Quality and evidence, control 5 of 15
Q-05 Verify consequential factual claims before publication
No consequential factual claim may be promoted to published certainty without a suitable current source. Plausibility, repetition and model confidence are not verification.
- Priority
- Gate. A FAIL stops publish or launch.
- Hard gate
- Yes. A FAIL stops publication, whatever the score.
- Change class
- EVIDENCE_REQUIRED: Authoritative facts must be supplied.
- Quality bucket
- Accuracy and evidence chain
Why it matters
A wrong price, date, regulation or specification misleads readers who may act on it, and it damages trust in the whole site. Google's guidance on people-first content stresses accuracy and trustworthiness. AI answer engines can also repeat an unverified claim as if it were fact.
Evidence to review
- Claim ledger with source, checked date, scope and reviewer.
How to implement
- Build claim-to-source records.
- Check exact product version, region, date and qualifying conditions.
- Leave a missing fact unresolved, remove the unsupported claim or request source data; never publish an invented placeholder.
How UltimateSEO checks this
Needs your evidence. No automated check covers this control, so it stays UNKNOWN until evidence is supplied.
Evidence needed: the pre-publication fact check record for critical claims on the page.
States used: PASS, FAIL, UNKNOWN, NOT_APPLICABLE or BLOCKED. UNKNOWN is never shown as a pass. How states work.
Sources
Part of The UltimateSEO Framework v4.3, catalogue dated 2026-10-14. Evidence states, control states and the publish gate are explained on the hub.