# How to choose past-performance references for a government proposal

Choose project references that answer the buyer's actual concerns, with lessons from an August 2026 GAO decision and a practical G2X research workflow.

Canonical article: https://g2x.com/blog/choose-government-proposal-past-performance

Complete article, source links and data tables: https://g2x.com/blog/choose-government-proposal-past-performance/article.md

The article is public. Linked G2X tools and records retain their account and plan requirements.

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## For agents

Select and substantiate past-performance references against a specific solicitation's evaluation criteria.

- The user's target market or requirement and authorized company evidence.

- A G2X account for the supported free manual research path; separately authorized Lumen access for the suggested document-analysis prompt.

1. **Collect the requirement and permitted evidence** Ask for the opportunity or solicitation identifier and the company's candidate project descriptions. Establish permission to use the documents and customer details. Open the G2X opportunity record and follow the original notice to the current solicitation and amendments. Preserve exact source URLs and document versions. [Open in G2X](https://g2x.com/docs/find-work/read-a-sam-opportunity)

2. **Extract the actual selection criteria** Read the work description and past-performance instructions together. Record the solicitation's recency window, relevance factors, reference limits, permitted sources, entity-role requirements and submission format. Cite the controlling passages. Do not apply Hardwire's eight-reference limit or two-year window to another procurement. [Open in G2X](https://g2x.com/app/opportunities/sam)

3. **Compare project evidence** For each eligible candidate, identify the performing entity, actual role, scope, scale, delivery conditions and substantiated outcomes relevant to this buyer. Explain which requirement each reference supports and what the documents do not establish. Ask the delivery lead to confirm missing facts. Do not invent scores, customer endorsements, outcomes or access to private performance assessments. [Open in G2X](https://g2x.com/docs/lumen/ask-a-good-question)

4. **Use Lumen to review the shortlist** With authorized Lumen access, upload approved solicitation and project documents and confirm they are available. Suggested prompt: Compare these candidate past-performance references with this solicitation's stated criteria. Recommend which references to lead with, explain the relevant responsibilities and delivery conditions, and cite supporting passages. Leave unsupported facts unresolved. Follow up: Which claims and reference permissions must our delivery lead or teaming partner confirm? Manual review of the same evidence remains the free path. [Open in G2X](https://g2x.com/docs/lumen/ask-lumen)

5. **Return a defensible selection** Return a ranked recommendation with a brief rationale per reference, cited evidence and unresolved questions with proposed owners. Separate the company's work from a partner's work. Propose CRM follow-up for missing information; save only when instructed and verify the result. Do not contact references, make commitments or submit the proposal without authorization. [Open in G2X](https://g2x.com/docs/run-a-pipeline/track-an-account)

Expected result: A source-backed past-performance shortlist and selection rationale, with explicit evidence gaps and delivery-team follow-up.

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