The Verified Standard, version 1.0

This document is the method by which every story on this site is produced. It is published in full for two reasons: so that a reader can check our work instead of taking it on trust, and so that a client knows, before signing anything, exactly what we will and will not do.

What we verify, and what we do not

We verify that a named person said what we report them as saying, that every published figure has a stated origin, and that claims are qualified on the page wherever the evidence behind them is partial.

We do not audit financial statements. We do not certify products. We do not issue a pass-or-fail judgment, and a Verified story is not a recommendation to buy.

We are engaged and paid by the company each story is about. We therefore do not claim the independence of a statutory auditor, and we do not pretend to. What we offer instead is a fixed method, an analyst who signs their name, and complete disclosure of where every published claim came from. Readers are entitled to weigh the story accordingly. That is why the commercial relationship is stated on every page, not buried in a footer.

Stage 1 — Scope

Before any interview takes place, we agree a written scope. It names:

• the customer whose outcome is being examined, and the person who will speak for them
• the specific outcome in question, stated as a sentence that could be true or false
• every figure the client intends to have published
• the analyst who will do the work
• the evidence tier the story is expected to reach

The client confirms in the scope that the customer is willing to be interviewed on the record. Scope is fixed at signature. Adding a claim after the fact requires a new scope and, usually, a further interview.

Stage 2 — Evidence

The named analyst conducts the customer interview directly. Interviews are recorded with consent and run a minimum of 30 minutes. The customer is asked to state their role and their direct involvement in the outcome being described.

For every figure in scope we request a source: a system export, a report, an invoice, a dashboard screenshot with its date visible. Where a figure has no available source, we record that fact instead of quietly dropping the figure.

We maintain an evidence register for each story recording, for every published number, whether it came from a client system, from a statement made on the record, or from a calculation performed by the analyst.

Stage 3 — Assessment

Every claim proposed for publication is placed in one of three categories.

Confirmed. Reconciled by the analyst against a source document or system export that we have seen.

Attributed. Stated on the record by a named person. Published as that person's statement, not as established fact, and worded so a reader can tell the difference.

Unsupported. Either removed from the story, or published with an explicit note saying what is missing. It is never published unmarked.

The story is then assigned an evidence tier.

A story is published at the tier the evidence supports. A client cannot purchase a higher tier, and we will say during scoping if we think the tier you want is unlikely to be reachable.

Stage 4 — Publication

The story is published on this domain, in English, at a permanent URL. Every story page carries an abstract, the key findings, the full provenance block, the analyst byline, the publication and last-reviewed dates, the evidence tier, and the version of this standard it was verified under.

Before publication the client reviews the draft. This is where the limits of the arrangement matter most, so they are stated plainly:

• The client may correct a factual error.
• The client may remove commercially confidential detail.
• The client may withdraw the story entirely, before publication.
• The client may not alter the provenance block, change the assigned evidence tier, or remove a stated limitation while keeping the story published.

In other words: you can stop us publishing, and you can fix what is wrong. You cannot keep the story and quietly remove the parts that qualify it.

Rules for figures

Every published figure names its origin on the page. A percentage is always accompanied by its baseline: "a 40% reduction" means nothing without saying from what, and over what period. Timeframes are stated. We do not extrapolate from a period to an annualised figure unless the customer did so themselves and we attribute it to them.

Corrections

If we publish something incorrect, we correct it, we date the correction, and we note it on the page itself. The last-reviewed date changes. Material corrections remain visible on the page for 12 months. We do not silently edit a published story.

Withdrawal

A published story may be withdrawn at the customer's request at any time, or by us if we later learn that material information was withheld. Withdrawn stories are removed from the registry and the URL returns a clear notice instead of disappearing.

Limits of this standard

This standard produces a well-sourced, honestly qualified account of one customer's experience. It does not establish that results are typical, that they are repeatable, or that they would occur for any other buyer. A single verified outcome is evidence, not proof, and we would rather say so here than have a reader discover it for themselves.

Version history

v1.0 — September 18, 2026. First public version.

Every story states the version of this standard it was verified under. When this document changes materially, the version number changes and previously published stories keep their original version reference.