answer evidence

0x29780b28...11d366

citation payments recorded0.004100USDC

agentic reasoning loop / server judge-strict / 0xa08c35eb4a767440

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 basis-point shares. When an AI answer cites a creator's work, a source payment is triggered that is tiny, automatic, visible to the creator, and tied to the specific answer reusing the work. Sub-cent citation payments accumulate in a claimable FeeRouter balance that creators can withdraw with a single claim transaction, which avoids excessive per-citation gas costs. Each payout emits a tamper-evident receipt hash-chained into a ledger for auditability.

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 receipt0x7e4e0629...27b188

query id0xa08c35eb4a767440

query hash0xe556f13627004ba244f8d3651b99ee3b67a1639b908b475d6280e92638d6885c

answer hash0x29780b28dd666c83dc37fb48f6053ad1da4c629de7456f02fb637ae75511d366

created at2026-08-24T07:46:11.027Z

record agent modellm

agent modelclaude-haiku-4-5-20251001

server agent modejudge-strict

receipt count3

reader payment hash0xb6968c2150ceb530076f2ac87a12e347d2d12e4adc381a3438180b83484d4937

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 hash0xb6968c21...4d4937

agent accountability

Budget envelope and proof anchors

budget envelope0.006500 USDC

spent on sources0.004100 USDC

unused0.002400 USDC

source cap3/5 bought

covenant policynot published locally

allowed domainsregistered source URLs only

TrackRecord anchornone

SlashBond statusnot published locally

receipt chain hash0x7e5952889e6a7acd8944298140cdd5703f3f4d46fc7ad81d5da90ce7d4ddb444

EIP-712 TollgateUseIntent

Signed decision-to-spend anchor

intent digest0x1bf0643c3cef249bc671a876701d7a65555f1e79ca3f4bac0c8e47bca3c3f519

signature0x5361e7235c3dfb8f5bc14372af83f4636a044b258e6fb582aa470e2be90da4a245bc9a49b09ea72c380487a2977862161c49be4fd83a103686f554e60f1fcea11b

max spend0.002800 USDC

nonce45652694599143055902991056572592276158

expiry1787558496

candidate set root0xebbc9fa74d9a911a31f1139c4b65afd79319ba8f4bd2248bab009819d463736f

selected sources root0x6ad8df70006979c765a0a006e965db847c74d76eb07daaf4e4fdb6fe162bf89c

decision trace hash0x87a598d15908131788c86cdc1763adaa755e52eb3e94806a10dba2fd6c635ef9

claim support root0xf07dbd8164a13d60c1b52952ef56e4bcb810ff73625305b3c9369ebe55f56a6e

Arc anchor tx0x63e21e677dc29060ebde63a83bd68716a5daa10a5c70ba27268c22953d01ccef

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

Articulates the payment principle: tiny, automatic, visible, tied to the answer. Directly answers what 'pay creators when cited' means in practice.

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

Addresses ownership verification and escrow safeguards, which are important for fraud prevention but tangential to the core payment flow. Not essential to answer the question within budget.

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

Explains the on-chain settlement mechanism: USDC routing, split contracts, receipt ledgers, and sub-cent accrual. Concrete implementation of creator payouts.

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

Describes HTTP 402 and EIP-3009 settlement protocols, which are infrastructure-level but not specific to how Tollgate pays creators. Budget better spent on direct Tollgate and FeeRouter mechanics.

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

Appraise to payout timeline

All claims are supported by the purchased sources. The draft answer is grounded and ready to publish.

1
appraiseAppraised 5 candidates: 3 to buy, 2 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: Articulates the payment principle: tiny, automatic, visible, tied to the answer. Directly answers what 'pay creators when cited' means in practice. | feerouter-splits-receipts: Explains the on-chain settlement mechanism: USDC routing, split contracts, receipt ledgers, and sub-cent accrual. Concrete implementation of creator payouts.
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 4 grounded claims.Every claim is tied to a purchased sourceId.
4
critiqueVerified every claim is backed by a purchased source.All claims are supported by the purchased sources. The draft answer is grounded and ready to publish.
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.0x7e5952889e6a7acd8944298140cdd5703f3f4d46fc7ad81d5da90ce7d4ddb444

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 basis-point sharessupported / 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 3 / payout 0.002100 USDC

When an AI answer cites a creator's work, a source payment is triggered that is tiny, automatic, visible to the creator, and tied to the specific answer reusing 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 0.000700 USDC

Sub-cent citation payments accumulate in a claimable FeeRouter balance that creators can withdraw with a single claim transaction, which avoids excessive per-citation gas costssupported / 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 3 / payout 0.002100 USDC

Each payout emits a tamper-evident receipt hash-chained into a ledger for auditabilitysupported / source feerouter-splits-receipts

span: Each payout emits an evidence receipt hash-chained into a tamper-evident ledger. / marginal contribution 3 / payout 0.002100 USDC

claim support root 0xf07dbd81...f56a6e

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...62fe12Articulates the payment principle: tiny, automatic, visible, tied to the answer. Directly answers what 'pay creators when cited' means in practice.

Source page 0x7e4e0629...27b188

FeeRouter Split Payouts and Receipts

Receipt Ledger Notes / 0.001600 USDCSeed/demo content / Seed demo content used for public proof flows. / excerpt 0xf73ffb15...f91520Explains the on-chain settlement mechanism: USDC routing, split contracts, receipt ledgers, and sub-cent accrual. Concrete implementation of creator payouts.

Source page 0xb6a7ec03...31167c

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 0x7e595288...ddb444

answer receipts

Payment trail

Indie Researcherpayment status: accrued -> claimable on-chain / creator recipient 0x6666...6666ledger 0x7e4e0629...27b188 / prev 0x43188648...f03e23

0.000700Arc tx 0x7e4e0629...27b188

Receipt Ledger Notespayment status: accrued -> claimable on-chain / creator recipient 0x8888...8888ledger 0xb6a7ec03...31167c / prev 0x7e4e0629...27b188

0.002100Arc tx 0xb6a7ec03...31167c

Agent Commerce Notespayment status: refunded / creator recipient 0x9999...9999ledger 0x7e595288...ddb444 / prev 0xb6a7ec03...31167c

0.0013000x7e595288...ddb444