diff --git a/backend/danswer/secondary_llm_flows/answer_validation.py b/backend/danswer/secondary_llm_flows/answer_validation.py
index 31193ce39045..866471e4b398 100644
--- a/backend/danswer/secondary_llm_flows/answer_validation.py
+++ b/backend/danswer/secondary_llm_flows/answer_validation.py
@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
 from danswer.configs.constants import ANSWER_PAT
 from danswer.configs.constants import CODE_BLOCK_PAT
-from danswer.configs.constants import FINAL_ANSWER_PAT
-from danswer.configs.constants import GENERAL_SEP_PAT
 from danswer.configs.constants import QUESTION_PAT
-from danswer.configs.constants import THOUGHT_PAT
 from danswer.direct_qa.qa_block import dict_based_prompt_to_langchain_prompt
 from danswer.llm.build import get_default_llm
 from danswer.utils.logger import setup_logger
@@ -20,29 +17,41 @@ def get_answer_validity(
     def _get_answer_validation_messages(
         query: str, answer: str
     ) -> list[dict[str, str]]:
-        cot_block = (
-            f"{THOUGHT_PAT} Use this as a scratchpad to write out in a step by step manner your reasoning "
-            f"about EACH criterion to ensure that your conclusion is correct. "
-            f"Be brief when evaluating each condition.\n"
-            f"{FINAL_ANSWER_PAT} Valid or Invalid"
-        )
+        # Below COT block is unused, keeping for reference. Chain of Thought here significantly increases the time to
+        # answer, we can get most of the way there but just having the model evaluate each individual condition with
+        # a single True/False.
+        # cot_block = (
+        #    f"{THOUGHT_PAT} Use this as a scratchpad to write out in a step by step manner your reasoning "
+        #    f"about EACH criterion to ensure that your conclusion is correct. "
+        #    f"Be brief when evaluating each condition.\n"
+        #    f"{FINAL_ANSWER_PAT} Valid or Invalid"
+        # )
 
-        q_a_block = f"{QUESTION_PAT} {query}\n\n{ANSWER_PAT} {answer}"
+        format_demo = (
+            "1. True or False\n"
+            "2. True or False\n"
+            "3. True or False\n"
+            "Final Answer: Valid or Invalid"
+        )
 
         messages = [
             {
                 "role": "user",
                 "content": (
-                    f"{CODE_BLOCK_PAT.format(q_a_block).lstrip()}{GENERAL_SEP_PAT}\n"
-                    "Determine if the answer is valid for the query.\n"
-                    f"The answer is invalid if ANY of the following is true:\n"
-                    "1. Does not directly answer the user query.\n"
-                    "2. Answers a related but different question.\n"
-                    "3. Query requires a subjective answer or an opinion.\n"
-                    '4. Contains anything meaning "I don\'t know" or "information not found".\n\n'
-                    f"You must use the following format:"
-                    f"{CODE_BLOCK_PAT.format(cot_block)}"
-                    f'Hint: Final Answer must be exactly "Valid" or "Invalid"'
+                    "You are an assistant to identify invalid query/answer pairs coming from a large language model. "
+                    "The query/answer pair is invalid if any of the following are True:\n"
+                    "1. Query is asking for information that varies by person or is subjective."
+                    "If there is not a globally true answer, the language model should not respond, "
+                    "therefore any answer is invalid.\n"
+                    "2. Answer addresses a related but different query. Sometimes to be helpful, the model will "
+                    "provide related information about a query but it won't match what the user is asking, "
+                    "this is invalid.\n"
+                    '3. Answer is just some form of "I don\'t know" or "not enough information" without significant '
+                    "additional useful information. Explaining why it does not know or cannot answer is invalid.\n\n"
+                    f"{QUESTION_PAT} {query}\n{ANSWER_PAT} {answer}"
+                    "\n\n------------------------\n"
+                    f"You MUST answer in EXACTLY the following format:{CODE_BLOCK_PAT.format(format_demo)}\n"
+                    "Hint: Remember, if ANY of the conditions are True, it is Invalid."
                 ),
             },
         ]
@@ -50,10 +59,8 @@ def get_answer_validity(
         return messages
 
     def _extract_validity(model_output: str) -> bool:
-        if FINAL_ANSWER_PAT in model_output:
-            result = model_output.split(FINAL_ANSWER_PAT)[-1].strip()
-            if "invalid" in result.lower():
-                return False
+        if model_output.strip().strip("```").strip().split()[-1].lower() == "invalid":
+            return False
         return True  # If something is wrong, let's not toss away the answer
 
     messages = _get_answer_validation_messages(query, answer)