How Can SEC Companyfacts Earnings Data API Help?

The SEC Companyfacts earnings data API is an SEC EDGAR interface for checking XBRL earnings figures in investor answers from ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode and Microsoft Copilot. Companyfacts returns filed values, units, periods, forms and accession numbers. The related 8-K, 10-Q or 10-K provides the evidence for each verdict.

Quick answer: Companyfacts helps an IR team locate the filed data behind a financial claim. Companyfacts does not decide whether an investor answer is accurate. The team must compare the captured answer with the relevant filing, earnings exhibit and official IR materials.

What is the SEC Companyfacts earnings data API?

The SEC Companyfacts earnings data API returns XBRL facts for one reporting company. The response groups facts by taxonomy and concept, with filing details attached to each reported value.

The SEC Companyfacts documentation defines the endpoint and response structure. Companyfacts can help an IR team find filing evidence. It does not replace the filing or its surrounding text.

What is the Companyfacts endpoint?

The Companyfacts endpoint uses a company’s Central Index Key, or CIK. SEC documentation shows this endpoint pattern:

https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK##########.json

The CIK in the URL must contain 10 digits, including leading zeroes. The response organizes available facts by taxonomy, concept and unit.

SEC documentation says these APIs aggregate facts that use non-custom taxonomies. IR teams should not assume that every tagged disclosure or company-specific concept appears in Companyfacts.

The SEC states that data.sec.gov APIs do not require authentication or API keys. Automated users must follow the SEC developer access policy and identify requests with a User-Agent header. Last checked: 2026-10-13.

What fields can an IR team inspect?

A Companyfacts entry can show a reported value, unit, reporting period, form, filing date and accession number. Duration facts can include start and end dates. Instant facts use a date for the reporting point.

The accession number connects an API entry to an SEC submission. The form field identifies the associated filing form. These fields help the IR team find evidence, but the team must still read the source document.

How is Companyfacts different from Companyconcept and Frames?

Companyfacts returns available XBRL facts for one company. Companyconcept narrows the response to one taxonomy and concept for that company. Frames returns facts for a taxonomy concept, unit and reporting frame.

Companyfacts fits a company-level review that covers several concepts and filings. Companyconcept is narrower when the exact taxonomy and concept are known. Frames serves a different research purpose and does not replace a review of company disclosures.

How can Companyfacts help check financial figures in investor answers?

Companyfacts helps turn a financial claim into a traceable filing check. An IR team can compare the claimed value, unit and period, then open the SEC submission identified by the accession number.

The team should preserve the engine’s exact answer before starting the review. That record shows the wording, figures and visible sources presented to the investor.

How should the team match a claimed value?

The IR team should match the value, unit and reporting period before relying on the label. A value reported in dollars does not match a value presented in millions without a documented conversion. A year-to-date duration does not equal a single quarter.

The team should also inspect the start and end dates. A short label may omit the company’s fiscal calendar or the duration behind a value. The filing dates and period fields provide the starting point for checking that label.

What verdicts can the evidence support?

A filing-based review can classify a claim as matching, stale, unsupported by the cited source or unclear. Each verdict should include the captured answer and a specific company source.

A missing Companyfacts entry does not prove that a claim lacks support. The value may appear in an earnings exhibit, footnote, narrative section or official IR document. The team should search those sources before assigning a verdict.

The MS House methodology explains how the Investor Answer Audit compares investor answers with company filings.

Which filing should control when values differ?

The filing used as evidence should cover the same claim, period, unit and definition as the investor answer. Filing date alone does not settle every difference.

An IR team should compare the relevant documents instead of assuming one form always replaces another. A later filing may repeat a value, revise it or present a different measure.

How should an 8-K Item 2.02 exhibit be treated?

A Form 8-K Item 2.02 submission may include an earnings release as an exhibit. The exhibit may contain reported results, non-GAAP reconciliations and management explanations.

The team should inspect the exhibit through SEC EDGAR and record its accession number. The exhibit may use labels or adjustments that do not map to a fact returned by Companyfacts.

The SEC Form 8-K instructions explain Item 2.02 and the treatment of related exhibits.

