answer evidence

0x93bdc918...4f3880

citation payments recorded0.004100USDC

agentic reasoning loop / server judge-strict / 0x9d384ead87d98c91

How does Tollgate pay creators when an AI answer cites their work?

Tollgate pays creators through an on-chain FeeRouter contract that routes USDC payments to creators' wallets based on their basis-point shares in a split. —designed to be tiny, automatic, visible to the creator, and tied to the specific answer that reused the work. To manage gas costs efficiently, sub-cent citations accrue to a claimable FeeRouter balance that creators can withdraw in a single claim call, rather than paying gas for each individual citation.

3 sources bought / 2 cited / 1 refunded

citations3

receipts3

reader paid0.010000

creator payouts (reader-paid)0.002800

protocol retained (reader-paid)0.007200

budget utilization28.0%

latest receipt0xdcfc3c8b...4ba6d8

query id0x9d384ead87d98c91

query hash0xa701a5bf0341b1106bf0a38a1d8ebbbe2a13e577d9a71609bd90b69a03372149

answer hash0x93bdc918afade826a921ce79c9402c3ff3a3cc5942a21fce976a9153264f3880

created at2026-07-12T00:27:59.449Z

record agent modellm

agent modelclaude-haiku-4-5-20251001

server agent modejudge-strict

receipt count3

reader payment hash0x5533641f3b87b94ca1f9d880fadde8f8aaa9dd71d3707add58a3d2cb019e94d0

reader paid0.010000 USDC

creator payouts (reader-paid)0.002800 USDC

protocol retained (reader-paid)0.007200 USDC

budget utilization28.0%

reader paymentx402 settled

amount0.010000 USDC

payer0x9d2d...f6b2

payment hash0x5533641f...9e94d0

agent accountability

Budget envelope and proof anchors

budget envelope0.006500 USDC

spent on sources0.004100 USDC

unused0.002400 USDC

source cap3/5 bought

covenant policy5.000000 USDC max

allowed domainsregistered source URLs only

TrackRecord anchornone

SlashBond status0.089091 USDC bonded

receipt chain hash0x3df01e4a1aaa28caa8ec7efb6f0f8d630f0ca86602ef4eb79098fcf0369a96d1

EIP-712 TollgateUseIntent

Signed decision-to-spend anchor

intent digest0x669adee19b7430535b62cf76ac33e8d402fb6ada0c5bc4729264f55d9e4ec216

signature0x92bf7424b53436d1297e3f2f057c7cc78ca7775506ca4a565e989fef5db7098e035f71bb0fe8e16afb241d34fa11ab1da87b791a7ac2bc2744095bcc97e91c191b

max spend0.002800 USDC

nonce263509910541703172116402198630056820623

expiry1783816990

candidate set root0xde4434be8bdc05db9f15dba4e03dbd1be3332e1af0375bb68d27804b6c5b29a4

selected sources root0x6ad8df70006979c765a0a006e965db847c74d76eb07daaf4e4fdb6fe162bf89c

decision trace hash0x85afd983af4df4bdd97048e257ce081f94bea1de8186c02418043fea946ebd0b

claim support root0x4104e67b9f5e4d56fdf69f0522b39a2eaf7b7147c85282a90c3291ec8e7fd54c

Arc anchor tx0x70d535bc77751fbde5d580edfe565c04c8caf891c31e85eef6f977b9041ac434

source market

Budgeted citation decision

source budget0.006500

agent spent0.004100

remaining0.002400

market sweep3/5

Citation Economics for AI AnswersIndie Researcher / score 12 / 0.001200 USDC

Establishes the principle that citation payments should be automatic, visible, and tied to answers. Foundational to answering how creators are paid.

Escrow and Ownership VerificationCreator Licensing Desk / score 19 / 0.001400 USDC

Bought: relevance score 19 cleared the budget policy.

How a Source-Buying Answer Agent WorksAgent Commerce Notes / score 12 / 0.001300 USDC

Directly explains how Tollgate (the answer agent itself) works: appraises sources, allocates budget, buys grounding, and records payments. Core to understanding the payment mechanism.

