diff --git a/tools/check-cited.mjs b/tools/check-cited.mjs
index 90cd117..8ecf367 100644
--- a/tools/check-cited.mjs
+++ b/tools/check-cited.mjs
@@ -76,9 +76,23 @@ function resolve(json, dotted) {
    but markup between"; \s* quietly allowed a marker on the following line, so the code was
    looser than its own documentation. Making them agree also keeps the offender report
    honest — see the count check. */
-const CITE = /([\d]+(?:\.[\d]+)?)[ \t]*(?:%|x)?\**[ \t]*(?:—|-|–)?[ \t]*<!--[ \t]*cite:[ \t]*([\w-]+)[ \t]+([\w.]+)[ \t]*-->/g;
-/* Every marker, however badly placed. The two counts must agree — see below. */
-const ANY_CITE = /<!--\s*cite:[^>]*-->/g;
+const CITE = /([\d]+(?:\.[\d]+)?)[ \t]*(?:%|x)?\**[ \t]*(?:—|-|–)?[ \t]*<!--[ \t]*cite[ \t]*:[ \t]*([\w-]+)[ \t]+([\w.]+)[ \t]*-->/gi;
+
+/* ANY marker a person might have meant as a citation, however spelled or placed. The two
+   patterns are deliberately ASYMMETRIC: the reader accepts only what the format specifies,
+   the counter recognises anything citation-shaped, and the difference is reported.
+
+   Both were once the same literal, and that made the count check blind in exactly the way
+   it existed to prevent — neither carried `i`, so `<!-- Cite: ... -->`, `<!-- CITE: ... -->`
+   and `<!-- cite : ... -->` were invisible to the reader AND to the counter watching for
+   invisible markers. A citation printing 41 against an artifact holding 40 passed under all
+   three, reporting OK with a count identical to a clean tree. Capitalising the first word of
+   a comment is not an exotic mistake; it is what a person does without thinking.
+
+   CITE now tolerates case and a space around the colon, so those spellings simply work.
+   ANY_CITE stays looser still, so a spelling neither of us anticipated is counted and
+   named rather than skipped. */
+const ANY_CITE = /<!--[ \t]*cite[ \t]*:[^>]*-->/gi;
 
 let checked = 0;
 const problems = [];
@@ -104,10 +118,12 @@ for (const [rel, abs] of scenarioFiles()) {
   const unread = markers.filter(m => !spans.some(([a, b]) => m.index >= a && m.index < b));
   if (unread.length) {
     const lineOf = i => text.slice(0, i).split("\n").length;
-    problems.push(`  ${rel}: ${unread.length} citation marker(s) not attached to a number, so `
+    problems.push(`  ${rel}: ${unread.length} citation marker(s) this guard cannot read, so `
       + `nothing checks them — a marker that looks like a citation and is never read is the `
-      + `defect this guard exists for. The comment must follow its figure immediately `
-      + `(\`**40**<!-- cite: ... -->\`), with nothing but markup between.`);
+      + `defect this guard exists for. Either it is misplaced (the comment must follow its `
+      + `figure immediately, \`**40**<!-- cite: artifact path -->\`, on the same line with `
+      + `nothing but markup between) or it is misspelled (case and spaces around the colon `
+      + `are fine; the shape \`cite: <artifact> <dotted.path>\` is not optional).`);
     unread.forEach(m => {
       const n = lineOf(m.index);
       problems.push(`      line ${n}: ${text.split("\n")[n - 1].trim().slice(0, 110)}`);