# America.gov chatbot 10 Hacker News commenters recommended America.gov chatbot and 14 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 13 months. **Verdict:** People recommend it for useful answers on everyday questions and for pointing to official sources, though critics say it refuses or filters many political and technical questions. ## Why people recommend it - Useful answers to everyday questions (3 comments): "It works well. Pretty nice. I asked about what do I need to know before digging in my backyard and it told me all the right things" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49900493)) "the information it gave was reasonable enough" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49900833)) "It gave back a good answer." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49901903)) ## What people warn about - Refuses or censors political questions (4 comments): "The harness was censored overnight as well. Can't ask it who won the 2020 election" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49911835)) "Today it responds with "America does not provide campaign or party information."" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49911706)) "it says that's forbidden by its system prompt" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49895244)) - Seems no better than ChatGPT (2 comments): "I'm struggling to think of how this will be better than just asking ChatGPT" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49901954)) "it seems sort of pointless" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49903125)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Claude](https://hackerapproved.com/p/claude.md): 5175 recommend - [Google Gemini](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gemini.md): 2195 recommend - [ChatGPT](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chatgpt.md): 2186 recommend - [Grok](https://hackerapproved.com/p/grok.md): 727 recommend - [Microsoft Copilot](https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-copilot.md): 139 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://america.gov/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "America.gov chatbot", https://hackerapproved.com/p/america-gov-chatbot/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).