Replace Vague Claims With Specifics AI Will Cite

If ScoutRival’s Site Audit flagged “Facts, statistics & cited sources,” it means your pages lean on vague marketing language where a model wants hard, quotable specifics — so when AI engines look for evidence to cite, yours isn’t there. This guide shows you how to replace fuzzy claims with real facts (honestly), on every major platform.

Why specifics beat superlatives for AI

An AI engine assembling an answer is looking for quotable, verifiable evidence. A concrete number — “$12–15 per unit,” “1,200 roofs in the Austin metro,” “licensed since 2009” — is something the model can lift into an answer and cross-check against other sources. That verifiability is exactly what makes a passage safe to cite.

A superlative gives it nothing. “We’re the premier, most trusted roofer in Texas” contains zero checkable facts. The model can’t quote it (it’s just an unsupported boast), it can’t verify it, and it can’t distinguish you from the hundred other roofers saying the identical thing. To a retrieval system, “trusted and leading” is noise.

The classic evidence here is the Princeton “GEO” study, which measured a meaningful lift in how often content was selected when the authors added statistics, quotations and citations to it — on a simulated engine. Later work has pointed in the same direction. But we’re careful about how we say this: it’s a MEDIUM-evidence, correlational signal, so we say “measurably improves your selection odds” and we never print a specific percentage like “+40%.” That “+40% GEO” number floating around the internet has no clean primary source, and repeating it would be exactly the kind of unverifiable claim this guide tells you to avoid.

The honesty rule, up front

This is the one guide where the biggest risk isn’t doing too little — it’s doing something dishonest to “win.” So the rule is simple and absolute:

Never invent a statistic to make a page look more authoritative. Not “500+ happy clients” if you haven’t counted. Not “98% satisfaction” if you’ve never surveyed. Not “the #1 choice in Austin” if no one ranked you.

There are three reasons this matters beyond basic ethics:

1. AI cross-checks. Engines increasingly corroborate claims against other sources. A number that appears nowhere else looks fabricated and gets discounted — or quoted and then contradicted, which is worse.
2. It’s a legal and trust liability. False advertising claims (“guaranteed,” “#1,” invented results) create real exposure, and a customer who catches an invented stat stops trusting everything else on the page.
3. You don’t need to. Every real business has genuine, impressive specifics sitting unused — you just have to dig them out and write them down.

So the job isn’t “add impressive-sounding numbers.” It’s “surface the true specifics you already have.”

How to find your real specifics

Before you edit a single page, make a list of the true, checkable facts about your business:

• Longevity: the year you started; years in business.
• Volume: projects, patients, installs, or clients per year (a real, countable figure).
• Credentials: license numbers, certifications, insurance, memberships, awards you actually won.
• Guarantees: warranty length, satisfaction guarantee terms, response-time commitments you actually keep.
• Pricing: honest price ranges, unit prices, typical project cost.
• Timing: how long a job or procedure typically takes; turnaround times.
• Team: number of staff, named specialists, their qualifications.

If you can’t verify a number, leave it out. A page with three true, specific facts beats a page with ten impressive-sounding inventions.

How to rewrite: vague → specific

The core move is a find-and-replace on your own hype. Here are the patterns:

• “Trusted by many” → “~120 roof replacements completed in Travis County last year.”
• “Affordable Botox” → “Botox: about 30 minutes, $12–15 per unit, visible results in 3–5 days.”
• “Fast, reliable service” → “Most service calls answered within 24 hours; same-day slots available.”
• “Highly experienced team” → “Family-owned since 2009; lead technician holds Master Plumber License #12345.”
• “Premium materials” → “We install GAF Timberline HDZ shingles with a 25-year workmanship warranty.”

Notice each rewrite does two things: it names a specific number or fact, and it stays true and checkable.

Cite external facts you reference

When you state a general fact — an industry statistic, a code requirement, a manufacturer spec — link the named source: a .gov page, an industry association, or the manufacturer’s own site. For example, if you cite a local permit requirement, link the city’s building department. This does two jobs: it lets the model verify the claim, and it signals that your page is grounded in real sources rather than opinion. Don’t cite vague aggregators or link to sources you haven’t read.

Format the specifics so AI can grab them

A number buried in a paragraph is harder to extract than one in a table or list. Once you’ve gathered your facts:

• Put pricing and comparison data in a table (a “service — typical cost — timeframe” grid).
• Put lists of credentials or included services in a bullet list.
• Bold the single most important number in each section.

This ties directly into structuring your content for AI — see our guide on lists, tables and hierarchy. Well-formatted facts are far more likely to be lifted cleanly.

Platform-by-platform

The edit is the same everywhere — you’re rewriting copy and adding a table or list. Here’s where:

WordPress (Yoast or Rank Math)

1. Edit the page and find each vague claim in the content.
2. Replace it with a specific, true fact.
3. Add a Table block for pricing/comparison data and a List block for credentials or services.
4. To link an external source, select the text, click the link icon, and paste the authoritative URL. No SEO-plugin setting is needed — this is body copy.

Wix

1. In the editor, click each Text element and rewrite the vague copy.
2. Add a Table element for pricing and a bulleted list for services, then Publish.

Squarespace

1. Edit the page and update the Text blocks.
2. Use a Table block or a clean bulleted list for structured facts; save.

Webflow

1. In the Designer or CMS, replace vague copy with specifics.
2. Build pricing as a real table or a styled list, then Publish to your live domain.

Shopify

1. Edit the page/product description and swap superlatives for real specs.
2. Add a table or bullet list of specifications; save.

Any other site

Rewrite the body copy, wrap pricing/comparison data in a real <table>, use <ul> for lists, and link external facts with a plain <a href> to the authoritative source.

How to confirm it’s fixed

1. Skim each key service and pricing page. It should have at least three concrete, checkable numbers and at least one linked source where you reference an external fact.
2. Search the page for superlatives — “premier,” “trusted,” “leading,” “best,” “affordable.” Each one should either be gone or backed by a specific number.
3. Re-run your ScoutRival Site Audit — the “Facts, statistics & cited sources” item should go green.
4. Sanity-check every number one more time: is it true, and could you prove it if a customer asked?

Common mistakes to avoid

• Inventing statistics to pass the check. This is the cardinal sin. A fabricated “97% satisfaction” that gets quoted and then debunked damages you far more than an honest page with no percentage. If you can’t verify it, don’t publish it.
• Repeating unsourced internet stats (like “+40% from GEO”). If a number has no clean primary source, don’t put it on your site — that’s the exact unverifiable claim AI discounts.
• Stating correlation as causation. “Businesses with more reviews rank higher, so reviews cause rankings” overstates it. If a relationship is correlational, say so plainly.
• Fake precision. “Serving over 10,000 satisfied customers!” when you’ve never counted is invention dressed as a number. Use figures you can actually stand behind.
• Citing sources you didn’t read. Linking a study to look credible, without checking it says what you claim, backfires the moment someone (or a model) reads it.
• Great facts, terrible placement. A brilliant statistic buried in paragraph nine won’t help. Pair this fix with answer-first structure so the key numbers sit near the top.

The bottom line

AI cites evidence, not adjectives. Trade “premier” and “trusted” for the real, checkable specifics your business already has — years in business, projects per year, price ranges, license numbers — format them in tables and lists, and cite the outside facts you reference. Do it honestly: the fastest way to lose AI (and human) trust is a number you made up.

Not sure which pages are all fluff and no facts? Run a free Site Audit with ScoutRival. It flags the vague-claim pages, and Compose can draft specific rewrites for you to fill in with your real numbers before publishing — it never invents the figures for you.