Abstract: A formal verification EDA application can be configured to receive a circuit design of an IC chip, the circuit design of the IC chip including a list of properties for the IC chip. The list of properties includes a list of covers for the IC chip. The formal verification engine can also execute a formal verification of the IC chip. Results of the formal verification identifies a subset of covers of the list of covers that are unreachable. The formal verification engine can further execute a root cause search for a selected cover in the subset of covers that are unreachable. The root cause search selectively adds and removes cutpoints to signals in the circuit design to identify a root cause for the selected cover being unreachable. The root cause comprises a signal in the circuit design that is upstream from the selected cover.