How Tractline Works

The short version: some of this is checked against real government data. Some of it is our research engine's best professional read. We label every single line so you always know which is which.

Two badges, and what they actually mean

✓ Verified — official data

The parcel's address was geocoded to its exact census tract using the U.S. Census Bureau's public geocoder, then checked against a real government dataset — not asked to an AI model. If it says "Verified," that answer came from an official source, not from a general knowledge estimate.

AI estimate — verify locally

Tractline researched this using web search and reasoning over what it found, grounded in whatever turned up for this specific parcel. It's a genuinely informed first-pass read, not a guess pulled from thin air — but it isn't a database lookup, and it should be checked against a professional or official source before you rely on it for a real decision.

What's actually Verified, and why only these

Three incentive programs have real, structured, nationwide government datasets behind them, which is what makes automatic verification possible at all:

  • Opportunity Zones — checked against the CDFI Fund's official designated-tract list
  • New Markets Tax Credit — checked against the CDFI Fund's official eligible-tract list
  • C-PACE financing — checked against which states have enacted enabling legislation (state-level, not parcel-level — local program adoption still varies by city/county even where a state allows it)

These exist because a federal agency publishes one consistent list for the entire country. That's the actual precondition for "Verified" — not that we trust one data source more than another, but that a single authoritative source exists at all.

What will always be an AI estimate, and why that's not a shortcut we're taking

TIRZ/TIF district participation, Chapter 380/381 agreements, and similar locally-negotiated incentives don't have a national dataset to check — every city runs its own program, often without a digital map of any kind. Zoning is the same story: there's no unified national zoning database, because every city maintains its own zoning code and GIS system differently, if it maintains one online at all.

We could have hidden this distinction and presented everything with equal confidence. We think that would be a worse product — the whole point of separating Verified from AI-estimate is so you know exactly where to spend your own verification effort.

Where the AI estimates come from

When there's no structured dataset to check, Tractline doesn't just answer from memory. Each analysis runs a real web search for recent, location-specific information — comparable sales, construction costs, property records for that exact address — before generating any numbers. The actual pages it found are listed under "Sources Consulted" on every result, so you can check them yourself rather than take the AI's synthesis on faith.

One important limitation, stated plainly

Tractline is a preliminary screening tool for early-stage deal evaluation. It is not a substitute for licensed underwriting, legal review, or tax advice, and it should not be the sole basis for a real financial or legal decision. Numbers and eligibility reads — Verified or AI-estimate — should be confirmed with the relevant professional or government office before you act on them.