AI glossary
Citations / grounding
Requiring the AI to cite the source of each claim it makes from a retrieved document. The single most effective tool against hallucination in RAG systems.
The longer version
The pattern: numbered chunks in the retrieved context, system prompt requires inline citations like [1] [2] for every factual claim, refusal when no source supports an answer. Hallucination rate drops 80%+ with this pattern in our deployments. See /templates/rag-citation-prompt for the exact prompt we use.
Related terms
RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
Fetching relevant documents from a database first, then asking the model to answer using only those documents. The default architecture for grounded chatbots and knowledge assistants.
Hallucination
When a model generates plausible-sounding but false content. Mitigated by RAG with citations, refusal patterns, retrieval-confidence thresholds, and eval coverage. Not zero, never zero.
