HG Insights|Phoenix

Skill: HG Fallback to Web Search

HG-grounded research that gracefully fills in the gaps — and never misattributes the source.

Overview

Keep HG-grounded research grounded — but don't fail when HG is sparse. Claude reaches for web search as a deliberate fallback (non-US filers without SEC presence, time-sensitive press, LinkedIn title verification) instead of a default, and cites the actual web source rather than misattributing the claim to HG.

Use cases

  • Research on EMEA + APAC accounts without SEC presence

    Claude knows when to fall back to local equivalents (Companies House for UK filings, JPX for Japan) and cites the actual local source — your APAC discovery deck stops dropping out at the public-filings step.

  • LinkedIn title verification before a name lands in a brief

    When contact_search returns a stakeholder, Claude verifies the LinkedIn URL still resolves and the title is current via web search — and cites it. The 'we cited the COO who left 8 months ago' problem disappears.

View full skill

HG Fallback to Web Search

When to use

  • A workflow has called the relevant HG tools and the output is sparse or missing.
  • A prompt needs to verify a fact that HG doesn't cover (named stakeholder title, IR page, recent press).
  • An author is tempted to lead with web_search — read the rule below first.

The fallback rule

web_search is a fallback, never a primary. Specifically:

  1. Call the relevant HG tool first (firmographic, technographic, intent, etc.).
  2. If HG returns the data, use it. Cite HG.
  3. If HG returns nothing or low-confidence, then call web_search.

Skipping the HG call and going straight to web search produces deliverables that read confidently but cite the wrong source — the user thinks they have HG-grounded data when they have a web summary.

When web_search is the right primary

Three cases where HG legitimately doesn't cover and web_search is the right tool:

  1. Non-US filers without SEC presence. Public companies in EMEA / APAC / LatAm don't always have SEC filings. Use the local equivalent (Companies House for UK, JPX for Japan), found via web_search.
  2. Verifying named-stakeholder titles. contact_search returns name + title; before quoting in a brief, verify the LinkedIn URL still resolves and the title is current. Web search the LinkedIn URL.
  3. Finding IR pages, press releases, partnership announcements. Time-sensitive content HG hasn't yet ingested.

For all three, cite the web source explicitly — not "HG, May 2026". See hg-citation-discipline.

Phoenix-side credit cost

web_search is dynamic (pricing.ts): 0.01 credits for basic, 0.02 for advanced. Cheap relative to HG calls, but not free — and the more important constraint is signal quality, not cost.

Common pitfalls

  1. Leading with web_search "because it's faster". Faster, but the source is weaker.
  2. Citing web_search as if it were HG. Always cite the actual domain.
  3. Trusting marketing-copy results. A vendor's own site is not a neutral source for the vendor's claims.

Reference