Rule: quarantine the recycled retention magnitudes (5x-25x, 25-95pct, 80/20, 20-30pct AI churn) until primary sourced

Rule. Do not cite the "5x-25x cheaper to retain," "5pct retention → 25-95pct profit," "80pct profits from 20pct customers," or "AI churn prediction → 20-30pct retention improvement" magnitudes in any Candid article until the primary source has been located and the original conditions re-read.

Why. These four figures circulate vendor-to-vendor across the analytics blogosphere (Quarantine: "5x-25x cheaper to retain," "5pct retention → 25-95pct profit," "80pct profits from 20pct customers," "AI churn → 20-30pct retention improvement" — vendor-recycled, untraced to primary) without traceable primary citation. The 25-95pct figure ultimately traces to Reichheld / Bain-era work but the qualifying conditions have eroded through the citation chain. The 5-25× has a frequently-misattributed primary source. Treating them as facts inherits the credibility erosion of the chain.

How to apply. When a draft uses any of these magnitudes, replace with the capability claim from INFORMS Analytics Magazine — churn modelled as binary classification on RFM / engagement signals (logistic regression / decision trees / ensembles) or drop. If the primary source is later located and re-read, restate the claim with the original's qualifying conditions intact.