The data Bilby reads
Know which sources Bilby reads for an answer, how current each one is, and how to choose where it looks.
4 min read · Updated 31 Oct 2026
Before you begin
Where Bilby looks
When you ask a question, Bilby decides where to look unless you tell it. It searches and reads before it writes, and every answer names the sources behind it.
The sources, and how current each one is
| Source | What it holds | How current it is |
|---|---|---|
| Bilby Search | Government and private sources that Bilby collects and sorts, for China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam | Searched by publication date. Data on the home page shows how many documents it holds and the date of the newest |
| Web search | Current news and pages on the open web, and any page you paste a link to | Searched live, while Bilby answers |
| Asia Daily Take | Briefings, predictions and original source documents that Bilby publishes, in organizations that have it | Each item shows its date |
| Bilby Signals | Risk and sentiment indexes that Bilby tracks over time, on a scale of 1 to 6 | Each chart says "As of" its latest date |
| Your organization's documents | Collections set up for your organization, such as its reports or policies | Library › Knowledgebase shows when each document last changed |
| Your files | Files you attach to a chat, and the Files of a vault the chat is in | As current as the file you added |
In Bilby Search, sources come in two kinds. Government includes regulators, and for China and Vietnam, Party sources. Private means private media.
Bilby also reads what it remembers about you, such as your role and how you like answers, and looks back at your own past chats in the organization when that helps. Settings › Memory shows what it remembers, and you can change it there.
Step 1: See what your organization has
Go to the home page and scroll down to Explore what's available in Bilby, or choose Discover in the sidebar if you have it. Then choose Data. It lists the collections connected to your organization, with what each holds. For the ones Bilby searches in full, it shows how many documents there are and the date of the newest.
Data
Connected research collections available in this organization.
Data appears only in organizations with collections connected.
Step 2: Choose where Bilby looks
Type @ in the question box to pick a source for this question:
- Bilby search, narrowed by Country and Source channel: Government, Private or All. Press Apply selection. Advanced Search picks individual collections instead.
- Web search, for news from today.
- Bilby Signals or Major changes, for what moved and when.
- Your organization's own collections, when the chat's agent has them.
On Data, Use in my question on a collection does the same: Bilby Search looks only in the collections you picked. Without a pick, Bilby chooses for itself.
Step 3: Ask for a period
To keep an answer current, say the period in your question, such as "since 1 October" or "in the last two weeks". Bilby Search can look within those dates. Ask for the date of each source too, as in the example at the end of this guide.
Step 4: Check the sources
A chip after a paragraph names the source behind it. Point at it to read the passage Bilby used, with a link to the original. The Sources tab beside the chat lists everything the chat found, the cited sources first. See Read the sources.
What Bilby doesn't read
- Other people's chats. Your chats are yours, and other people's are theirs, unless a chat is in a vault shared with you.
- Another organization's documents. Bilby works in the organization you're in. Switch organization to use another's collections.
- A source turned off for you. Settings › Tools lists your organization's tools and sources. You can turn each one on or off for yourself, unless it says Set by your organization.
Note
Bilby can make mistakes. Before you rely on anything important, open the source behind it.
Try it in Bilby
Ask a question limited to government sources and a period.
Change the country, the subject or the date to your own before you press Send.
Ask Bilby to split a big job
Give Bilby a job with several separate parts, such as one per country or per company. It hands each part to a subagent, they work at the same time, and Bilby puts their findings together.
Your organization's documents
Find the documents your organization keeps in Bilby, read them, and have Bilby answer from them with the document cited.