Checking a freelancer's text: a workflow for clients

Do not start with a detector. Start with a clear brief and a contract that says what you expect, and use a checker only as a source of questions.

A good process heads off most arguments about AI before they start, and it stays fair to both sides.

Step 1: write a brief that can be checked

Most problems begin with vague requests. A brief should say who the readers are, what the text must achieve, the tone, the length, the facts and sources to use, and what must not appear. Ask for the sources behind any numbers and quotes, and for a link or file for each.

A text built on a specific brief contains specifics: names, figures, examples from your business. Those are exactly what generic machine text lacks, and you can verify them without any tool.

Step 2: say what you expect about AI, in writing

Decide what you accept and put it in the contract or the order. Some clients forbid AI altogether. Many allow it for research, outlines or grammar checks, but not for generating the text. Others allow it if the writer reviews and signs off on every claim.

Pick a rule and write it plainly: what may be used, whether the writer must tell you, and who answers for errors and for copied material. A rule that nobody wrote down cannot be fairly enforced afterwards.

Step 3: ask for drafts and for the process

For anything longer than a short post, ask for an outline first, then a draft, then the final text. Ask the writer to work in a document with version history. This is not distrust. You can fix the direction early, and you get the strongest evidence of how the text was made, far stronger than any score.

Step 4: check consistency across deliveries

If you work with a writer over time, compare new texts with earlier ones. Is the vocabulary the same, the typical sentence length, the way they open and close, the usual mistakes? A sudden jump in polish or a shift in voice is worth a friendly question. It can mean help from a tool, an editor or a colleague, or simply a better day.

Compare the texts side by side, not by a number. Our fair checklist for teachers and editors uses the same idea of comparing with earlier work.

Step 5: use the evidence list as a question list

If you still want a check, paste the text into the checker. Read the evidence list, not just the score. It shows lines with stock phrases, paragraphs of nearly equal length and connecting words packed together.

Turn each one into a question: "Line 14 says 'plays a crucial role'. What did you mean here?" "Where does this figure come from?" A writer who made the text can usually answer in a minute. The score itself is a heuristic: on a large corpus the analysis misses most AI texts at a 1% false-alarm rate, and polished human prose gets flagged, as we explain in why modern AI detectors get it wrong. Short texts, under about 150 words, are marked as unreliable.

Also look for hidden marks. Characters you cannot see are sometimes left in pasted text; see invisible characters in copied text. They are not proof of AI, but they tell you the text was pasted from somewhere.

Step 6: decide what is fair

• A high score alone is not grounds to refuse payment or end the cooperation.
• Several signals together, such as no sources, no specifics, a break in style and no drafts, justify a conversation.
• Give the writer a chance to explain and to rewrite. Agree on a fix, not a punishment.
• If your contract forbids AI and you find clear proof, such as undeclared copied text, apply the contract. Without proof, stay with questions.
• Remember that experienced writers produce even, polished text on purpose. That is what you may be paying for.

What to do next

Update your brief template and add one paragraph on AI use to your next order. For the next delivery, ask for a draft and read the evidence list in the checker as a list of questions. To avoid common mistakes in judging a text, read how to tell if a text was written by AI and burstiness and perplexity without the maths. If you check texts regularly, see the plans.