, free admission applies only to children under 12. For a real question about October, find current official information; do not fill in the missing period yourself.

Chapter assignment

Bring everything together

Check three specific claims from a ChatGPT answer and provide a verification table with source, passage, date, and status.

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