1. A method for verifying an integrated circuit (IC) chip layout, the method comprising: receiving a layout of an IC chip after the layout has gone through a place-and-route operation; performing a lithography compliance checking (LCC) operation on the layout to detect lithography hotspots within the layout, wherein each lithography hotspot is associated with a local routing pattern around the lithography hotspot; and for each detected lithography hotspot, comparing the associated local routing pattern against a hotspot database to determine if the local routing pattern matches an entry in the hotspot database, which stores a set of known hotspot configurations: if so, correcting the lithography hotspot using correction guidance information associated with the hotspot configuration stored in the hotspot database; otherwise, correcting the lithography hotspot by performing a local rip-up and reroute on the local routing pattern.