Preserve sources when switching AI assistants

You change assistants halfway through a research task. The first assistant cited six sources and summarized each one. The second assistant receives only the conclusion, so “the source says” becomes a claim with no source identity, no quotation, and no indication that you ever opened it.

Preserving sources means carrying a ledger, not carrying the first assistant’s confidence.

Give every source an identity

A useful source record answers who, what, when, and where. When the details are available, capture:

• Title.
• Author or responsible organization.
• Publication date or version date.
• URL written as text.
• The exact quotation relevant to the claim.
• The claim you think the source supports.
• Whether you personally opened and checked it.

If a field is unknown, say unknown. Do not let an assistant fill a gap with a plausible author or date. A complete-looking citation can still be invented or attached to the wrong document.

The check status matters as much as the URL. “Suggested by ChatGPT; not opened” tells the next assistant not to build on it as established evidence. “Opened by me; quotation checked” states a narrower and more useful fact. It still does not prove your interpretation.

Keep quotation, claim, and interpretation apart

One source can contain a sentence, support a limited claim, and still fail to support the conclusion an assistant drew from it. Record those layers separately.

For example:

• Quotation: the source’s exact words.
• Supported claim: the narrow fact those words establish in context.
• Interpretation: what the first assistant inferred from that fact.
• Limit: missing population, date range, jurisdiction, methodology, or counterexample.

Human-confirmed facts and AI-inferred claims should not merge when the assistant changes. Separating facts from a guess applies to citations too: a URL beside a sentence does not turn an inference into a sourced fact.

Record uncertainty and disconfirmers

The next assistant needs the reasons not to overstate the evidence. Add conflicting sources, unanswered questions, and the observation that would weaken the working conclusion.

Useful notes include:

• The source is primary or secondary.
• The quotation is direct or paraphrased.
• The document was accessible in full or only as an abstract.
• Another source reports a conflicting result.
• The evidence applies only under a named condition.
• A fact or test would disconfirm the synthesis.

This keeps the second assistant from smoothing disagreement into one confident paragraph.

Carry the ledger in a self-handoff

Draft the source ledger to your own email on the RelayLink account both assistants use. Review the bibliographic facts, quotation, supported claim, and check status before explicitly confirming it. No second identity or contact request is needed, and no email or magic link is made. The ledger remains unread until any assistant pulls it; the account portal is the fallback.

Only the approved structured ledger crosses. RelayLink does not preserve open tabs, browsing history, downloaded papers, reference-manager state, or access permissions. A URL or storage path grants no access, and RelayLink does not visit or validate it. Researching with one assistant and writing with another adds audience, claim, and drafting instructions around this ledger.

Do not include customer data, confidential reports, subscription-only text, or protected research material unless the provider and receiving environment are authorized. Prefer bibliographic details, safe short quotations, and references to authorized storage.

If the next assistant cannot access a required source through an authorized route, the ledger is a lead, not evidence that the assistant has checked.

Recheck before the source becomes prose

The receiving assistant may use the ledger to plan, compare claims, or draft. You still need to open the source and confirm:

1. The document exists at the recorded location.
2. The named author, title, and date are correct.
3. The quotation is exact and in context.
4. The claim is no broader than the evidence.
5. Contradictory evidence has not been omitted.

Neither assistant’s summary proves the source. The package can preserve your stated-versus-inferred assumption labels; it does not certify a citation or the quality of the research.

A source survives a switch when the next assistant can trace the sentence back to evidence and see what remains uncertain. Anything less is a conclusion wearing a citation-shaped label.