Methodology

1. Establish the entity

Research starts by fixing the subject's identity: exact name, location, and any identifier that distinguishes it from similarly named entities — a registration number, a school code, an address. Where two entities share a name, that ambiguity is stated in the profile rather than resolved silently.

2. Search the record, not the summaries

We look for primary documentation first: government registries, regulator lists, awarding-body publications, court and corporate filings. Press coverage is then searched across the full period the entity has existed, not only recent results.

3. Read every source

Each candidate source is opened and read against the specific claim it would support. A source is only cited if it contains that claim. This step is not optional and is not delegated to a search snippet or an AI summary; research assistance may propose sources, but a proposed source is treated as a lead until a human has read the document.

4. Separate the kinds of evidence

Claims are sorted into independent reporting, institutional records, government records and first-party statements. The profile keeps them visibly distinct. Where a source is used only to establish that something exists — an award programme, say — rather than that the subject received it, the profile says so.

5. Record what failed

Claims that could not be verified are listed in an "Open items" section on the profile. A claim that appeared in a draft and did not survive checking is removed, not softened with hedging language. Nothing is published on the strength of a source we could not open.

6. Write to a fixed template

Each entity type has its own template — a school profile and a person profile ask different questions — so that profiles are comparable and a reader knows where to look. Structured data is emitted for the entity type, using only fields for which the profile holds evidence.

7. Date it and keep it

Every profile carries a publication date, a last-updated date and a named author. Profiles are revisited when new documentation appears, and updates are reflected in the last-updated date.