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Use AI to Speed Up Genealogy Research Report Writing Without Sacrificing Quality
- Devon Noel Lee
- Jun 16
- 7 min read
Let’s be honest—writing genealogy research reports can take just as long (or longer) than the research itself. If you've ever spent hours formatting timelines, refining research questions, or trying to phrase your findings clearly, you’re not alone.
The good news? AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini can help speed up the writing process—without replacing your research skills or compromising your standards.
In this post, I’ll walk you through five parts of a typical genealogy research report and show you how AI can support each one. From writing background summaries to refining research objectives and summarizing findings, you’ll get example prompts and practical ways to use AI as a writing assistant—not a replacement.
Ready to get more writing done in less time? Let’s dive in.
How AI Can Quickly Write Genealogy Research Reports
To answer whether good genealogists should use AI, we need to go beyond simple yes or no answers. Instead, let’s break down the typical components of a genealogy research report and explore the first of two questions: How can AI help write a research report?
Let’s start at the top of the report: background and timeline summaries.
1. Background & Timeline Summary
Nearly every genealogy research report begins with some form of background—a brief summary of what’s already known about the subject, followed by a timeline of life events and, ideally, a timeline of local history that puts that person’s life in context.
If you’re anything like me, this section can feel deceptively simple... until it eats up your entire afternoon. Trying to phrase things cleanly, ensuring everything is documented, and avoiding assumptions can bog you down—especially if you’ve already done the hard work of researching and analyzing the records.
So, can AI help here? Yes—quite a bit.
✅ How AI Can Write Background & Timeline Summaries
AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude can:
Convert bullet-point facts or timelines into a readable, narrative-style summary.
Write concise biographical sketches based on GEDCOM data or timeline exports from tools like FamilySearch or Ancestry.
Generate historical timelines for specific locations—regional, national, or local—to help place your ancestor’s life in context.
Example prompt: “You are an expert genealogist. Write a short biography of Joseph Lamborn using this timeline: [insert timeline]. Keep it factual and formal.”
Prompt for a locality timeline: “Generate a list of significant historical events in and around Laketown, Utah, from 1870 to 1900 that might have influenced local families.”
2. Research Question & Objective
Once you’ve laid the groundwork with background details and timelines, the next essential element of a research report is the research question—often accompanied by a more formally worded research objective.
This part of the report frames your entire investigation. It tells the reader what you’re trying to find out, and often includes identifying information like names, dates, and locations to define the scope of your research.
Sometimes, your objective is clear from the start. Other times, especially in complicated family lines or common-name scenarios, the question emerges only after digging into the background and identifying what’s missing.
So, can AI help here? Yes—but with some important caveats.
✅ How AI Can Write Research Questions & Objectives
AI can:
Reword your existing objective for clarity or formality.
Generate questions based on a GEDCOM file, biographical sketch, or timeline.
Identify missing pieces or inconsistencies in family data and suggest possible research questions.
Offer both formal and simplified versions depending on your audience.
Example prompt: Based on this life summary, suggest three research questions I could explore. Prioritize gaps in relationships or undocumented life events.
Example prompt: Rewrite this research objective to be more concise and professional. Include key identifiers like name, dates, and location, and make it sound like a formal genealogy report.
If you're working with a GEDCOM file, you can even upload it to ChatGPT or Claude and use a prompt like:
You are an expert genealogist. Analyze this GEDCOM file and identify individuals with missing or conflicting information. Then suggest three clear, answerable research questions based on that analysis.
3. Research Limitations
After you’ve outlined your research objective, many genealogists include a section on research limitations—challenges that could impact the outcome of the project. These may include issues like record loss, common surnames in the area, inconsistent spellings, or gaps in available sources.
This section shows that you’re thinking critically and anticipating obstacles. It’s especially important in formal reports or projects where others will evaluate the thoroughness of your work.
✅ How AI Can Write Research Limitations
AI tools can assist with identifying and phrasing research limitations by:
Summarizing known challenges based on the person's time period and location.
Generating lists of possible limitations based on birth and death locations or known gaps in the historical record.
Helping you phrase limitations clearly and concisely without sounding repetitive.
Example prompt: What research limitations might I encounter when researching a person born in 1879 in Utah and died in 1949 in Idaho? Consider access to census records, state boundaries, migration patterns, and record loss.