When should the team use a 10-Q or 10-K?

A 10-Q or 10-K should support claims drawn from financial statements, footnotes or periodic disclosures. The team must confirm that the filing covers the same period and definition as the answer.

A periodic filing can present several durations or reporting points. The IR team should not infer a quarterly value unless the filing reports it or provides the figures needed for a documented calculation.

For this Companyfacts workflow, use the SEC’s official Form 10-Q instructions and Form 10-K instructions to confirm what each report covers. Then cite the exact filing table, note or line used for the verdict.

What if an amended filing changes the value?

An amended filing requires a document-level review. The team should identify the amendment, read its explanation and determine which disclosures it affects.

A later accession number shows that the submission came later. It does not show that every value in an earlier filing changed. The discrepancy record should quote the relevant amendment text before the team changes a verdict.

What role should an official IR page have?

An official IR page can help the team find published earnings materials. It can also show how the company labels a release, table or presentation.

For a financial figure reported in an SEC submission, the discrepancy record should cite the relevant filing or exhibit. The IR page can support source discovery and correction work, but it should not replace available SEC evidence.

What can Companyfacts verify, and what still needs the filing text?

SEC Companyfacts is not enough when a claim depends on context, period, units or a non-GAAP reconciliation. Companyfacts can locate a tagged value and its filing reference. The reviewer must still inspect the filed statement or exhibit.

SEC documentation describes Companyfacts as an aggregation of XBRL facts. Use the filed document for these checks:

1. Context. Read the statement, note or exhibit around the value.
2. Period. Confirm whether the value covers a quarter, year to date or full year.
3. Units. Confirm whether the filing reports dollars, millions, shares or per-share amounts.
4. Non-GAAP reconciliation. Check the earnings exhibit for the measure’s label, definition and reconciliation to GAAP.

Use the 10-Q and 8-K audit workflow when a claim requires filing text. Keep Companyfacts as a way to locate structured facts and accession numbers.

How should an IR team document a discrepancy?

An IR team should create one evidence record for each disputed claim. The record should preserve the investor answer and the company source used to check it.

A short, structured record helps the CFO, General Counsel or disclosure committee reproduce the conclusion. It also keeps values, periods and definitions from becoming one broad finding.

What should each discrepancy record contain?

Each discrepancy record should contain:

The record should separate an incorrect value from an incorrect period. These findings may look similar in a summary, but they can require different source corrections.

Why should the exact answer be saved?

The exact answer shows what the investor received during the capture. It gives the team a stable record for later comparison.

Save the answer as text and preserve visible citations when the engine shows them. A screenshot can support the record, but searchable text makes claim-level review easier. Do not rewrite or summarize the answer before saving it.

What is the numbered Companyfacts verification workflow?

The Companyfacts verification workflow checks one financial claim at a time against SEC evidence. The first stage captures the answer and finds the related Companyfacts entry. The second stage opens the filing, assigns a verdict and saves the evidence.

How should the team capture and match the claim?

The first 5 steps preserve the investor answer and connect its claims to Companyfacts:

1. Capture the answer. Save the prompt, exact response, engine, date, time and visible sources.
2. Separate the claims. List each value, period, unit, label and comparison as a distinct claim.
3. Identify the expected company source. Select the relevant 8-K exhibit, 10-Q, 10-K or official IR document.
4. Open Companyfacts. Use the company’s 10-digit CIK in the documented Companyfacts endpoint.
5. Match the fact. Compare the taxonomy, concept, value, unit, start date and end date.

One answer may contain several claims. Review each claim separately so a correct value does not hide an incorrect period or definition.

How should the team reach and document a verdict?

The final 5 steps connect the Companyfacts entry to the source document and record the conclusion:

6. Record the filing reference. Save the form, filing date and accession number.
7. Open the source document. Read the table, footnote, exhibit or narrative related to the claim.
8. Check relevant later submissions. Review amendments, restatements or disclosed definition changes.
9. Assign the verdict. State whether the claim matches, is stale, lacks source support or remains unclear.
10. Save the evidence. Record the source text, proposed action, owner and re-check date.

