Research with citations.
6 MIN READ · UPDATED 2026-08Cited web search only works if you use it like a source, not an answer. Here's the difference, and the specific habits that separate them.
LADLE's web-search mode returns answers with inline citations that link to the sources used. If you use those citations as a black box — trust that they say what LADLE says they say — you'll be wrong about something important at least once a month. If you use them like a real citation, they get out of the way and let you do research meaningfully faster.
Verify the source, not the summary.
The most common failure mode with cited AI answers: the citation exists, the URL is real, the summary in the response is directionally close, but a specific detail is inverted or exaggerated. This happens because summarization compresses; compression loses precision.
The fix is one habit. Before you use anything from a cited AI answer in your own writing or decision-making, open the citation and check that the source actually says what LADLE claims. It takes 20 seconds. It catches roughly one error a week if you do serious research.
Ask questions the web can answer.
Cited search is best at factual questions with defined answers: dates, prices, definitions, current state of a regulation, current pricing of a competitor. It's mediocre at interpretive questions ("was this decision wise") because it will pattern-match to opinion pieces and treat them as sources. For interpretive questions, use cited search to gather the factual scaffolding, then reason from there yourself.
Prefer primary sources when you can name them.
If your question is about a court case, ask for the opinion PDF. If it's about a study, ask for the paper. If it's about a company's numbers, ask for the filing. LADLE will often find these. When it doesn't, it defaults to secondary coverage — which is fine, but you should know that's what happened and treat the citation as one step removed.
When search says "I can't find it".
Sometimes the honest answer to a research question is "the search didn't return a source that answers this". LADLE will occasionally say so directly, and occasionally hedge with a partial answer. If the answer feels hedge-y and the citations don't quite pin it down, ask the follow-up: "Which specific claim in your answer are you unsure about, and what would confirm it?" This reliably surfaces the parts to double-check.
Cite in your work.
If you use a fact from a cited search in something you're publishing or presenting, cite it yourself the way you would cite any other source — the AI intermediation doesn't change your obligation. The citation LADLE gave you is the same citation you'd have found manually, once you verified it. Use it directly.
- Verify the source, not just the summary — 20 seconds catches most errors.
- Cited search is best at factual questions with defined answers.
- Prefer primary sources when you can name them.
- Hedge-y answers usually mean the search didn't fully resolve — ask the follow-up.
- Cite the source in your work, not 'LADLE said'.