You can also provide your own notes and ask AI to help organize them into a clean, narrative paragraph:
Example prompt: Turn this list of challenges into a paragraph for the research limitations section of a genealogy report: [insert list of issues].
AI can even surface limitations you hadn’t considered, such as changes in county boundaries or laws that delayed statewide vital registration—making it a helpful brainstorming partner during the planning phase.
4. Analysis & Findings
The analysis section is often the heart of a genealogy research report. It’s where you present the records you found, interpret the evidence, and explain how each source supports—or doesn’t support—your research objective.
Some genealogists structure this section document-by-document, while others organize it around specific research questions. Either way, the process involves summarizing findings, cross-referencing sources, and drawing logical conclusions based on the available evidence.
This is also where the writing process can get messy: figuring out what goes where, how to phrase your claims clearly, and how to keep the flow readable. That’s where AI can be a big help—if you’ve already done the thinking.
✅ How AI Can Help with Analysis & Findings
AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude can:
Summarize individual records into narrative paragraphs.
Organize findings in a clearer order if you paste them in bullet-point form.
Help you identify redundancies and improve transitions between sections.
Even generate tables or formatted lists from extracted data (e.g., residence dates, relationships, or land transfers).
Example prompt: Summarize the following bullet points into a paragraph that explains how this census record contributes to understanding Joseph Lamborn’s household in 1880: [insert bullet points].
Example prompt: Based on these three record summaries, help me create a narrative flow that ties them together and highlights discrepancies or consistencies.
If you prefer working visually, AI can also help you generate maps, charts, or tables using structured data—though this depends on the tool you're using and your comfort with formatting or uploading CSV-style information.
When used correctly, AI becomes a writing partner that helps you turn messy notes into a more structured narrative, while still preserving your voice and logic.
5. Conclusions + Proofs
After presenting your research findings, most genealogy reports include a section that draws conclusions or presents a formal proof related to the original research question.
This is where you take everything you’ve discovered and explain what it means. Depending on the complexity of the question and the evidence involved, this might take the form of a:
Proof statement – a brief claim backed by a single strong source,
Proof summary – a paragraph or two tying together multiple sources, or
Proof argument – a longer, structured explanation that walks through conflicting evidence and your reasoning.
No matter the format, this section must be rooted in solid evidence, sound logic, and clear writing.
✅ How AI Can Draft Conclusions + Proofs
AI can help you write this section—but only if you feed it well-organized, accurate inputs. It can’t evaluate evidence on your behalf, but it can structure your reasoning more clearly, or rephrase your logic in smoother, more concise language.
Here’s how you might use it:
Drafting a proof summary once you've already outlined your argument.
Testing multiple phrasings of a conclusion (“likely,” “plausible,” “reasonably concluded”).
Rewording a long, clunky paragraph into a more formal, report-ready statement.
Example prompt: Using the following summary, write a paragraph that explains why it’s reasonable to conclude that Joseph Lamborn was born on 18 July 1879 in Laketown, Rich County, Utah Territory. End with a clear conclusion statement. [insert bullet-point summary].
Example prompt: Rewrite this proof summary to sound more formal and concise, while keeping the same evidence-based conclusion.
AI may even suggest extra components—like a source table or a follow-up recommendation—which can be useful depending on the report’s scope.
Just remember: AI’s job is to shape your thinking into clean writing. It’s not there to do the thinking for you.
Ready to Try It Yourself?
AI can be a powerful tool for genealogists—but like any tool, it works best when you know where to use it.
Which section of your next research report do you think AI could help you write? Background summary? Objective? Maybe those tricky proof summaries? Try one, see how it feels, and refine from there.
To help you get started, I’ve put together a free AI Report Writing Starter Kit. It includes:
A customizable genealogy report template
Plug-and-play AI prompts for each report section
Tips for reviewing and editing AI-generated drafts👉 Click here to download the Starter Kit
And if you’re wondering where the ethical boundaries are—or whether using AI might undermine your credibility—don’t worry. I’ve tackled that side of the conversation, too.
📖 Read: Should Good Genealogists Use AI to Write Research Reports? (Available 6/17/2025)
You've got tools. Now it's time to use them well.
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