As AI systems interpret and relay public information, machine-readable structure becomes the only reliable way to preserve attribution, authority, and timing “Why is AI saying the city issued a boil water notice today when that alert was lifted yesterday?” The answer appears confidently, naming the correct city, referencing a real advisory, and even describing the affected area. But the timing is wrong. The advisory expired the previous afternoon. The AI response has recombined an earlier notice with current context and presented it as active guidance. For residents, the distinction is not academic. It changes behavior, disrupts trust, and creates unnecessary confusion. This type of failure is not rare. It reflects a deeper shift: AI systems are no longer simply retrieving information. They are becoming the primary distribution layer through which the public encounters government communication.…