Cite11

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Benchmark

Since 2023, courts have caught lawyers filing citations that were fake, mis-addressed, or misquoted more than 2,041 times. Cite11 checks citations against the public court record. We tested it on the ones judges have already ruled on.

The problem, in numbers

Court cases involving fake citations, 2023–20262,041 (as of 14 Sept 2026)
New cases per day, mid-2026about 8
Largest single penalty so farabout $110,000
Fake citations named in the 30 orders we tested64
— invented case34
— real case, wrong address15
— real case, invented quote15
Of those 64, the kind an “is it real?” check can catch34

What the usual check misses, and what Cite11 caught

Type of fake citationThe usual check: “does the case exist?”Cite11, in this test
Invented caseCatches itCaught 22 of 22
Real case, wrong addressMisses it — the case existsCaught 9 of 10
Real case, invented quoteMisses it — the case existsNot yet tested

And on the other side of the ledger: of 65 real citations in the same filings, Cite11 confirmed 46, said “can't check” on 11, and warned in error on 5. It has never marked a fake citation as real: 0 of 49, in five runs.

Three other citation checkers are on the market — CiteCheck AI, CiteSentinel, GroundTruth. None has published test results.

Where the 136 came from

Damien Charlotin's public database lists 2,041 court cases involving AI-fabricated citations as of 14 September 2026. Most orders say “counsel cited nonexistent cases” without listing them. Thirty-five name the citations in writing; thirty could be checked against the order's own text. That gave 136 citations, each carrying the judge's finding.

Source: AI Hallucination Cases Database, Damien Charlotin, https://www.damiencharlotin.com/hallucinations/ — licensed CC BY 4.0.

The one miss (out of 49)

Citation as filedWhat Cite11 saidWhy
Menocal — a bare name, no reporter Could not be checked Nothing to look up. Cite11 won't guess at a lone word.

The five false warnings

Citation as filedWhat Cite11 saidWhy
Cooter & Gell v. Hartmax Corp., 496 U.S. 384 Address mismatch The brief itself misspelled Hartmarx.
Mars Steel Corp. v. Cont'l Bank N.A., 880 F.2d 928 Address mismatch The official caption adds four more parties. On the fix list.
Mata v. Avianca, 678 F. Supp. 3d 443 (cited four times) — not yet in CourtListener Not found Too recent for the public index.
Williams v. The Ests. LLC, 663 F. Supp. 3d 466 — not yet in CourtListener Not found Too recent for the public index.
Malkeet Lnu v. Blanche, 177 F.4th 1014 — not yet in CourtListener Not found Too recent for the public index.

What wasn't tested

Fifteen invented quotations, because the test sentences carried no quoted text. Seventeen fake and seven real citations were Westlaw or LEXIS numbers or very recent opinions, which are not in the public record; Cite11 reported “outside coverage” rather than guess. Four real citations were not checked.

Every citation we tested

136 citations, grouped by the order they came from, each with the court's finding and Cite11's result.

