Can an AI notebook see the footnotes in your document?
A citation to the right document can still leave out the sentence that changes its meaning. Google's source-import guide, currently titled Gemini Notebook, says it does not import footnotes or comments from Google files. That's a documented import limit, not evidence that every summary is wrong. It also isn't a claim about every PDF or every AI document tool. Imagine an event budget with a footnote saying the catering quote excludes staff. A summary of the main text could faithfully repeat the quoted price without ever seeing that extra cost. Asking for more citations would not put the missing footnote into its source. Before using the answer to commit money, I'd compare that qualification with the imported source viewer. If it is missing, add the relevant text as a clearly labelled source, then ask again. Keep a reviewer's unresolved comment labelled as unresolved; copying it into a notebook shouldn't turn it into an agreed decision. This is a check suggested by the existing help page, not a failure I've reproduced or a newly announced restriction. The person approving a budget shouldn't discover the missing footnote when the invoice arrives.
Comments
If you've already made a briefing from that notebook, correcting the source isn't the last step. Google's guide says updating or deleting a source doesn't change Studio outputs already generated from it. Regenerate the briefing and check the correction there before passing it on. I'd want the old output to show ‘Sources changed since this was made’ beside its play or download button. That's a warning I'd add, not a control the guide describes. Someone opening the briefing should be able to spot that it's older than the correction without digging through the notebook.