What Is GenConverse?
GenConverse is an AI-assisted genealogy platform that lets you talk to your family tree in plain English.
Upload your GEDCOM file, and instead of clicking through menus and learning complex software, simply type what you want: "show me my grandparents," "find everyone from Ohio," or "calculate how I'm related to this person." Genie—our AI assistant—understands your natural language and helps you explore your research.
But GenConverse does something no other genealogy tool offers: you can record your research sessions and share them with family members who will never use Ancestry.com. They click a link, press "Next Step," and follow your discoveries at their own pace—no genealogy expertise required.
The GenConverse Promise
AI-Assisted, User-Controlled. Our AI suggests actions and helps you navigate your tree—but YOU make every decision. We never modify your data without explicit approval. Your decades of careful research deserve that respect.
The Problem We Solve
If you've spent years researching your family history, you probably recognize these frustrations:
"My family won't use Ancestry"
You've built an incredible family tree, but your kids, grandkids, and cousins won't create accounts or learn complicated software. Your research feels trapped—inaccessible to the people who should care most.
"I don't trust AI with my tree"
You've heard horror stories: AI tools that auto-merge the wrong people, make unauthorized changes, or operate like black boxes. After decades of careful research, the last thing you want is an algorithm making assumptions about your ancestors.
"Genealogy software has too steep a learning curve"
Traditional tools require memorizing commands, navigating complex menus, and reading manuals. You just want to ask questions in plain English and get answers.
"I can't tell what's wrong with my GEDCOM"
You've exported your tree, but something doesn't look right. Generic validators give cryptic errors. You need validation that understands the quirks of Ancestry, FamilySearch, RootsMagic, and other platforms.
GenConverse solves all four problems.
Three Ways GenConverse Helps Your Research
GenConverse combines three powerful capabilities that work together to make genealogy research more accessible, efficient, and shareable.
1. Share Your Family History Story
"Record once, share forever."
The Challenge
You've spent years—maybe decades—building your family tree. You've discovered immigration stories, military records, surprising connections. But when you try to share these discoveries with family members, you hit a wall: they won't create Ancestry accounts, they find genealogy software intimidating, and they certainly won't sit through a screen-share while you click through menus.
The Solution: Genealogy Story Mode
GenConverse lets you record your research sessions as you naturally explore your tree. Every command you type, every person you discover, every connection you make—captured automatically. When you're done, you get a shareable link.
Your relatives click that link and see a simple interface with one button: "Next Step." Each click advances through your exact research journey. They experience your discoveries without learning any software, without creating any accounts, without any genealogy expertise.
How It Works
- Start Recording — Click the record button (a pulsing red badge shows you're recording)
- Explore Naturally — Type commands like "show me ancestors from Ireland" or "who is my great-grandmother"
- Tell the Story — Add narration as you go: "This is where I found the Ellis Island connection"
- Stop and Share — Click stop, get a link like
genconverse.com/tour/abc123 - Family Explores — They click "Next Step" to follow your journey at their own pace
Real Example
Susan, 62, recorded a 20-minute tour showing how she found her great-grandfather who immigrated from Ireland through Ellis Island. She texted the link to her daughter and grandson. Her 14-year-old grandson watched it on his phone that evening, clicking through her discoveries. He messaged her with questions about specific ancestors. For the first time, he was excited about family history.
Key Features
- Visual Recording Indicator — Always know when you're recording (pulsing red badge)
- Progress Tracking — Viewers see "Step 5 of 12" so they know how far along they are
- No Account Required for Viewers — Share public links with anyone
- Works on Any Device — Desktop, tablet, phone—your family watches wherever they are
- Template Library — Start with pre-built tours for common research patterns
Why This Matters
Your research doesn't have to die with you. GenConverse turns your findings into an interactive experience that future generations can explore. Your methodology, your thought process, your discoveries—all preserved and shareable.
2. AI That Suggests, You Decide
"Natural language commands meet genealogist-level precision."
The Challenge
Traditional genealogy software requires learning complex menus, memorizing commands, and reading documentation. Meanwhile, AI tools that promise "just talk to your tree" often make scary assumptions—auto-merging records, making unauthorized changes, operating like black boxes that don't explain their reasoning.
You want the convenience of natural language without sacrificing control.
The Solution: Transparent AI Assistance
GenConverse uses advanced AI (powered by Claude) to understand your natural language commands—but every action requires your approval. The AI suggests, you examine the reasoning, you decide.
How It Works
Natural Language Commands
Just type what you want in plain English:
- "Show me everyone from Ohio" → Person search by birthplace
- "Who is my grandmother?" → Relationship lookup
- "Find people born before 1850" → Date-based search
- "Calculate how I'm related to John Smith" → Relationship calculation
- "Validate my GEDCOM file" → Comprehensive validation
Transparent Reasoning
When Genie makes a suggestion, it explains why:
You: "show memaw"
Genie: "I found 3 people who might match 'memaw': Mary Smith (1920-2005), Mary Johnson (1895-1960), Mary Williams (1940-2012). Based on context, I'm suggesting Mary Smith—she's tagged as 'grandmother' in your tree. Is this correct?"