Do not stop when the value matches. A value tied to the wrong period, unit or concept can still mislead an investor. The verdict should cite the filing line, note or table that supports it.

Which AI engine gives the most accurate public company financial answers?

Companyfacts cannot show whether ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews or Microsoft Copilot gives the most accurate public company financial answers. The API contains filed XBRL facts, not captured engine answers or accuracy results.

A comparison requires the same investor questions, capture conditions and filing-based review for each engine. Each claim needs its own verdict because one answer may contain both correct and incorrect details. The review should preserve each engine’s wording and visible citations before comparing the results.

Which websites do AI engines cite for public company financial data?

Companyfacts cannot identify which websites ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews cite most often. Companyfacts returns SEC filing data and does not report engine retrieval behavior.

An IR team must capture the visible citations in each answer and count them within the reviewed set. The team should then check each cited page against the relevant SEC filing or official IR material. A source can be visible in an answer without supporting every claim in that answer.

How can Companyfacts support a correction workflow?

Companyfacts can support a correction workflow by identifying the filing and tagged fact behind the correct figure. Companyfacts does not provide a way to edit an AI engine’s answer.

The IR team should identify the source shown by the engine when a source is visible. The team can then compare that source with the filing evidence and decide which company-controlled page needs review.

What should the IR team correct first?

The IR team should first review company-controlled sources that state or summarize the disputed figure. These sources may include the current earnings page, financial tables, filing links and HTML summaries.

Each source should state the period and unit near the figure. A table should not depend on a distant heading to explain whether values are quarterly, year-to-date or annual. The source should also link to the relevant filing or exhibit.

See how to correct wrong financial figures in ChatGPT for a filing-based correction process.

How should the team test the correction?

The IR team should repeat the original prompt after the updated source is public. The team should save the new answer beside the original capture.

Use the same engine and prompt for the first comparison. Record whether the value, period, source or wording changed. If the discrepancy remains, inspect the source shown in the new answer before making another edit.

Period, source and definition errors require separate checks. The guide to why AI chatbots get earnings wrong shows how each problem can produce an investor answer that conflicts with company evidence.

Who can check AI engine answers against SEC filings?

An internal IR team or an audit service can check ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode and Microsoft Copilot answers against SEC filings. The reviewer should provide captured answers, exact filing citations and a ranked correction list.

A score without the underlying evidence is not enough. Each finding should identify the engine, prompt, capture time, visible source and filing passage that supports the verdict.

What services audit AI chatbot answers about company earnings?

A service that audits investor answers should separate Companyfacts checks from claims that require filing text. Companyfacts can help locate tagged values, but guidance, non-GAAP measures and narrative explanations need the related filing or exhibit.

For a Companyfacts review, the Investor Answer Audit pairs each captured engine claim with its value, period, accession number and filing passage. The report also identifies the company-controlled source and the role that can review it.

Which evidence should appear in the report?

An audit report should show the answer given, the company evidence and the difference between them. Each finding should also name the team or role that can review the source.

The report should not treat a missing Companyfacts value as proof of an error. It should show the related filing search and explain any limit in the available evidence.

Frequently asked questions about SEC Companyfacts

This SEC Companyfacts FAQ covers practical limits when an IR team uses XBRL facts to check investor answers.

Does the SEC Companyfacts API require an API key?

No. SEC documentation says data.sec.gov APIs do not require authentication or API keys. Users must follow the SEC access policy and identify automated requests with a User-Agent header. Last checked: 2026-10-13.

Can Companyfacts tell me what ChatGPT will say about earnings?

No. Companyfacts returns filed XBRL facts. It does not show which sources ChatGPT retrieves or how ChatGPT phrases an answer.

Does Companyfacts include non-GAAP figures such as adjusted EBITDA?

Do not assume it does. SEC documentation says the APIs aggregate facts that use non-custom taxonomies. Check the related filing or earnings exhibit for the non-GAAP label, definition and reconciliation.

What should I do if the same period shows different values?

Compare the accession numbers, filing dates, forms, units, periods and definitions. Then read the related filings for an amendment, restatement or presentation change.

See the sample audit to review how captured investor answers, filing evidence and correction owners appear together.