Blog · AI and self-service analytics
A number in a report or an assistant's answer is a claim until it carries a citation, and a citation has five parts: the table, the row, the period cut, the definition version, and the upload it was computed from. Why each part is there, what a reader does with it, the difference between a citation and a link, how a citation survives a re-upload, and the three shortcuts that turn a citation into decoration.
A number without a citation is an opinion with decimals. A citation with five parts makes it a fact a reader can check in thirty seconds. This guide sets out the five parts, what each is for, how a citation differs from a link, and the shortcuts that hollow it out.
| Part | Example | What it lets the reader do |
|---|---|---|
| Table | Coverage by rep | Open the right table |
| Row | R-04, North | Find the figure and the rows beneath it |
| Period cut | Week ending 12 Sep 2026 | Know what period the figure describes |
| Definition version | v2026.3 | Compare like with like; spot a definition change |
| Upload | Ledger export L-0912, CRM export A-0912 | Reproduce the figure from the same files |
Coverage, R-04, North: 53%. Table 3, row 4; week ending 12 Sep 2026; definitions v2026.3; uploads A-0912, S-0912.
| Link | Citation |
|---|---|
| Points at a dashboard that has moved on | Points at a table, row and upload that do not change |
| Reproduces nothing | Reproduces the figure |
| "See dashboard" | Five named parts |
A dashboard link answers "where can I look"; a citation answers "where did this come from".
The same period is uploaded twice: the first export missed a day; the corrected one arrived a week later. Two figures for March exist, and each carries its upload identifier. The pack that went out cites the first; the corrected pack cites the second; the difference is explained by the uploads, not argued about.
Every number the assistant reads carries the citation inline or beside it. A reader who asks "where did that come from" is answered by the sentence that gave the number. An assistant that cannot cite a number did not read it from a table, and should not have said it.
Per table, in the footer: table, period cut, definition version, uploads. A board member's question about any number on the slide goes to the footer, to the table, to the row.
Table without row. The reader opens a table of two hundred rows and looks for the figure.
Period without version. The figure moved because the definition did, and nobody can tell.
Version without upload. Two Marches, and no way to say which the figure used.
| Question from the board | Answered from the citation |
|---|---|
| "Coverage fell eight points in the North. Why?" | Table 3, row 4: rep R-04, 138 of 226 covered; last month 156 of 228. Definitions unchanged, v2026.3. Uploads A-0912 vs A-0815 |
| "Is that the same definition as last quarter?" | Yes: v2026.3 both, dated 1 July |
| "Which file was it computed from?" | A-0912, the CRM export of 12 September, 48,211 activity rows |
Three answers in ninety seconds, none of them "I'll find out".
Links as citations. The dashboard moved.
Citations on some numbers. The uncited ones are the ones questioned.
Version omitted. The definition change reads as a movement.
Upload omitted. The corrected export and the first one cannot be told apart.
Covirage cites every figure it produces with the table, row, period cut, definition version and upload, in reports and in the assistant's answers. The metrics governance solution describes the setup, and the board narrative guide covers how the citations carry the pack's story.
Because the same period can be uploaded twice: a corrected ledger export a week after the first. A figure computed from the first upload and one from the second differ, and the citation says which. The upload identifier is the export's fingerprint, and it is what makes a figure reproducible.
Opens the table at the row and sees the account rows that sum to it; checks the definition version against the one on last month's report; and, if the two differ, knows the movement may be the definition. That is thirty seconds, and it is what turns a claim into a fact.
In a footer or an appendix, per table: table name, period cut, definition version, upload identifier. Not per number on the slide; per table the slide reads from. A board member who asks where a number came from gets the table and the row from the footer.