Substantiation

What it is

Substantiation is the evidence held on file that supports a specific claim, kept in a form someone outside the company could check. US advertising regulators describe the required standard as competent and reliable evidence — tests, analyses or research produced by people qualified to produce them and evaluated objectively. The standard scales with the claim: a general capability statement and a quantified performance claim do not need the same weight of proof.

Why it matters

Substantiation is the difference between asserting something and being able to show it. The practical test is not regulatory but commercial: if a customer's procurement or security team asked for the basis of a claim, could you produce it the same day? Companies that cannot usually discover it during a deal, at the point where the delay is most expensive.