{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "title": "AI Answer Source-Role Taxonomy",
  "version": "1.0",
  "published": "2026-08-12",
  "license_note": "Open annotation definitions published for reproducible research use with attribution to Corank.",
  "methodology_url": "https://corank-prompt-source-gap-triage.pages.dev/ai-answer-source-role-taxonomy/",
  "maintainer_url": "https://corank.ai/",
  "scope_note": "Roles describe how a source is used in one observed AI answer. They do not measure accuracy, quality, authority, independence, ranking, influence, or causal impact.",
  "roles": [
    {
      "code": "entity",
      "label": "Identity and attributes",
      "definition": "Names an entity and supplies attributable facts such as official name, location, ownership, features, or availability.",
      "exclusion": "Do not assign solely because an entity name appears in page chrome or a title."
    },
    {
      "code": "definition",
      "label": "Meaning and category",
      "definition": "Explains a term, concept, category, or problem and its meaningful boundaries.",
      "exclusion": "Do not assign to a short marketing tagline without explanatory substance."
    },
    {
      "code": "evidence",
      "label": "Traceable factual support",
      "definition": "Supports a claim through data, primary documentation, a disclosed method, a dated observation, or another falsifiable record.",
      "exclusion": "Numbers without provenance are not sufficient."
    },
    {
      "code": "comparison",
      "label": "Alternatives and trade-offs",
      "definition": "Supplies criteria, limitations, or competing approaches used to compare options fairly.",
      "exclusion": "Co-occurrence of several brand names is not sufficient."
    },
    {
      "code": "implementation",
      "label": "Reproducible action",
      "definition": "Shows how to perform, configure, test, measure, or troubleshoot a workflow with actionable detail.",
      "exclusion": "A generic get-started call to action is not sufficient."
    },
    {
      "code": "validation",
      "label": "Independent corroboration",
      "definition": "Corroborates or challenges a claim through a meaningfully independent check, review, audit, replication, or standard.",
      "exclusion": "A claim repeated on another page owned by the claimant is not independent validation."
    },
    {
      "code": "action",
      "label": "Next-step destination",
      "definition": "Enables a concrete next step such as visiting an official tool, booking, contacting, downloading, applying, or purchasing.",
      "exclusion": "A clickable URL is not an action source unless the answer presents it as a next step."
    }
  ],
  "review_states": ["reviewed", "needs_review", "excluded"],
  "publisher_relationships": ["owned", "partner", "independent", "unknown", "not_applicable"]
}