Prophecy Gov · vs · MadisonAI

A little of everything.
Or really good at the hard parts.

Madison and Prophecy both start with the same basic idea: a secure place to put your city’s files where the AI can only use those files and won’t make things up. What we each build on top of that idea is where we split.

MadisonAI
35+ tools, all doing the same basic thing
horizontal · shallow · one layer
Prophecy Gov
3 layers that make every tool better
Reads the hard files
Cross-checks your documents
Highlights the source
deep · each layer earns the next
Keep scrolling
1
The Basics

“Built for government” means two
very different things here.

Hover any tool on the left to see the instructions that sit inside it. Hover any Prophecy layer on the right to see what it actually does.

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MadisonAI’s definition
35+ purpose-built agents across four departments.

Admin, Planning, Procurement, Electeds — something out of the box for every desk. Technology-wise, most agents are prompts behind a button over a shared file index.

one shared prompt layer
Depth
1 layer
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Prophecy Gov’s definition
Three layers that help the AI actually understand your files.

Each layer is a real system we built — not just AI instructions with a pretty button on top. That’s what makes every tool above it faster, more accurate, and easier to defend in front of council.

Layer 01
the foundation
Reads the hard files
Pulls text out of scanned PDFs. Reads tables like tables. Turns meeting videos into searchable transcripts.
scanned PDFs tables meeting videos attachments
Layer 02
built on layer 1
Cross-checks your documents
Rules we wrote once that say things like “a staff report’s recommendation must match an actual motion that passed in the minutes.” The AI runs those rules automatically — it can’t fudge.
document types cross-checks auto-verification
Layer 03
built on layer 2
Highlights the source
Click any citation and see the exact sentence highlighted — in a PDF, a spreadsheet, or a meeting video. Staff actually check the source instead of trusting and hoping.
sentence-level links jumps to the page visual proof
Depth
3 layers

Shallow lets you launch fast. Deep compounds — every layer makes every tool better.

2
Layer 01 · Reading the hard files

Government files are messy.
We built better tools to read them.

Pick a file type below. Watch what happens between “upload” and the AI actually being able to answer questions from it. Most of our competitors skip these steps and hope the AI figures it out.

Step 01 · Upload
Scanned PDF
The raw file. AI can’t read it yet.
Step 02 · Read
Read the page
Every word extracted, even from scans.
Step 03 · Organize
Tables & sections
Rows, columns, and headings — not a wall of text.
Step 04 · Tag the important stuff
Who / what / when
People, motions, dollar amounts, dates, votes.
Step 05 · Ready to search
AI-ready knowledge
Searchable, cross-checked, and every answer can cite the exact source.
Idle — click a file type above to see the steps.
3
Layer 02 · Cross-Check Rules

Rules we wrote so your documents
have to agree with each other.

If a staff report says a motion passed, the AI has to confirm that motion actually passed in the minutes. Not “probably.” Not “the AI thinks so.” Confirm it — or don’t make the claim. Click Verify motion below to watch it work.

staff-report_SP-2024-015.pdf staff report · 7 pages
City of Riverside · Planning Department
Conditional Use Permit — Riverside Medical Plaza
Application SP-2024-015 · For action at the April 12 meeting

Staff has evaluated the conditional use application for a three-story medical office building at 412 Riverside Drive. The proposal meets height, setback, and parking standards under the Downtown Mixed-Use overlay.

Key points from the April 12 Planning Commission:

  • Neighborhood concerns focused on traffic and shade impacts.
  • Applicant agreed to a 15-foot rear setback as a condition.
  • Public comment closed without objection from adjacent property owners.
Recommended Action
Move to approve application SP-2024-015 with the condition of a 15-foot rear setback.
Staff recommendation reflected in minutes? unverified
minutes_2024-04-12.pdf minutes · 12 pages
Planning Commission · Minutes
Meeting of April 12, 2024
Chambers · Adopted 4-1

Item 4. Application SP-2024-015 — Riverside Medical Plaza (CUP). Staff presentation by K. Park. Commissioner questions on parking adequacy and tree preservation.

Public comment: three speakers, one in favor, two expressing concerns about construction-period traffic. No written correspondence received after 5 p.m.

Motion
Commissioner Diaz moved to approve SP-2024-015 with a 15-foot rear setback condition. Seconded by Commissioner Patel.
Vote: 4-1 (Aye: Diaz, Patel, Ng, Okafor · Nay: Hale). MOTION CARRIED.

Next item: Item 5 — Variance for 1004 Oak.

