In short
In Verbatim, two agents handle research. The Research agent searches the web, search engines and public registers for as long as it takes. It reads every page it finds from start to finish and keeps the excerpts that matter. The Reading agent reads every document in your project, 40,000 pages if need be, and answers your questions with the exact page.
An investigation, a book or a credit note brings together reports, archives, interviews and web pages. Verbatim’s agents read all of it, search the web for what is missing and bring back every finding with its source.
The Research agent
The Research agent queries the web, several search engines and public registers: regulator notices, company filings, court records and public tenders. It reads every page it finds in full, keeps the excerpts that matter and sets the rest aside, with the reason for each. A long search becomes a task. You see its steps, its progress and the expected time of the result. The “Stop” button halts it at any moment.
The Reading agent
Give the Reading agent forty thousand pages. It reads every one and remembers every line: reports, scans, spreadsheets, emails and recordings, in most languages. You can also give it a task, such as “Read these three archive collections and build the timeline of the mill.” It returns a dated timeline, each event with its archive reference.
An answer with the exact page
You ask your question with the “Ask” button, and the answer arrives with its excerpts. Each excerpt gives its page and lines, its minute in a recording or its cell in a spreadsheet. A click opens the document at that spot. Asked “When was management first told about the leak?”, the agent answers “on 2 February” and opens page 3,412 of the maintenance log. When your sources do not hold the answer, Verbatim says so and offers to search the web.
Exact excerpts
The agent returns excerpts exactly as they appear in your documents. A quote is tied to a document only if the text appears there word for word. A figure computed by the agents points back to its original cells. A finding taken from a summary counts as checked only once it has been found in its original document.
Sources sorted by question
In a project’s Sources tab, findings are filed under the open questions. For each question, Verbatim shows what supports it, what contradicts it and what is missing. The “Add to project” button files an answer or a document in a project. The “Make it a project” button turns a search into a project, with everything it has already found. You can export a summary, a timeline or a bibliography as DOCX or PDF.
Questions
Does the agent make up sources?
No. Verbatim runs on a proprietary algorithm that ties every fact to the exact excerpt it comes from. It rejects any claim it cannot trace to a source.
Which documents can I give it?
PDF, DOCX, DOC, RTF, TXT, Markdown and HTML files, XLSX, XLS, ODS, CSV and TSV spreadsheets, PNG, JPG and WebP images, scanned pages, emails, and your audio or video recordings.
How long does a search take?
A question takes a few seconds. A task takes from a few minutes to a few hours. A long search carries on while you work, and Verbatim tells you when the result is ready.
Does the research write the text?
The Writing agent writes the first draft in your style, in the Create tab, from the excerpts found. Every claim in the draft stays tied to its excerpt.