Mata v. Avianca, Inc S.D. New York · 2023-06-22 · 9 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Varghese v. China Southern Airlines Co., Ltd., 925 F.3d 1339 (11th Cir. 2019) Invented case Not found Match
Shaboon v. Egyptair, 2013 IL App (1st) 111279-U (Ill. App. Ct. 2013) Invented case Not found Match
Peterson v. Iran Air, 905 F. Supp. 2d 121 (D.D.C. 2012) Invented case Address mismatch Match
Martinez v. Delta Airlines, Inc., 2019 WL 4639462 (Tex. App. Sept. 25, 2019) Invented case Outside coverage Not tested
Estate of Durden v. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, 2017 WL 2418825 Invented case Outside coverage Not tested
Miller v. United Airlines, Inc., 174 F.3d 366, 371-72 (2d Cir. 1999) Invented case Address mismatch Match
Muhammad v. Walmart Stores East, L.P., 732 F.3d 104, 108 (2d Cir. 2013) Real citation Could not be checked Not tested
Cooter & Gell v. Hartmax Corp., 496 U.S. 384, 398 (1990) Real citation Address mismatch Miss
Fishoff v. Coty Inc., 634 F.3d 647, 654 (2d Cir. 2011) Real citation Verified Match
Ex Parte Lee Texas CA · 2023-07-19 · 4 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Ex parte Vasquez, 248 S.W.3d 454 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008) Real case, wrong address Address mismatch Match
Ex parte Clayton, 592 S.W.2d 494 (Tex. Crim. App. 1979) Real case, wrong address Address mismatch Match
Ex parte Martinez, 340 S.W.3d 642 (Tex. Crim. App. 2011) Real case, wrong address Address mismatch Match
Neville v. State, 622 S.W.3d 99, 104 (Tex. App.—Waco 2020, no pet.) Real citation Outside coverage Not tested
Frier v. Hingiss E.D. Wisconsin · 2023-09-15 · 4 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Ratzlaf v. Nordstrom, Inc., 968 F.2d 946, 950 (7th Cir. 1992) Real case, wrong address Address mismatch Match
Palka v. City of Chicago, 662 F.3d 428 (7th Cir. 2011) Real case, invented quote Verified Not tested
King v. Ill. State Bd. of Elections, 410 F.3d 404, 423 (7th Cir. 2005) Real citation Verified Match
Mars Steel Corp. v. Cont’l Bank N.A., 880 F.2d 928, 938 (7th Cir. 1989) Real citation Address mismatch Miss
Zachariah Crabill Disciplinary Case Colorado SC · 2023-11-21 · 1 citation
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
In re Fisher, 202 P.3d 1186, 1202 (Colo. 2009) Real citation Verified Match
Matter of Samuel CC New York · 2024-01-11 · 1 citation
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Matter of Rottkamp, 95 AD3d 1338, 1339-1340 [2d Dept 2012] Real citation Verified Match
Park v. Kim 2nd Cir. · 2024-01-30 · 2 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Matter of Bourguignon v. Coordinated Behavioral Health Servs., Inc., 114 A.D.3d 947 (3d Dep’t 2014) Invented case Address mismatch Match
Wolters Kluwer Fin. Servs., Inc. v. Scivantage, 564 F.3d 110, 113 (2d Cir. 2009) Real citation Could not be checked Not tested
In re Thomas Grant Neusom M.D. Florida · 2024-03-08 · 2 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp., 496 U.S. 384, 395 (1990) Real citation Verified Match
Law Sols. of Chicago LLC v. Corbett, 971 F.3d 1299, 1316 (11th Cir. 2020) Real citation Verified Match
Michael Cohen Matter S.D.N.Y. · 2024-03-20 · 4 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
United States v. Figueroa-Florez, 64 F.4th 223 (2d Cir. 2022) Invented case Not found Match
United States v. Ortiz, (No. 21-3391), 2022 WL 4424741 (2d Cir. Oct. 11, 2022) Invented case Outside coverage Not tested
United States v. Amato, 2022 WL 1669877 (2d Cir. May 10, 2022) Invented case Outside coverage Not tested
United States v. Lussier, 104 F.3d 32, 35 (2d Cir. 1997) Real citation Verified Match
Grant v. City of Long Beach 9th Cir. · 2024-03-22 · 5 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Smith v. City of Oakland, 731 F.3d 1222, 1231 (11th Cir. 2013) Invented case Address mismatch Match
Jones v. Williams, 791 F.2d 1024 (9th Cir. 1986) Invented case Address mismatch Match
Hydrick v. Hunter, 669 F.3d 937 (9th Cir. 2012) Real citation Verified Match
Wall v. County of Orange, 364 F.3d 1107 (9th Cir. 2004) Real citation Verified Match
Sekiya v. Gates, 508 F.3d 1198, 1200 (9th Cir. 2007) Real citation Verified Match
Rasmussen v. Rasmussen California · 2024-08-23 · 3 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Kerrigan v. O’Meara, (1926) 71 Cal.App. 346 Invented case Address mismatch Match
Dino v. Pelliccioni, (1962) 200 Cal.App.2d 163, 170 Real case, wrong address Address mismatch Match
