How to Fact-Check Microsoft Copilot's Answers

The short version

Copilot often shows where its answers come from, so use that. Outlook summaries have numbered citations, Teams recaps point to the transcript, and web answers link to pages. Checking means opening those and confirming the claim is really there.

Step by step

1. Ask for sources if the answer has none: “Cite your sources with links.”
2. Open the source and find the exact sentence. If you can’t find it, treat the claim as unconfirmed.
3. Check the date. Prices, laws and product details change. Is the source current?
4. Check numbers yourself. Recalculate one or two by hand, or with a simple formula.
5. Check names and quotes. These are the details most often wrong.
6. Ask again differently. Microsoft notes the same prompt can give different responses. If two answers disagree, dig deeper.

Checking Copilot inside Microsoft 365

• Outlook: summaries can include numbered citations that link to the related emails. Click them for anything you’ll act on.
• Teams: after a meeting, Copilot cites where its answers come from in the chat and transcript.
• Excel: click into new cells and read the formulas. Ask “Explain the formula in cell D3.” When Copilot looks things up on the web, Microsoft says it includes citations.
• Word: for summaries of long documents, ask for section numbers so you can jump to the original text.

Prompts to copy

Get sources:

Answer again, and for each claim give the source link and the exact sentence it comes from.

Separate fact from guess:

Which parts of your answer are well established, and which are your best guess?
Label each one.

Check a summary:

Quote the exact sentences from the document that support each bullet in your summary.
If a bullet isn't directly supported, say so.

Spot-check numbers:

Show your working for each total, step by step, so I can check it.

Example

You ask: “What’s the federal minimum wage, and when did it last change?”

Copilot answers with a figure and a date, and links a government page. You open the link, find the figure and the date on the page, and note the page’s last-updated date. Two minutes, and you can repeat it with confidence.

Mistakes to avoid

• Trusting a link without opening it. Real links can still be misquoted.
• Checking only the parts that surprised you. Errors hide in confident, ordinary-sounding details.
• Relying on Copilot for legal, medical or tax decisions. Use it to prepare questions for a professional.
• Forgetting summaries are interpretations. A meeting recap or thread summary can miss a condition or a “no.”

When to always verify

Anything you’ll publish, send to a customer, sign, pay or decide on. For low-stakes ideas, like brainstorming names or a dinner plan, a quick read is enough.

Related: use Copilot in Edge and write better Copilot prompts.