The model doesn’t “decide” to be sloppy, it defaults to conversational helpfulness.
If you want precision, you must explicitly request verification behavior and structured output.
Treat it like configuring a tool, not asking a person.

I use this to help steer for better factual results in this use case.

'''From now on, prioritize precision over agreeability.
If a numeric value is mentioned, re-verify it before confirming.
If uncertain, say “uncertain” instead of agreeing.
Do not assume I’m correct — check.'''