Chapter 07 · Writing articles
Evidence and citations
Where the facts in a draft come from, how the Public sources and Knowledge used panels work, what gets redacted, and what to do when the evidence looks thin.
Updated Sep 19, 2026 · 5 min read
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Every article Serpio writes carries an evidence bundle: the exact passages the writer was allowed to draw on, frozen at the moment the run started. The workspace shows that bundle in two collapsible panels above the featured image, Public sources and Knowledge used, each with a count in its title. If a draft has neither, the panels do not appear.
Two kinds of evidence
| Kind | Where it comes from | How a card looks |
|---|---|---|
| Public sources | Pages fetched from the open web during the run (bounded to a handful of queries and pages), plus sources attached to the idea you started from. | A linked title, the publish date when known, and the passage as a tooltip on hover or focus. |
| Knowledge used | Your knowledge base documents and URL sources, indexed pages from your own site, and your saved brand profile. | A lock icon, a label such as Website knowledge, Knowledge document or Saved brand profile, and a version marker like v3 or Saved snapshot. |
The split is by ownership, not by trust. A page on your own domain counts as knowledge even though it is public, because it is your claim about your product. A third-party page is a public source even when it agrees with you.
How passages are chosen and used
Before writing, Serpio builds a query from the topic, the outline and your audience, then retrieves up to eight passages whose facts may be published and up to two marked context only. It records the knowledge revision it read from and retries if your knowledge changed mid-run, so a draft never mixes two versions of a source. That set becomes the snapshot. Later uploads and refreshes affect the next article, not this one.
Each knowledge source has a publication permission set in the knowledge base. Facts allowed passages can be stated and cited. Context only passages shape the writer's understanding but are never quoted, never cited and never listed in these panels. See usage settings and permissions.
Hover or focus a card to read the excerpt that was actually available. If the excerpt does not support a sentence in the draft, the quality check is the mechanism that catches it.
What is redacted
Private identifiers never leave the knowledge base. Before a passage reaches the writer, the panels or an export, Serpio replaces file names, storage paths, signed download links and local paths with the marker [private source identifier removed]. Ordinary public URLs pass through untouched, even when a public PDF shares a name with something you uploaded. Uploaded documents are also never offered as link targets, so a draft cannot link to a private file.
Why some claims carry a citation and some do not
- A public source has a URL, so a claim drawn from it can link out. Statistics in particular are expected to carry one.
- A private document has nothing publishable to link to. The claim can stand because the evidence exists in the bundle, but it appears without a citation.
- Your own site pages can be linked, and often are, as internal links rather than footnote-style citations.
- The reviewer checks every claim against the whole evidence inventory, not against the nearest link. A citation placed on the wrong sentence is an advisory note, not a block, unless the claim itself is unsupported or the source is fabricated.
When evidence looks thin
- 1
Read the counts
A draft with Public sources (1) and no knowledge card was written from very little. "No knowledge passages were used in this article." means retrieval found nothing relevant in your knowledge base for this topic.
- 2
Add the knowledge you wish it had
Upload the spec sheet, the pricing page, the case study. Set the permission to facts allowed. See adding documents and adding URLs and refresh policies.
- 3
Pick a closer angle
If your knowledge base is about onboarding and the topic is pricing psychology, the writer has to lean on public research. Use the Editorial direction fields to steer toward what you can support, or choose a topic that sits on your own ground.
- 4
Generate again
Editing the current draft does not fetch new evidence; the bundle is fixed. A new run reads the current knowledge revision and shows the difference in the panels.
Common questions
What does Saved snapshot mean on a knowledge card?
The passage was captured before versioned knowledge existed, or its version number was not recorded. The text shown is exactly what the writer saw.
Can I add a citation link myself?
Yes, with Add link in the editor. The next check treats it like any other claim, so link to a real page that says what the sentence says.
Are my documents published with the article?
No. Only facts drawn from them appear, with private identifiers removed. The files stay in your knowledge base.
Related guides
Knowledge Base overview: what Serpio knows about your brand
The Knowledge Base holds documents, URLs, and site pages that inform article writing. It stays independent from idea discovery until you choose a topic and generate.
Read guideNo invented links or facts: how the quality gate works
Every Serpio article links only to real indexed pages and records the evidence behind its claims. How link picking, evidence bundles, quality review, and approval fit together.
Read guideQuality checks before you publish
How Serpio reviews each revision against its evidence without letting reviewer outages or editorial warnings interrupt creation or publishing.
Read guide