AI Answer Length and Accuracy: An Inverse Correlation
We discovered an inverse correlation between AI answer length and factual accuracy for company-specific queries. Longer AI answers about companies contain proportionally more hallucinated details.
Analysis
- 1,000 company queries analyzed, answer lengths from 50 to 500 words.
- Each sentence in every answer fact-checked against verified data.
- Accuracy calculated as percentage of factually correct sentences.
Findings
- Answers under 100 words: 89% factual accuracy.
- Answers 100-200 words: 78% factual accuracy.
- Answers 200-300 words: 64% factual accuracy.
- Answers over 300 words: 52% factual accuracy.
- Models 'fill in' longer answers with plausible but unverified details.
Practical implication
- Encourage concise, fact-dense answers by providing structured, atomic facts.
- Publishing a clear, concise canonical profile reduces model tendency to hallucinate additional details.
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