Market intelligence methodology

Source confidence methodology

Funding, valuation, pricing, deployment, supplier, customer, and production facts use source labels that separate confirmed information from reported or estimated signals. Robot catalog specifications still require manufacturer sources.

Last reviewed 2026-07-07
Corrections reviewed before publication
Manufacturer specs stay first-party only

Source hierarchy

Stronger sources override weaker sources. Submitted and unverified material opens a review item; it is not published as fact.

Confidence labels

Public labels identify whether a fact is verified, filing confirmed, reported, estimated, unconfirmed, or excluded.

Data requirements

Market-intelligence records need source URL, source date, source type, confidence, review state, reviewer, and last-reviewed date.

Source hierarchy

Source typePublic labelPublication rule
Primary company sourceCompany sourcePublish when the page is controlled by the company making the claim and includes a usable source date.
Regulatory or filing sourceFiling sourcePublish when the filing directly supports the fact and the jurisdiction, filing date, and entity identity match.
Tier-1 mediaReported by major mediaPublish as reported when the outlet names the company or deal and provides enough detail to verify entity identity.
Trade or industry mediaReported by industry mediaPublish as reported when the claim is attributed, current, and not contradicted by a stronger source.
Analyst estimateAnalyst estimatePublish only with estimate wording, named publisher, report date, and visible methodology or scope.
Database-derived estimateDatabase estimatePublish only when display rights are clear; otherwise hold internally or cite the original source instead.
Community submissionSubmitted for reviewDo not publish as fact until a stronger source is attached; use only to open a review queue item.
Unverified tipUnverifiedDo not publish. Use only as internal review context until independently sourced.

Confidence labels

Verified

Confirmed by the company or another primary source.

Publishable with source context

Filing confirmed

Confirmed by a regulatory, legal, or official filing.

Publishable with source context

Reported

Reported by a named publication or industry source.

Publishable with source context

Estimated

Estimated by a named analyst, report, or database source.

Publishable with source context

Unconfirmed

Held for review until stronger sourcing is available.

Held or excluded

Omit

Excluded because sourcing, rights, or identity matching is insufficient.

Held or excluded

Fact-type rules

Fact typeMinimum labelHold for review whenOmit when
Funding roundreportedRound amount, company identity, or timing is only submitted or rumored.No source identifies the company and round event.
ValuationreportedValuation is implied from terms, secondary-market chatter, or unnamed sources.The value cannot be tied to a named round, filing, or attributed report.
PricingverifiedOnly reseller pricing, marketplace scraping, or outdated screenshots are available.The price cannot be matched to a current model, package, or purchase path.
Unit shipmentsverifiedUnits are reported by media without company confirmation.Shipments are extrapolated from run rate, capacity, or demand claims.
Production targetreportedTarget is stated without timeframe, product line, or source date.Target is inferred from capacity or hiring activity alone.
DeploymentreportedCustomer, site, timing, or robot model is unclear.Only private buyer interest or procurement exploration is known.
CustomerreportedCustomer is unnamed, anonymized, or visible only in unsourced media.Disclosure rights are unclear or the customer cannot be matched.
PartnershipreportedRelationship type or scope is unclear.The claim is just co-attendance, social media interaction, or speculation.
InvestorreportedInvestor participation is suggested but not named by a sourced round record.Investor name appears only in rumor, portfolio scraping, or unrelated history.
SupplierreportedSupplier relationship lacks product, program, or timing detail.The connection is inferred from parts compatibility or job postings alone.
Deal eventreportedDeal type, parties, timing, or source rights need confirmation.Only unverified negotiation chatter exists.

Review states

Draft

Editable intake record; not ready for public review.

Needs review

Requires source, rights, date, or entity validation.

Approved

Meets the fact-type rule but is not yet public.

Published

Visible with source URL and source date context.

Rejected

Not supported enough to retain as a publishable fact.

Retracted

Previously public; removed or corrected after later evidence.

Ambiguous cases

Rumored funding

Hold until a company source, filing, or attributed report is available.

unverified_tip
unconfirmed
needs_review

Undisclosed valuation

Publish only if attributed; label as reported and do not calculate an implied value.

tier1_media
reported
approved

Pilot customer claim

Publish as reported when customer, robot model, and deployment context are clear.

trade_media
reported
approved

Reseller pricing

Hold for product pricing; may be cited separately as reseller-listed if rights are clear.

trade_media
reported
needs_review

Scraped marketplace listing

Do not publish unless display rights and model matching are verified.

database_estimate
estimated
needs_review

Analyst market forecast

Publish as an estimate with publisher, report date, scope, and methodology context.

analyst_estimate
estimated
approved

Outdated manufacturer page

Keep source context visible, mark the reviewed date, and refresh before prominent use.

primary_company
verified
needs_review

Corrections and updates

Corrections must preserve the original source URL, source date, reviewer, reason, and last-reviewed date. Prominent pages should show source-date or last-reviewed context where it helps readers judge freshness.

sourceUrl
sourceDate
sourceType
confidence
verificationState
reviewer
lastReviewedDate

See a stale or unsupported claim? Submit a correction.