Get through a long ESG report and check each claim against its data
An ESG or sustainability report can run longer than the annual report, and it mixes ambitions, case studies, policy summaries and dense data tables, often with an index mapping each disclosure to one or more reporting frameworks. The confident target on page five and the footnote that limits its scope can be far apart. Upload the report as a PDF to Search+, ask about one topic at a time, and open each citation to see whether the claim has data behind it.
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Last updated October 2026
How to work through an ESG report with Search+
- Upload the report and its companions
Add the ESG report, normally a PDF, alongside the annual report, any separate climate report and the assurance statement. If the data appendix comes as an Excel workbook rather than a PDF, upload it as it is. A question can then draw on all of them.
- Fix your standard in Workspace Context
Write something like "For every target, give the baseline year, scope and deadline, and say whether the figure is assured". That standing instruction applies to every answer in the workspace.
- Ask topic by topic and open the source
Ask about emissions, then water, then workforce, rather than everything at once. Answers carry inline citations, and opening one shows the excerpt, often a data table or footnote, with a page reference where the PDF has one.
Questions people ask of an ESG report
Which topics does the company say are material, and how did it carry out its materiality assessment?
What are the interim and long-term emissions targets, and which scopes do they cover?
What does the report say about scope 3 emissions and supplier engagement?
What workforce data is disclosed, such as diversity, turnover and safety incidents?
Which reporting frameworks does the report reference, and which disclosures are marked as omitted or partly reported?
Compared with last year's ESG report, which targets were changed, dropped or newly added?
What reading an ESG report well takes
The narrative chapters set out goals and initiatives, while the figures live in data tables or an appendix. A statement of progress should match a number in the data; ask for both.
Most reports explain which topics the company treats as material and why. Topics judged immaterial may get little or no coverage, which matters if your interest is one of them.
Figures may cover only certain operations, exclude recent acquisitions, or use a restated baseline. The methodology notes usually say so, and they change what a trend means.
A content index mapping disclosures to frameworks shows where each item is answered, and where the company says it does not report. Ask about omissions as well as answers.
Independent assurance, where present, often covers only some metrics and at a limited level. Read the assurance statement to see what was checked.
Search+ traces a claim back to the passages that support it, with citations to the source document and excerpt, so a progress statement can be checked against the data note it relies on.
The usual parts of an ESG report and a question for each
| Part of the report | What it usually covers | A question to ask Search+ |
|---|---|---|
| Leadership message and strategy | Why sustainability matters to the business and the headline goals | Which goals does the chief executive highlight? |
| Materiality assessment | How the company chose its priority topics | Which stakeholders were consulted for the materiality assessment? |
| Environment | Emissions, energy, water, waste and biodiversity | What progress is reported against the emissions target? |
| Social | Workforce, health and safety, human rights, communities | What does the report say about human rights in the supply chain? |
| Governance | Board oversight, ethics, policies and incentives | How is executive pay linked to sustainability targets? |
| Data tables and methodology | Figures, boundaries, restatements and calculation methods | Were any prior-year figures restated, and why? |
| Framework index and assurance | Mapping to frameworks and the external assurance statement | Which metrics received external assurance? |
What is an ESG report?
An ESG report, often called a sustainability or corporate responsibility report, is a document in which a company describes its environmental, social and governance priorities, targets and performance, usually with supporting data and an explanation of how it was compiled.
Questions about reading an ESG report with AI
Can Search+ check whether an ESG target has data behind it?
Can it find what an ESG report leaves out?
Does it understand scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions?
Can I compare ESG reports from several companies?
Is an answer about ESG performance an investment recommendation?
How far can I trust an answer about an ESG data table?
Match every target to its numbers
Start a workspace, upload the ESG report and its data appendix, and ask what the company has actually achieved.
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