Project help
Frequently asked questions
These answers explain how to read the current bounded collection and what a missing or changing record does not prove.
Reviewed Sep 5, 2026
What is in the current roster?
Six organizations, four normalized issues, eight public officials, and five bills. The roster is a deliberate reviewed sample, not a ranking or comprehensive list.
How current are the records?
Lobbying profiles mainly cover Q1-Q2 2026 and were retrieved September 4, 2026. Bill and official-role packets were refreshed September 5, 2026. Each page displays its own period, retrieval date, source update date when available, and review date. Refreshes are review-driven rather than continuous.
What happens when a filing is amended?
The canonical-version rule keeps one filing per client, registrant, year, and quarter: latest posting first, then an amendment on a tied posting time, then a deterministic filing-ID tie-break. A reviewed refresh can therefore change a prior total without counting both versions.
What if Gov Influence and an official source disagree?
Use the official record for authoritative detail and report the discrepancy. Gov Influence checks versions, identifiers, dates, definitions, and calculations, then corrects verified errors without guessing away an unresolved conflict.
Why can totals differ across pages or sources?
Periods, identities, filing versions, definitions, and amount bases can differ. Outside-registrant income is not self-reported expense; FEC committee totals are not lobbying amounts; award amounts are not campaign or lobbying spending; issue counts can overlap. A null, below-threshold, or absent field is not silently changed to zero.
Why is a section or directory empty?
It means no record passed the current identity, evidence, usefulness, and publication rules. It is not proof that no lobbying, relationship, firm, lobbyist, bill, finance activity, or award exists.
How were the five bills selected?
Each bill has an approved person sponsor link or distinct reviewed policy example in the configured collection. Selection is not a judgment about merit, importance, likelihood, or political support. Organization context appears only for H.R. 3838 because only that bill has the approved contextual record.
What does search cover?
Explore searches only approved, published catalog entries and local indexed fields such as names, identifiers, record types, and subjects. It does not search every raw filing or the web. Search text stays in the browser; analytics receives only a result-count bucket and record-type filter.
What do images mean?
Images help visitors distinguish page types and reviewed entities. They are not evidence, ideology labels, popularity signals, endorsements, or claims about a record. Missing images use a stable text fallback.
How do I request a correction?
Send the page URL, exact concern, applicable date or period, and an official source when available. Do not send unnecessary sensitive information. Severity, not arrival order alone, determines review priority.
What happens to an AI question?
For the Boeing analyst only, the server sends the question and reviewed evidence bundle to OpenAI. Gov Influence does not store question or answer text in an application database or analytics. Provider and hosting logs may still apply; production retention controls are an external gate.