How to ask better questions of your documents.
Give your question a scope, a task and a way to verify the answer.
Ask for a specific explanation, comparison or fact. Name the section or time period when it matters. “What does the quality gate measure?” is easier to verify than “Tell me everything.”
What makes a useful document question?
Ask for a specific explanation, comparison or fact. Name the section or time period when it matters. “What does the quality gate measure?” is easier to verify than “Tell me everything.”
Ask for the evidence
Follow up with a request for the supporting passage. Read nearby text for exceptions, definitions and assumptions.
Keep the claim and the evidence close enough to compare.
Treat missing evidence honestly
If the selected sources do not support an answer, record that gap. A statement that the evidence was not found is more useful than a confident guess.
Try the workflow
Open the sample workspace, ask a question, and follow the citation to its passage. Add a note explaining what the passage does—and does not—support.
Explore an exampleRelated questions
How are answers connected to sources?
Citely retrieves relevant passages from your documents and associates answers with source references. Open a citation to inspect its context; a citation does not by itself guarantee that a claim is correct.
Can I try Citely without creating an account?
Prepared sources, conversations, citations and notes demonstrate the complete review workflow. Request demo access to try the actual product.
Editorial draft for design review. Product-specific details should be verified before publication.