Cummings v. Dessel, (2017) 13 Cal.App.5th 589 Real citation Verified Match
USA v. Michel D.D.C. · 2024-08-30 · 3 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 Real citation Verified Match
United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648 Real citation Verified Match
Hemphill v. New York, 595 U.S. 140 Real citation Verified Match
Iovino v. Michael Stapleton Associates, Ltd. W.D. Virginia · 2024-10-10 · 6 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
United Therapeutics Corp. v. Watson Labs, Inc., 2017 WL 2483620 Invented case Outside coverage Not tested
United States v. Mosby, 2021 WL 2827893 Invented case Outside coverage Not tested
Menocal, 113 F. Supp. 3d 1125 Real case, wrong address Could not be checked Miss
Graves v. Lioi, 930 F.3d 307 Real case, invented quote Verified Not tested
Bostock v. Clayton Cnty., 590 U.S. 644 Real case, invented quote Verified Not tested
Mescall v. Renaissance at Antiquity, 2023 WL 7490841 Real citation Outside coverage Not tested
Matter of Weber CC New York · 2024-10-10 · 2 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 Real citation Verified Match
People v. Wakefield, 38 NY3d 367 Real citation Outside coverage Not tested
Thomas v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue US Tax Court · 2024-10-23 · 4 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Schluter v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 1998-269 Real case, wrong address Outside coverage Not tested
Meneguzzo v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 1969-15 Real case, wrong address Outside coverage Not tested
Gagliardi v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2011-194 Real case, wrong address Address mismatch Match
Dynamo Holdings L.P. v. Commissioner, 143 T.C. 183 Real citation Verified Match
Mortazavi v. Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. C.D. California · 2024-10-30 · 4 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Hudson v. Moore Bus. Forms, Inc., 836 F.2d 1156 Real citation Verified Match
Ayers v. City of Richmond, 895 F.2d 1267 Real citation Verified Match
Bus. Guides, Inc. v. Chromatic Commc'ns Enterprises, Inc., 498 U.S. 533 Real citation Verified Match
Yagman v. Republic Ins., 987 F.2d 622 Real citation Verified Match
Berry v. Stewart D. Kansas · 2024-11-14 · 1 citation
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Hogan v. Allstate Insurance Co., 2020 WL 1882334 Invented case Outside coverage Not tested
Gauthier v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. E.D. Texas · 2024-11-25 · 11 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Roca v. King's Creek Plantation, LLC, 500 F. App'x 273 Invented case Address mismatch Match
Beets v. Texas Instruments, Inc., 1994 WL 714026 Invented case Outside coverage Not tested
Morales v. SimuFlite Training Int'l, Inc., 132 S.W.3d 603 Real case, invented quote Verified Not tested
White v. FCI USA, Inc., 319 F.3d 672 Real case, invented quote Verified Not tested
Burton v. Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., 798 F.3d 222 Real case, invented quote Verified Not tested
Texas Dep't of Human Servs. v. Hinds, 904 S.W.2d 629 Real case, invented quote Verified Not tested
Physio GP, Inc. v. Naifeh, 306 S.W.3d 886 Real case, invented quote Verified Not tested
City of Midland v. O'Bryant, 18 S.W.3d 209 Real case, invented quote Verified Not tested
Park v. Kim, 91 F.4th 610 Real citation Verified Match
Mata v. Avianca, Inc., 678 F. Supp. 3d 443 Real citation Not found Miss
Iovino v. Michael Stapleton Assocs., Ltd., 2024 WL 3520170 Real citation Outside coverage Not tested
Kohls v. Ellison D. Minnesota · 2025-01-10 · 4 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc., 509 U.S. 579 Real citation Verified Match
Acosta v. Mezcal, Inc., 2019 WL 2550660 Real citation Outside coverage Not tested
In re World Trade Ctr. Disaster Site Litig., 722 F.3d 483 Real citation Verified Match
Morgan v. Cmty. Against Violence, 2023 WL 6976510 Real citation Outside coverage Not tested
Gonzalez v. Texas Taxpayers and Research Association W.D. Texas · 2025-01-29 · 8 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Bloomberg L.P. v. Bd. of Govs. of the Fed. Reserve Sys., 649 F. 3d 651 Invented case Not found Match
Hogan v. AT&T, Inc., 917 F. Supp. 1275 Invented case Address mismatch Match
Head v. Chicora Life Ctr., LLC, 290 F. Supp. 3d 883 Invented case Address mismatch Match
