When a buyer limits or asks about AI use

The tender itself is the rule book. Before you use a tool on a bid, search every document in the pack for "AI", "artificial intelligence", "generative" and "automated". Then follow what it says.

Three situations

The tender bans AI use. Don't use it for that bid. A ban might cover only some parts, such as the written answers, so read the exact clause. If the wording is vague, ask the buyer which tasks it covers. Spell-check and translation tools are the kind of thing people wonder about, so ask.

The tender asks you to declare AI use. Answer honestly and fully. Declare what you really did, not what sounds safest.

The tender says nothing. Don't assume that means yes. Ask in writing through the channel named in the pack, and keep the reply.

A worked case from the UK

Australian and US buyers set their own terms, so read each tender on its own. Here's one clear published example: UK central government. Its procurement note, published 17 February 2025, applies to central government departments and their agencies and public bodies.¹ Other buyers may use a different approach, or none.

The note says a supplier's use of AI is not banned. It lists steps buyers can take, including "Asking suppliers to disclose their use of AI in the creation of their tender".¹ The government's procurement guidance tells buyers to "be aware that suppliers may use AI to prepare their tender responses".²

So in that system, a supplier using AI isn't breaking a rule just by doing so. The buyer wants to know, and may check more closely.

What a disclosure question can look like

The UK note gives example questions for buyers to add to an invitation to tender. They ask whether you used AI or machine learning tools, including large language models, to help with any part of your submission, and to give details. A follow-up line asks whether anyone checked that AI-assisted text is accurate.¹

Two further points from the note:

• The example questions "should be used for information only", so they're not meant to be scored.¹
• Whether any such question is scored "should be set out in the tender notice or associated tender documents".¹

Another example question asks whether AI is part of the products or services you'd deliver. That is a different question from how you wrote the bid.¹ Answer each one separately.

How to answer well

• Keep a log as you go. Record which tool, which task, who used it and who checked the result. Reconstructing it later from memory is hard.
• Match the question. If it asks about drafting, describe drafting. Don't bury the answer in a long statement.
• Say what the person did. The useful part of your answer is the human checking, covered in the compliance check.
• Be consistent. Your declaration should match what your team would say if asked on a call.
• Don't confirm what you haven't done. If nobody verified the draft, don't tick "verified".

If you can't answer honestly

Say so, and fix the process rather than the wording. If you've already used a tool where it wasn't allowed, tell your bid lead early and ask the buyer how to proceed. Rules differ by buyer, country and year. Treat the tender documents as the source, and for anything legal, ask a solicitor or your procurement adviser. The steps behind a clean declaration start at what AI can and cannot do in a tender response.