---
title: "Citations and confidence"
description: "What \"cited\" actually means in Bucky — the status behind every fact, what an assumption is, and what to verify before you rely on a result."
last_updated: "2026-08-17"
---

"Cited" is doing a lot of work in these docs, so this page defines it once.
Bucky is not the only tool now claiming citation-backed answers — the honest
version of that claim is proving depth on a specific fact, not asserting it
for the product as a whole.

## Every fact carries a status, not just a value

A number without provenance is an opinion. Bucky attaches a status to zoning
and feasibility values so you can tell a sourced fact from a cached guess:

| Status                   | Meaning                                                                      |
| ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `cited`                  | Extracted from the bylaw.                                                    |
| `cited_conditional`      | Resolved from a conditional rule that applies to this site.                  |
| `conditional_unresolved` | Conditional tiers exist; none resolve for this site. Unknown, not unlimited. |
| `no_limit_in_bylaw`      | The bylaw sets no zone-level limit. A real answer.                           |
| `unverified_default`     | A cached value with no citation behind it. Indicative only.                  |
| `not_extracted`          | Never extracted for this zone. Unknown.                                      |

You'll see this table applied on [Zoning](/docs/platform/zoning#what-you-see);
this page is the canonical definition and covers what the table doesn't:
assumptions, what to verify, and what "verified" would even mean.

## Assumptions are not citations

Some feasibility figures are not extracted from a bylaw at all — they're a
declared assumption Bucky used to produce a number where no cited value
exists (for example, a typical setback pattern for a zone with
`not_extracted` values). An assumption is not a hidden default: it should be
visible on the result, not baked silently into the math.

Read the difference before you act on a figure:

- **Cited** — traceable to a specific bylaw section.
- **Assumption** — Bucky's stated placeholder, used because nothing is cited yet.
- **Unverified default** — a cached figure carried from another source, no
  citation attached.

Only the first is a fact you can defend without further work.

## How to inspect a citation

Every `cited` and `cited_conditional` value links back to the bylaw section
it came from. Open it. The citation is what makes the value checkable — that
is the entire point of citing it, not a formality to skip.

## What to verify next

Before a `cited_conditional`, `conditional_unresolved`, or `unverified_default`
value goes into a decision, a deliverable, or a hearing:

- **`conditional_unresolved`** — confirm with the jurisdiction which
  conditional tier actually applies to your site; Bucky flags the ambiguity,
  it does not resolve it for you.
- **`unverified_default`** — treat it as a planning estimate and check it
  against the current bylaw or a local professional before relying on it.
- **`not_extracted`** — Bucky does not know yet. That is not the same as "no
  limit" — see [Zoning](/docs/platform/zoning#what-you-see).

## What "verified" would mean

Bucky does not currently mark any fact `verified`, and does not use the word
for a person, fact, or output without stating the standard behind it. If that
changes, this page will say what verification means and who performed it —
not just apply the label.

## Where this shows up

- [Parcels](/docs/platform/parcels) — geometry and dimensions carry the same
  sourced-vs-unsourced distinction.
- [Zoning](/docs/platform/zoning) — the primary home of the status table above.
- [Feasibility](/docs/platform/feasibility) — combines cited and assumed
  values; read the status behind each input before trusting the output.
- [Coverage](/docs/resources/coverage) — the jurisdiction-level status that
  determines whether any of this applies to an address at all.
- [How to read and export a feasibility report](/docs/guides/feasibility-report) —
  a deliverable carries these statuses forward; it does not upgrade them.


## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/sitemap.md) for all pages.