The rule in plain English
A staff report’s recommendation has to match an actual motion the council passed.
the staff report’s motion must match a motion in the minutes and that motion has to have passed
We write the rule once. It runs on every meeting packet, automatically. If the check fails, the AI won’t put the claim in the draft — it will tell you it couldn’t confirm it. No ugly surprises in front of council.
What Madison does here
Madison has agents that touch this problem — Historical Action Research, Voting History Lookup. They work by asking the foundation model to reconcile documents it has in context. Fine on easy packets. On packets with multiple motions, amendments, or tabled items, the model quietly guesses wrong.
Asking the AI every time
  • Pays the AI fee on every question
  • Answer changes from run to run
  • No way to guarantee it’s right
Running a rule we wrote
  • The rule runs the same way, every time
  • No AI fee after it’s written
  • Either it passes or it fails loudly
4
Layer 03 · Citations

Madison cites.
Prophecy shows you where.

Both systems claim citations. Only one lets you click a number and see the exact passage — word-for-word highlighted in the source file or video transcript. No page-hunting, no 200-page re-reads.

AI draft for the city manager
QUERY
“Summarize the Riverside Medical Plaza CUP outcome for the manager’s briefing.”
DRAFT ANSWER
The Riverside Medical Plaza conditional use permit (SP-2024-015) was approved by the Planning Commission at the April 12 meeting, contingent on the applicant adding a 15-foot rear setback. Public comment focused on construction-period traffic; three residents spoke, one in favor and two with concerns. Staff noted the proposal meets height, setback, and parking standards under the Downtown Mixed-Use overlay.
4 citations
2 source files
0 unsupported claims
built from your files · cross-checked
Madison equivalent
file-level citations
The Riverside Medical Plaza CUP was approved with a 15-foot rear setback condition minutes_2024-04-12.pdf. Public comment focused on construction-period traffic minutes_2024-04-12.pdf. Staff found the proposal consistent with the Downtown Mixed-Use overlay staff-report_SP-2024-015.pdf.
3 citations 2 source files named ✕ no sentence highlighted — staff has to open the file and find it
minutes_2024-04-12.pdf
page 3 of 12
Hover or click a citation to see the source.
5
The Trial

Same question. Same file box.
Two very different answers.

Type a question into both systems and watch what comes back. This is what happens in a real side-by-side trial — and why the choice is already made by the time the meeting ends.

 
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MadisonAI · Staff Report Assistant
general AI · file lookup
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Prophecy Gov · Packet Analyst
reads · cross-checks · cites
Read Organize Cross-check Cite
Verdict
The shallow answer fits a demo. The deep answer fits a council meeting.

In the real trials we run with cities, this is the moment staff stop clicking back to the other tab.

citations by filenameboth
links to the exact sentence✓ only Prophecy
reads scanned PDFs✓ only Prophecy
reads meeting videos✓ only Prophecy
cross-checks vs minutes✓ only Prophecy
6
The pricing difference

Unlimited seats, unlimited use.
No line items. No surprises.

Madison’s contracts charge you per department, per terabyte of files, and cap your team’s usage at $3,000 a year before the price goes up. We built a more efficient way to read and search files — which means we can offer the whole thing for one flat price. Forever.

Based on Madison’s signed Fort Myers Beach, Culver City, and TXShare contracts (2025-26).
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MadisonAI
line-item pricing, true-up on usage
source: signed proposals
Your annual bill
Year 1 total
$0
plus setup fees and token overages
The fine print
  • ! Usage cap: $250/month or $3,000/year before your team’s searches start counting against next year’s bill.
  • ! Annual true-up: if your team uses it more than the cap, your renewal fee goes up to match.
  • ! $5,000 per terabyte of data added for Community Development assistants.
  • ! 3% automatic yearly increase, plus any Microsoft Azure price jumps.
  • ! Custom reports beyond 3 per assistant cost extra. Custom agents cost extra too.
  • ! $5,000–$10,000 setup fee per assistant (often waived if you buy the bundle).
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Prophecy Gov
one price, no strings
flat annual fee
Your annual bill
Every department — all of them, foreverincluded
Unlimited staff seatsincluded
Unlimited searches and draftsincluded
Unlimited file storageincluded
All meeting videos, OCR, cross-checksincluded
Custom workflows & reportsincluded
Year 1 total
one flat fee
scales with your city size, not with how much you use it
Why we can do this
  • Rules, not prompts. When we cross-check a staff report against the minutes, we run a rule we wrote — not an AI prompt that costs money on every run.
  • Read once, reuse forever. When we read a 200-page packet, we do it one time. Every future question about it is almost free.
  • One system, every department. The reading engine, the cross-check rules, the citations — they work the same for planning, HR, procurement, or council. No per-department multiplier.
  • So we don’t need to meter you. The more your team uses Prophecy, the more valuable it gets — and our costs barely move. That’s the deal we can offer that Madison can’t.
The practical effect: a finance director at a Madison city hesitates before asking a follow-up question, because the meter is running. A finance director at a Prophecy city doesn’t. That’s the real difference.
Back to the trial