[Select Mary Smith] [Show All Options] [Search Again]
Smart Disambiguation
Multiple "John Smiths" in your tree? Genie never guesses—it shows you all matches with identifying details (birth/death dates, parents, spouses) and lets you choose.
Pattern Learning You Control
When Genie gets it right, you can teach it to remember:
Genie: "Remember this? Next time you say 'memaw,' I'll know you mean Mary Smith."
[Yes, Remember This] [No, Just This Time]
Your shortcuts. Your family's nicknames. Your terminology. Genie learns YOUR language—but only when you explicitly teach it.
The GenConverse Guarantee
- ✅ Never modifies data without confirmation — AI suggests, you approve
- ✅ Explains every suggestion — Transparent reasoning, no black boxes
- ✅ Shows alternatives — Multiple options when ambiguous
- ✅ Full audit trail — Every interaction logged with timestamps
- ✅ Manual override always available — You're always in control
Why This Matters
You get the best of both worlds: the convenience of natural language (no commands to memorize) with the precision of user control (no AI running amok). Your 30 years of careful research stays protected while you work faster and more intuitively.
3. Software-Aware GEDCOM Analysis
"Find what generic validators miss."
The Challenge
You've exported your tree from Ancestry.com, but something seems wrong. You run it through a generic GEDCOM validator and get cryptic errors or a confusing "everything looks fine." Meanwhile, dates display incorrectly, relationships seem broken, and sources aren't linking properly.
The problem? Different genealogy platforms have different quirks. Ancestry formats things one way, FamilySearch another, RootsMagic another still. Generic validators don't understand these platform-specific issues.
The Solution: Software-Aware Validation
GenConverse detects which software created your GEDCOM and applies platform-specific validation rules. We catch issues that generic validators miss because we understand the quirks of each platform.
What We Validate
Platform-Specific Checks
- Ancestry.com —
_APIDpreservation, HTML in notes, shared hints handling - FamilySearch — Temple codes, shared tree synchronization issues
- RootsMagic — Custom fields, multimedia links, citation formatting
- Legacy Family Tree — Event formatting, source templates
- All Platforms — GEDCOM 5.5.1 spec compliance
Comprehensive Issue Detection
- Date Problems — Inconsistent formats, impossible dates, future dates for historical people
- Relationship Issues — Orphaned records, circular relationships, missing links
- Source Gaps — Unlinked citations, missing source references
- Data Quality — Duplicate records, incomplete names, suspicious patterns
Actionable Reports
Every issue includes:
- What's wrong (clear description)
- Why it matters (impact on your tree)
- How to fix it (specific recommendation)
- Priority level (fatal, warning, suggestion)
Example Validation Report
Validation Results: 47 Issues Found
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔴 Fatal (2)
- Missing GEDCOM header
- Orphaned family record (@F123)
🟡 Warnings (45)
- Date format inconsistencies (23)
- Missing place standardization (15)
- Unlinked source citations (7)
Software Detected: Ancestry.com
[View Detailed Report] [Start Fixing]
Tree Comparison: Your "Genealogy Time Machine"
Made a mistake? Someone else "helped" by merging the wrong records? GenConverse can compare two versions of your GEDCOM and show exactly what changed:
- 127 people deleted
- 43 relationships modified
- 89 dates changed
- Which changes look intentional vs. accidental
Then we help you recover what was lost—selectively restoring the data you want.
Why This Matters
Quality control is the foundation of good genealogy. GenConverse gives you professional-grade validation that understands your specific platform, catches issues before they cause problems, and provides clear guidance on how to fix them.
Your Privacy: How We Protect Your Family Data
Genealogists are among the most privacy-conscious users online—and for good reason. Your family tree contains sensitive information: living relatives, health patterns, DNA connections, potentially controversial discoveries.
GenConverse takes a fundamentally different approach to privacy than other AI tools.
The GenConverse Privacy Model: Command Translation, Not Data Processing
Most AI genealogy tools work like this: they send your family data to an AI, the AI processes it, and returns answers. The AI sees everything—every name, date, relationship, and secret in your tree.
GenConverse works differently.
Our AI sees only your commands—the questions you ask in natural language. It translates those commands into actions that execute locally against your private data. The AI never sees the results.
❌ Traditional AI Approach
You ask: "Tell me about my grandmother"
AI receives: Your entire GEDCOM file
AI returns: "Your grandmother was Mary Smith, born 1920 in Ohio..."
Problem: AI saw all your family data
✅ GenConverse Approach
You ask: "Tell me about my grandmother"
AI receives: Generic command "how do I find grandmother?"
