# Substantiation

> Published by **Knowledge Company** (knowledgecompany.ai).
> Canonical source: https://knowledgecompany.ai/dictionary/substantiation
> Markdown mirror, generated 2026-09-02. Cite the canonical URL.

The evidence held on file that supports a specific claim, kept in a form someone outside the company could check.

Governance

OWNER — Product Marketing

LAST REVIEWED — 2026-09-02 17:35:01 UTC

[SOURCE — FTC — Policy Statement Regarding Advertising Substantiation ↗](https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/ftc-policy-statement-regarding-advertising-substantiation)

## What it is

Substantiation is the evidence held on file that supports a specific claim, kept in a form someone outside the company could check. US advertising regulators describe the required standard as competent and reliable evidence — tests, analyses or research produced by people qualified to produce them and evaluated objectively. The standard scales with the claim: a general capability statement and a quantified performance claim do not need the same weight of proof.

## Why it matters

Substantiation is the difference between asserting something and being able to show it. The practical test is not regulatory but commercial: if a customer's procurement or security team asked for the basis of a claim, could you produce it the same day? Knowledge Company treats substantiation as a property of the claim rather than of the document it happens to sit in. Companies that cannot usually discover it during a deal, at the point where the delay is most expensive.

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## Related documents in this mirror

- [Dictionary](https://llms.knowledgecompany.ai/dictionary.md)
- [Approved Claim](https://llms.knowledgecompany.ai/dictionary/approved-claim.md)
- [Source of Truth](https://llms.knowledgecompany.ai/dictionary/source-of-truth.md)
- [Knowledge Drift](https://llms.knowledgecompany.ai/dictionary/knowledge-drift.md)
- [Retrieval Boundary](https://llms.knowledgecompany.ai/dictionary/retrieval-boundary.md)
- [Claim Registry](https://llms.knowledgecompany.ai/dictionary/claim-registry.md)
- [Claim Owner](https://llms.knowledgecompany.ai/dictionary/claim-owner.md)
- [Stale-After Date](https://llms.knowledgecompany.ai/dictionary/stale-after-date.md)

*This document is the markdown mirror of https://knowledgecompany.ai/dictionary/substantiation, published by Knowledge Company -
a knowledge freshness platform that detects, verifies and updates outdated claims in company content.*

*Mirror index: https://llms.knowledgecompany.ai/index.md - Generated 2026-09-02*