Check where an AI-generated legal link actually leads
For people reviewing legal research produced with AI.
An AI answer includes a clickable legal source. How do I tell whether the link and the answer match?
Capture the answer, the displayed citation and the link’s actual destination. Open the destination and identify the document for yourself. Then locate the passage the answer claims to rely on. A genuine court website can host the wrong document, and the right document can contain a materially different rule.
Read the destination as a document
Copy the AI’s exact sentence, the citation printed next to it and the address the link opens. Check the document title, issuing body, date and document type. An opinion, a party’s brief, a draft rule and a court’s index can share the same official host. A filename or the title displayed by the AI is only a clue.
If the link goes to an index or a different item, look for the cited source through the named court, legislature or rulemaker’s own publication. Search by citation or case number as well as by name. Record both the original destination and any independently located replacement so another reader can reproduce the mismatch.
Test the passage against one generated sentence
Pick one sentence from the AI answer. If it gives a quotation, search for distinctive words, then read the complete passage on the original page. If the item is an image scan or the text search fails, inspect the cited page directly. Ask whether the passage says what the AI attributed to it, who is speaking and what condition the answer might have left out.
Classify the result as missing document, wrong document, missing passage, materially different passage or supported within stated limits. If the AI supplies a replacement link, repeat the same check. A second generated answer is another candidate to examine.
Write the correction where others can use it
Record the AI’s original sentence, the confirmed source and location, the mismatch you found and a corrected sentence if one is supported. If the source cannot be located, leave the claim unsupported. Check which version and forum matter before using the corrected answer in a real matter, and address later legal developments separately. The Northern District of California’s public AI guidance directs readers to verify legal citations and consult original sources.
Worked example
Illustrative link check. An AI answer says federal law forbids every leading question on direct examination and links to the U.S. Courts evidence rules index. The index leads to the rules PDF. In Rule 611(c), the reader finds a general restriction with exceptions, including when leading questions are needed to develop testimony. The reader records that the index was a genuine starting point and identifies the exact subdivision that qualifies the AI’s claim.
Primary sources
Related work at Agentic Attorney
This research-verification guide is part of the Agentic Attorney resource collection. The main site describes AI consulting and implementation for legal teams. Explore Agentic Attorney’s approach to AI implementation.