You are going to build a real family tree with Claude, in one chat, in about 30 minutes. Four prompts, in order. The first two work from what you already know. The third connects Claude to your browser so it can go search real records. The fourth turns it all into a visual tree.
The honest version, because it matters: Claude does not have a secret file on your family. What it is great at is interviewing you into a clean structure, explaining the history behind your name, and using your browser to surface leads from public records you would never dig through yourself. The magic isn't that it knows your family, it's that it turns scattered memories into a real starting point in minutes.
Keep it all in one chat. Claude remembers everything as you go, so the interview feeds the name history, and both feed the record search. Stay in the same conversation start to finish.
What You'll Do
Prompt 1: The Interview
Don't try to organize your family yourself. Let Claude interview you, it's far better at asking the right questions than you are at volunteering the right answers.
What happens next: Claude asks you one thing at a time and quietly assembles the structure. Answer whatever you can, "around 1950" or "before the war" is fine. When you're done, it hands you a clean tree of everything you know.
Tip: Do this with a parent or grandparent nearby if you can. The one-question-at-a-time format is perfect for jogging their memory, and they'll remember names and stories you never knew. This step alone is worth it just for that conversation.
What to give it, even if it doesn't ask
Prompt 2: Trace Your Name
Now that Claude has your surname and where your people came from, have it trace the line itself. This is the part that makes people lean in, most have never heard the story behind their own name.
What happens next: Claude walks you through the history of your surname and how far it typically traces. Some of it is genuinely wild. That last line matters, it tells Claude to separate real history from educated guessing, so you know what to trust.
Treat this as a map, not a birth certificate. Claude knows a lot about the general history of names, migrations, and regions. It does not know your specific ancestors yet. So this is the story of names like yours, a fantastic map of where to look next, not confirmed facts about your bloodline.
Connect Chrome
To go find real relatives, Claude needs to use your browser. This is the step people get stuck on, so go slow.
Step 1: Add the Chrome connector. On the left in Claude, go to Connectors, then Add connectors. Search for Google Chrome and click Connect.
Step 2: Install and connect the Claude in Chrome extension. This is the part most people miss. The connector needs the Claude in Chrome extension installed in your browser. If you don't have it, add it from the Chrome Web Store, then open Chrome and click the Claude icon to connect it to your account.
Log into free genealogy sites first. Before the search, open Chrome and sign into a free site like FamilySearch. Claude uses your browser, so anything you're logged into, it can see and search. That gives it far more to work with.
If Chrome isn't working
Claude didn't open a browser. The extension probably isn't connected. Reopen Chrome, click the Claude extension icon, and connect it, then try the next prompt again.
You can just ask. Say "walk me through connecting Chrome so you can search for me," and Claude will guide you through it right in the chat.
Prompt 3: Find New Relatives
This is the step everyone wants. Claude uses Chrome to comb public records and come back with people and documents you didn't have.
What happens next: Claude opens your browser, digs through the records it can reach, and comes back with names, links, and how they might connect to you. This is where people find relatives they never knew existed.
Heads up: Treat every result as a lead, not a confirmed relative, until you see the actual record. A shared last name is not proof, and the most common genealogy mistake is grabbing the wrong person because the name lined up. Claude finds the threads. You confirm them.
If the search comes up short
It hit a paywall. Claude searches the free, open web and any sites you're logged into. If it lands on a paid ancestry service, log in yourself in Chrome first, then tell it to keep going, it can't unlock paid data on its own.
It found little. Give it more to work with: a maiden name, a town instead of a country, an approximate year, or an immigration date. Vague inputs get vague results.
Tip: Point it at obituaries specifically. They almost always list the person's relatives by name, spouse, children, siblings, so one obituary can fill in a whole branch.
Prompt 4: Build The Visual Tree
Pull it all together into something you can actually look at, screenshot, and share with family.
What happens next: Claude generates an interactive artifact, a real visual tree laid out by generation. Ask for the GEDCOM file too, that's the universal family-tree format, so you can import your work into FamilySearch or any genealogy app and never lose it.
Tip: Ask for a clean, printable version as well. It's perfect for framing, for a family reunion, or for a grandparent who wants it on paper.
Bonus Prompts
Pull these out any time, same chat.
Break through a brick wall
Crack a name in another language
Reach out to a relative you found
A word on privacy: You're handling real people's information, some of them living. Don't paste Social Security numbers or sensitive details, and if you reach out to a living relative, send a short, human note, not the whole AI report. People get spooked by a stranger who knows too much.
Your Action Plan
AI finds the threads. You pull them. That's how you find your people.