Evidence before claims
Search and AI visibility research
Independent, reproducible studies of search results, AI citations, information authority, web standards and the tools used to measure them.
Methods, sources, test data and material limitations are documented so findings can be checked and repeated.
Current research programme
Search claims lab
Compare public guidance from major platforms, map where they agree, identify what they leave out and test selected claims on a shared corpus.
Authority and citation observatory
Track how organisations, brands and authors appear across search results and generative answers over time.
Content measurement lab
Test how tools count characters, interpret headings, score content and represent search snippets using explicit edge cases.
High-stakes information studies
Examine authority, evidence, governance and citation patterns in sectors such as health without publishing medical advice.
Publication standard
- Question or claim being tested
- Sources, systems and versions included
- Test corpus or reproducible cases
- Results separated from interpretation
- Limitations, disclosures and unresolved questions
This page defines the research programme and publication standard. Individual studies will be linked here only after their method, evidence and limitations are ready for inspection.
Research status
Written and tested by Tom Petryk
Tom Petryk researches how search engines and generative systems evaluate, retrieve and cite web information. He has more than 20 years of experience in digital marketing and web development and publishes the tools, methods and test data used in TomSEOTools studies.