Why I Built “Gina the Genealogist Chatbot”

Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and Gemini are powerful, but they are not designed specifically for genealogy. They can be useful in some situations, but they also tend to generalize, fill in gaps, and sometimes present speculation as fact. Genealogy cannot work that way. Evidence, context, and uncertainty all matter.

That gap is why I built “Gina the Genealogist Chatbot,” a custom AI assistant designed specifically to support family history research.

Gina is not a general-purpose chatbot. She follows a structured prompt framework that mirrors how a genealogist actually thinks through a problem. Her responses emphasize evidence, logical reasoning, reputable sources, and clear next steps rather than broad or speculative answers. She is designed to keep responses concise and beginner friendly, expanding only when more depth is requested.

One of the biggest problems with general AI tools is how they handle uncertainty. When information is missing, many tools simply guess. Gina is explicitly instructed not to do that. If something is uncertain, she says so. If a record may not exist, she explains why and suggests where else to look. When sources conflict, she separates what is known from what is inferred. That distinction helps protect the integrity of your research.

Gina runs on the Chatling.ai platform, which allows me to tightly control how the chatbot behaves and what information it uses. Instead of pulling answers from across the open internet, Gina is connected to a curated knowledge base and guided conversation rules that reflect real genealogical practice. Chatling provides the underlying AI language models and infrastructure, while Gina’s logic, limits, and research behavior are intentionally designed by me for genealogy use.

Another key difference is how Gina handles sources. Many AI systems draw from across the open internet, including unverified blogs and recycled content. Gina is intentionally more limited. Her guidance is grounded in established genealogy practices and reputable sources such as major archives, recognized education sites, and my own research library.

Gina is not meant to replace a genealogist. She is meant to help you get unstuck, understand your options, and identify a clear next step in your research.

Examples of What People Ask Gina

People use Gina for very practical questions, such as why an ancestor disappears between census years, what records should exist for a woman in the nineteenth century, whether a DNA match looks more like a half-sibling or a cousin, why a marriage record might be missing, or how to interpret difficult handwriting.

The questions people ask Gina tend to fall into a few core areas. Many involve understanding what records should exist and why they may be missing, especially in census, birth, marriage, or court records. Others focus on resolving inconsistencies in dates, ages, and places, or figuring out what is plausible given historical context. A large group of questions centers on people who seem to disappear from records entirely and how to approach those gaps strategically. Some questions use DNA as supporting evidence to evaluate possible relationships, while others ask how to locate legal or institutional records without visiting an archive. Taken together, these questions are less about quick answers and more about understanding how genealogy actually works.

Want to Try Gina?

If you want an AI assistant that respects evidence, avoids overreach, and explains genealogy in clear, practical terms, Gina is worth exploring.

You can chat with her here: https://www.technicalgenealogist.com/chat-with-ai-gina

And if you would rather talk through a research problem directly, you can always reach out to me through The Technical Genealogist.