Proofread documents before they go out
A practical way to use AI for this job in a small business, with a prompt you can copy.
You've just finished a quote for the biggest job of the year. You hit send, then spot 'their' instead of 'there' and the wrong client name in the second paragraph. Ouch.
The prompt
Proofread this for spelling, grammar and clarity in Australian English. Don't change the meaning or tone. List the changes you made. [paste text]
Replace everything in [square brackets] with your own details. Don't paste in anything you wouldn't want stored by the AI provider.
Steps
- Paste the document.
- Run the prompt.
- Review the list of changes.
- Accept what makes sense.
A worked example
A Darwin IT contractor writes a proposal for a council job. Before sending, he pastes it into ChatGPT and asks: check spelling, grammar and consistency, list any changes, and don't rewrite the style. It finds 14 issues, including a price mismatch: $12,400 in the summary but $12,040 in the table. That one would have been awkward.
He accepts most of the fixes, rejects a couple that changed his meaning, and sends it 10 minutes later with more confidence.
Where it goes wrong
AI 'improves' text that was fine, making it longer and stiffer. Tell it to keep your style. It can also miss errors that are spelled correctly but wrong, like the wrong client name, so check names and figures yourself. And if it suggests American spelling, your settings or prompt need fixing.
Time saved
Careful proofreading takes 10 to 20 minutes per document. AI does a first pass in a minute, and you spend a few more checking its suggestions. These are my estimates for a typical small business, not measured results.
What it costs (AUD)
Free plans are fine. Word and Google Docs also have built-in grammar tools at no extra cost on most plans.
The free plans of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini handle this fine. If you end up using AI every day, the paid plans are roughly: ChatGPT Plus approx. A$30 a month, Claude Pro approx. A$29 a month billed monthly (US$20, or about A$24 a month if you pay yearly), and Google AI Pro approx. A$33 a month through the App Store. Prices approx., October 2026. Some are billed in US dollars, so your bank may add a foreign transaction fee. Check the vendor's pricing page before you buy.
Australian notes
Set your tool to Australian English so it stops 'fixing' organise to organize. If the document includes prices, ask AI specifically to check figures are consistent and say whether they include GST. For contracts or legal documents, proofreading isn't the same as a legal review.
Privacy: the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) cover most businesses turning over more than $3 million, plus some smaller ones such as health providers. Even if you're under the threshold, treat customer details with care: strip names, phone numbers and addresses before you paste anything into an AI tool.
My verdict
Reliable and fast. Ask for a change list so it doesn't sneak in rewrites.
Common questions
Will it change my meaning?
It can. Ask it to list changes rather than rewriting, so you can approve each one.
Is it safe to paste client documents?
Remove client names and anything sensitive first, or use a business plan that doesn't train on your data.
Does it catch everything?
No. It's a second pair of eyes, not a guarantee. Read the important bits yourself.
Do this today
Take the last quote or proposal you sent and run it through the proofreading prompt. You might be surprised what it finds.
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