The Evidence-First Comparison Method

Five evidence labels

Measured

We tested or measured it ourselves, with the method, hardware, date and limitations recorded.

Published

The maker or an authoritative first-party source publishes it. We link it and record when we checked.

Reported

A credible third party reports it. The wording reflects that it is secondary.

Estimate

Our own calculation. The formula, inputs and assumptions are always shown.

Not disclosed

No reliable public value was found. We never display it as “no”, “unsupported” or “does not have”.

What we never publish

• Winners, rankings, “best overall”, editor's choice, star ratings or product scores.
• Recommendations of one product over another.
• Invented quotes or first-hand experience we did not have.

We may show evidence completeness (how much is public), which measures information, not quality.

Our house rule on winners

• Comparisons without Prismatic: no winners, no rankings, no scores. The evidence decides nothing for you.
• Comparisons that include Prismatic (we make it): the evidence table still follows every rule on this page, and a separate, clearly labelled section called Where Prismatic leads gives our view as its maker. It never changes a value, a label or the order of the evidence.

Order, lenses and conflicts

• Order: our own product, Prismatic, is listed first, highlighted and labelled "we make it", so everything else can be compared against it. The other entries follow alphabetically and are not ranked.
• Lenses change visual emphasis only. They never produce a winner.
• Conflicting sources are both shown, for example “maker publishes 8 hours; an independent source reports about 6 under test”.

The daily cycle

1. 05:30 Toronto: every source is fetched and the values we track on it are compared with the last check.
2. Unchanged sources re-confirm their facts; changed values go to a review queue.
3. A Daily Brief is drafted. If nothing meaningful changed, it says so. We never manufacture daily stories.
4. A person approves any changed value before it is published, website first, social after.

Independence and disclosure

• Commercial relationships cannot change factual values, evidence labels, corrections, sources, the comparison schema or the historical record.
• Any future sponsored module will say “Sponsored” and sit apart from comparison results. Affiliate links, if ever used, never affect order, prominence or evidence.
• Our interest: Prismatic Agents makes Prismatic, one of the entities compared. That is why comparisons that include it carry a disclosure and a separate “Where Prismatic leads” section.

Before anything AI-drafted is published

• Every number has a source
• Every changed value is compared with its previous value
• Evidence labels are correct
• No invented quote or first-hand experience
• No hidden recommendation language
• No “not disclosed” turned into “no”
• Calculator assumptions visible