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• Look for Out-of-Context Quotes or Spliced Audio: Campaigns frequently take a politician's past statements, slice them together, or use AI-generated/deepfake audio and video to make it look or sound like someone said something they never actually said. Check if the ad uses disclaimers about AI generation or if independent news outlets have verified the clip.

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• Examine the "Big Numbers" and Estimates: Ads often take an outside projection, a worst-case scenario, or a broad estimate and present it as a hard, proven fact (for example, turning an economist's wide range of potential tax savings into a specific, scandalous dollar amount tied to an opponent's property).

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• Identify Who Paid for the Ad: By law, ads must include a disclosure of who paid for them, but outside groups and Super PACs often use vague, patriotic-sounding names or funnel money through dark-money 501(c)(4) organizations to hide their true corporate or partisan donors. You can research the sponsor on databases like OpenSecrets or your state's public disclosure commission website.

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• Watch for Guilt-by-Association: Many misleading ads blame a candidate for laws, court cases, or events that they did not vote for, were not present for, or had a different role in.

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• Go Direct to the Source: If an ad makes a wild claim about a candidate's voting record or platform, visit the target candidate's official website or look up the actual legislative text and roll-call votes rather than trusting a 30-second commercial.