FeeRouter Split Payouts and ReceiptsReceipt Ledger Notes / score 3 / 0.001600 USDC

Describes the on-chain payment mechanism (FeeRouter contract, USDC routing, split payouts, receipt ledger, claimable balances). Concrete implementation of creator payment.

x402 Settlement Schemes on ArcPayments Protocol Notes / score 1 / 0.001300 USDC

Skipped: lower value than the purchased source bundle.

agent reasoning / planned by claude-haiku-4-5-20251001

Appraise to payout timeline

PASS. All three claims are directly supported by the purchased sources. Claim 1 is grounded in creator-citation-economics (payment design principles). Claims 2 and 3 are both grounded in feerouter-splits-receipts (FeeRou

1
appraiseAppraised 3 candidates: 3 to buy, 0 to skip.autonomous-source-buying: Directly explains how Tollgate (the answer agent itself) works: appraises sources, allocates budget, buys grounding, and records payments. Core to understanding the payment mechanism. | creator-citation-economics: Establishes the principle that citation payments should be automatic, visible, and tied to answers. Foundational to answering how creators are paid. | feerouter-splits-receipts: Describes the on-chain payment mechanism (FeeRouter contract, USDC routing, split payouts, receipt ledger, claimable balances). Concrete implementation of creator payment.
2
allocateAllocated the budget to 3 sources by best yield-adjusted grounding-per-USDC. · spent 0.004100 USDCCitation Economics for AI Answers, FeeRouter Split Payouts and Receipts, How a Source-Buying Answer Agent Works
3
draftDrafted an answer with 3 grounded claims.Every claim is tied to a purchased sourceId.
4
critiqueVerified every claim is backed by a purchased source.PASS. All three claims are directly supported by the purchased sources. Claim 1 is grounded in creator-citation-economics (payment design principles). Claims 2 and 3 are both grounded in feerouter-splits-receipts (FeeRou
5
finalFinal answer is restricted to paid citation records.Citation Economics for AI Answers, FeeRouter Split Payouts and Receipts, How a Source-Buying Answer Agent Works
6
receiptsWrote 3 source payment receipts into the ledger.0x3df01e4a1aaa28caa8ec7efb6f0f8d630f0ca86602ef4eb79098fcf0369a96d1

proof of useful citation

Claim support and contribution payout

Tollgate pays creators through an on-chain FeeRouter contract that routes USDC payments to creators' wallets based on their basis-point shares in a splitsupported / source feerouter-splits-receipts

span: The FeeRouter contract pays a creator by routing USDC through an on-chain split keyed to the creator's wallet and basis-point shares, so multi-contributor works divide automatically. / marginal contribution 2 / payout 0.001866 USDC

When an AI answer cites a creator's work, a source payment is triggeredunsupported / source none

span: not verified / marginal contribution 0 / payout 0.000000 USDC

designed to be tiny, automatic, visible to the creator, and tied to the specific answer that reused the worksupported / source creator-citation-economics

span: A source payment should be tiny, automatic, visible to the creator, and tied to the answer that reused the work. / marginal contribution 1 / payout 0.000934 USDC

To manage gas costs efficiently, sub-cent citations accrue to a claimable FeeRouter balance that creators can withdraw in a single claim call, rather than paying gas for each individual citationsupported / source feerouter-splits-receipts

span: Sub-cent citations accrue to a claimable FeeRouter balance the creator withdraws with a single claim call, which keeps per-citation gas from swamping the payment. / marginal contribution 2 / payout 0.001866 USDC

claim support root 0x4104e67b...7fd54c

paid citations

Sources used

Citation Economics for AI Answers

Indie Researcher / 0.001200 USDCSeed/demo content / Seed demo content used for public proof flows. / excerpt 0x4249ed2c...62fe12Establishes the principle that citation payments should be automatic, visible, and tied to answers. Foundational to answering how creators are paid.

Source page 0xdcfc3c8b...4ba6d8

FeeRouter Split Payouts and Receipts

Receipt Ledger Notes / 0.001600 USDCSeed/demo content / Seed demo content used for public proof flows. / excerpt 0xf73ffb15...f91520Describes the on-chain payment mechanism (FeeRouter contract, USDC routing, split payouts, receipt ledger, claimable balances). Concrete implementation of creator payment.

Source page 0x53b10c62...ae3009

How a Source-Buying Answer Agent Works

Agent Commerce Notes / 0.001300 USDCSeed/demo content / Seed demo content used for public proof flows. / excerpt 0x1f81e45f...7e938eDirectly explains how Tollgate (the answer agent itself) works: appraises sources, allocates budget, buys grounding, and records payments. Core to understanding the payment mechanism.

Source page 0x3df01e4a...9a96d1

answer receipts

Payment trail

Indie Researcherpayment status: accrued -> claimable on-chain / creator recipient 0x6666...6666ledger 0xdcfc3c8b...4ba6d8 / prev 0x35b11cb9...65cf21

0.000934Arc tx 0xdcfc3c8b...4ba6d8

Receipt Ledger Notespayment status: accrued -> claimable on-chain / creator recipient 0x8888...8888ledger 0x53b10c62...ae3009 / prev 0xdcfc3c8b...4ba6d8

0.001866Arc tx 0x53b10c62...ae3009

Agent Commerce Notespayment status: refunded / creator recipient 0x9999...9999ledger 0x3df01e4a...9a96d1 / prev 0x53b10c62...ae3009

0.0013000x3df01e4a...9a96d1