Cruz v. Aramark Servs., Inc., 213 F. Supp. 2d 135 Real case, wrong address Address mismatch Match
TIG Ins. Co. v. Carter, 640 S.W. 2d 232 Real case, wrong address Address mismatch Match
Chambers v. NASCO, 501 U.S. 32 Real citation Verified Match
Crowe v. Smith, 151 F.3d 217 Real citation Verified Match
Edwards v. General Motors Corp., 153 F.3d 242 Real citation Verified Match
Wadsworth v. Walmart (Morgan & Morgan) D. Wyoming · 2025-02-24 · 4 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Collins v. Daniels, 916 F.3d 1302 Real citation Verified Match
Mata v. Avianca, Inc., 678 F. Supp. 3d 443 Real citation Not found Miss
Williams v. The Ests. LLC, 663 F. Supp. 3d 466 Real citation Not found Miss
In re Keegan Mgmt. Co., Sec. Litig., 78 F.3d 431 Real citation Verified Match
Bunce v. Visual Technology Innovations (1) E.D. Pennsylvania · 2025-02-27 · 8 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
McNally v. Eyeglass World, LLC, 897 F. Supp. 2d 1067 Invented case Address mismatch Match
Behm v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 460 F.3d 860 Invented case Address mismatch Match
Degen v. United States, 517 U.S. 820 Real citation Verified Match
Dow Chemical Canada Inc. v. HRD Corp., 259 F.R.D. 81 Real citation Verified Match
Eavenson, Auchmuty Greenwald v. Holtzman, 775 F.2d 535 Real citation Verified Match
Gaiardo v. Ethyl Corp., 835 F.2d 479 Real citation Verified Match
Comuso v. Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp., 267 F.3d 331 Real citation Verified Match
Cunningham v. Hamilton Cnty., Ohio, 527 U.S. 198 Real citation Could not be checked Not tested
Dehghani v. Castro D. New Mexico · 2025-04-02 · 9 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Moncada v. Ruiz, 518 F. Supp 3d 708 (D.N.M. 2021) Invented case Not tested — not extracted from the source text Not tested
Vega-Mendoza v. Homeland Security, 382 F. Supp 3d 1209 (D.N.M. 2019) Invented case Not tested — not extracted from the source text Not tested
Morales v. ICE Field Office Director, 541 F. Supp 3d 1154 (D.N.M. 2021) Invented case Not tested — not extracted from the source text Not tested
Meza v. United States Attorney General, 130 F. Supp. 3d 1052 (N.D. Tex. 2015) Invented case Address mismatch Match
Hernandez v. Sessions, 298 F. Supp. 3d 1366 (D.N.M. 2018) Invented case Address mismatch Match
Ramirez v. DHS, 338 F. Supp. 3d 1 (D.N.M. 2020) Invented case Address mismatch Match
Adamson v. Bowen, 855 F.2d 668, 672 (10th Cir. 1988) Real citation Verified Match
Mata v. Avianca, Inc., 678 F. Supp. 3d 443, 461 (S.D.N.Y. 2023) Real citation Not found Miss
Wadsworth v. Walmart Inc., 2025 WL 608073, at *4 (D. Wyo. Feb. 24, 2025) Real citation Outside coverage Not tested
Bevins v. Colgate-Palmolive Co. E.D. Pennsylvania · 2025-04-10 · 4 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Tinch v. Video Indus. Servs., Inc., No. 1712 EDA 2018, 2019 WL 1396975, at *3 (Pa. Super. Ct. Mar. 27, 2019) Real case, wrong address Outside coverage Not tested
Burton v. Danek, No. 95-5560, 1997 WL 436713, at *8 (E.D. Pa. July 31, 1997) Real case, wrong address Outside coverage Not tested
Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007) Real citation Verified Match
Napier v. Thirty or More Unidentified Fed. Agents, Emps. or Officers, 855 F.2d 1080, 1091 (3d Cir. 1988) Real citation Could not be checked Not tested
Benjamin v. Costco Wholesale Corp E.D. New York · 2025-04-24 · 7 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Klein v. E. I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co., 406 F.2d 1004, 1006 (2d Cir. 1969) Invented case Address mismatch Match
Gordon v. N.Y. Cent. R.R. Co., 202 F. Supp. 2d 290, 292 (W.D.N.Y. 2002) Invented case Address mismatch Match
Mitchell v. JCG Industries, 2010 WL 11627832, at *3 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 1, 2010) Invented case Outside coverage Not tested
Hollander v. Sweeney, 2005 WL 19904045, at *3 (S.D. Ind. Aug. 17, 2005) Invented case Outside coverage Not tested
Davis v. S. Farm Bureau Cas. Inc. Co., 2019 WL 3452601, at *2 (W.D. Ark. July 31, 2019) Invented case Outside coverage Not tested
Park v. Kim, 91 F.4th 610, 614 (2d Cir. 2024) Real citation Verified Match
Mata v. Avianca, Inc., 678 F. Supp. 3d 443, 459 (S.D.N.Y. 2023) Real citation Not found Miss
Flowz Digital LLC v. Caroline Dalal C.D. California · 2025-05-05 · 3 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Shell Petroleum N.V. v. Republic of Costa Rica, 608 F. Supp. 2d 269 (S.D.N.Y. 2009) Invented case Address mismatch Match