AI returns: Generic instructions (navigate to parents, then their parents)
Local Genie: Executes against YOUR private data
You see: Mary Smith (1920-2005)—from YOUR tree, never sent to AI
Result: AI only knows you asked about grandmothers—not who yours was
What the AI Sees vs. What It Doesn't
| AI Sees (Generic) | AI Never Sees (Private) |
|---|---|
| "show my grandparents" | Mary Elizabeth Smith (1920-2005) |
| "find people born in Ohio" | The 47 actual people in your tree from Ohio |
| "calculate relationship to this person" | That you're related to anyone specific |
| "validate my GEDCOM" | The actual names, dates, or relationships |
Our Privacy Promise
"The AI never sees your family data. Period."
This isn't a marketing claim—it's an architectural truth. The AI is a command translator, not a data processor. Your ancestors' names, your DNA matches, your sensitive discoveries—they stay in YOUR tree, on YOUR session.
Getting Started in 5 Minutes
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Step 1: Create Your Free Account
Sign up with email or Google. No credit card required for the free tier.
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Step 2: Upload Your GEDCOM
Export your family tree from Ancestry, FamilySearch, RootsMagic, or any genealogy software as a GEDCOM file. Upload it to GenConverse. We'll automatically detect which software created it.
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Step 3: Ask Your First Question
Type something simple in the Genie interface: "who is in my tree?" or "show my direct ancestors." Genie responds in plain English.
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Step 4: Explore Naturally
Keep asking questions: "show me people from Germany," "when did my grandfather die," "who are the siblings of this person." No commands to memorize—just type what you want to know.
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Step 5: Record and Share (Optional)
Want to share your discoveries with family? Click "Start Recording," explore your tree, then "Stop Recording" and share the link. They click "Next Step" to follow along.
Why Subscribe?
Free Tier: Perfect for Getting Started
- ✅ Upload and explore your GEDCOM
- ✅ Natural language commands
- ✅ Basic validation
- ✅ Record and share up to 3 tours
- ✅ 100 Genie commands per month
Subscriber Benefits
- ✅ Unlimited Genie commands — No monthly limits on questions
- ✅ Unlimited recording — Create as many shareable tours as you want
- ✅ Advanced validation — Full software-aware analysis with detailed reports
- ✅ Tree comparison — Compare versions, identify changes, recover data
- ✅ Pattern learning — Teach Genie your family's nicknames and terminology
- ✅ Priority support — Get help when you need it
- ✅ Early access — Be first to try new features
Who Should Subscribe?
The Active Researcher
You're regularly exploring your tree, asking questions, and making discoveries. The free tier's 100 commands per month isn't enough for your research pace.
The Family Storyteller
You want to create multiple recorded tours—one for your grandchildren about their great-grandparents, one for your cousins about the immigrant ancestors, one for your parents about their grandparents.
The Quality-Focused Genealogist
You care about data quality and want comprehensive validation reports. You want to compare GEDCOM versions and catch errors before they propagate.
The Professional
You manage multiple client trees and need bulk validation, unlimited commands, and professional-grade tools to scale your practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to leave Ancestry.com to use GenConverse?
No! GenConverse complements your existing tools—it doesn't replace them. Export your GEDCOM from Ancestry (or any platform), analyze it with GenConverse, share discoveries with family, then continue using Ancestry as your primary platform. Think of us as the "analysis and sharing layer" on top of your existing subscription.
Will AI mess up my tree?
GenConverse currently operates in read-only mode—we analyze and display your data, but we don't modify it. When we add editing features in the future, the same "suggest and confirm" pattern applies: AI shows you a preview, explains the reasoning, and waits for your explicit approval. If you don't approve, nothing changes. Ever.
How is this different from just uploading my GEDCOM to ChatGPT?
Two critical differences: (1) Privacy—ChatGPT sees all your family data; GenConverse's AI only sees generic commands, never your actual names or relationships. (2) Accuracy—ChatGPT can hallucinate facts about your ancestors; GenConverse only shows you data from YOUR tree, executed locally.
Can my family really use the shared tours without any genealogy knowledge?
Yes! The replay interface is intentionally simple: one "Next Step" button. Each click advances through your research journey with results displayed clearly. We've had 14-year-olds and 80-year-olds successfully follow recorded tours. No accounts, no software, no genealogy expertise required.
What GEDCOM files do you support?
GenConverse supports standard GEDCOM 5.5.1 format, which is what most genealogy software exports. We've tested with Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, RootsMagic, Legacy Family Tree, Gramps, and many others. If your software can export GEDCOM, GenConverse can read it.
What happens to my data if I cancel?
Your data is always yours. Export your GEDCOM anytime with one click, no restrictions. If you cancel your subscription, you keep access to the free tier features. We don't hold your data hostage—that would violate everything we stand for.
How do I get help if I'm stuck?
Type "help" in Genie for instant guidance. Browse our help documentation for detailed guides. Subscribers get priority email support. We also have an active community where users share tips and tours.