In re Daou Systems, Inc., 411 F.3d 1006 (9th Cir. 2005) Real citation Verified Match
S.E.C. v. Cross Financial Services, Inc., 908 F. Supp. 718 (C.D. Cal. 1995) Real citation Verified Match
Lacey v. State Farm General Insurance C.D. California · 2025-05-06 · 4 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Booth v. Allstate Ins. Co., 198 Cal.App.3d 1357, 1366 (1989) Invented case Outside coverage Not tested
National Steel Products Co. v. Superior Court, 164 Cal.App.3d 476, 489 (1985) Real case, invented quote Verified Not tested
Chambers v. NASCO, Inc., 501 U.S. 32, 46-47 (1991) Real citation Verified Match
Fink v. Gomez, 239 F.3d 989, 994 (9th Cir. 2001) Real citation Verified Match
Capital Standard, LLC v. U.S. Bank National Association Florida Court of Appeal (2d DCA) · 2026-08-21 · 6 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Board of Regents v. Wilson, 365 So. 2d 213 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979) Invented case Address mismatch Match
Maciejewski v. Holland, 441 So. 2d 703 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983) Real case, invented quote Verified Not tested
Hart Properties, Inc. v. Slack, 159 So. 2d 236, 239 (Fla. 1963) Real case, wrong address Address mismatch Match
Miami Country Day School v. Bakst, 641 So. 2d 467 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994) Real case, invented quote Verified Not tested
Gonzalez v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Co., 95 So. 3d 251 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012) Real case, invented quote Verified Not tested
Malkeet Lnu v. Blanche, 177 F.4th 1014, 1024 (9th Cir. 2026) Real citation Not found Miss
Michael L. Ruiz v. Magellan Financial & Insurance Services D. Arizona · 2026-08-24 · 4 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Antonakeas, (Ninth Circuit case, full citation withheld by court) Real case, invented quote Not tested — citation withheld by the court Not tested
Osazuwa, (Ninth Circuit case, full citation withheld by court) Real case, invented quote Not tested — citation withheld by the court Not tested
Ansell v. Green Acres Contracting Co., 347 F.3d 515 (3d Cir. 2003) Real citation Verified Match
In re Girardi, 611 F.3d 1027, 1038 (9th Cir. 2010) Real citation Verified Match
Adams v. Matrix Providers Inc. et al. D. Colorado · 2026-08-27 · 3 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Ricks v. Starbucks, No. 21-cv-01386, 2023 WL 8872476, at *6 (D. Colo. Dec. 22, 2023) Real case, wrong address Outside coverage Not tested
Tabura v. Kellogg USA, 880 F.3d 544, 549 (10th Cir. 2018) Real citation Verified Match
Servants of the Paraclete v. Does, 204 F.3d 1005, 1012 (10th Cir. 2000) Real citation Verified Match
Douglas v. Deutsche Bank National Trust Company D.C. Court of Appeals · 2026-09-03 · 6 citations
Citation as filedWhat the court foundWhat Cite11 reportedMatch or miss
Abadie v. District of Columbia, Abadie v. District of Columbia Invented case Not tested — citation withheld by the court Not tested
Cason v. Nat'l Consumer Co-op Bank, Cason v. Nat'l Consumer Co-op Bank Invented case Not tested — citation withheld by the court Not tested
Osborne v. District of Columbia, Osborne v. District of Columbia Invented case Not tested — citation withheld by the court Not tested
Woods v. United States, Woods v. United States Invented case Not tested — citation withheld by the court Not tested
Grant v. City of Long Beach, 96 F.4th 1255, 1256-57 (9th Cir. 2024) Real citation Verified Match
United States v. Jones, 744 F.3d 1362, 1370 n.2 (D.C. Cir. 2014) Real citation Verified Match

The bottom line

A citation can be wrong in three ways: the case doesn't exist, the case exists but the number points somewhere else, or the case exists but the quoted words aren't in it. The first is easy to catch. The other two pass the “does it exist?” check every time, and they are now most of what courts are sanctioning. Cite11 checks all three against the public court record and tells you, for each citation, which one it found — or that it couldn't check. On the citations judges have already ruled on, it has never called a fake one real, it caught all but one it could see, and it warned about one real citation in twelve. That is what a Verification Report certifies: not that your brief is right, but that every citation in it was checked, dated, and numbered before you signed.