A comparison table is easy to read and easy to trust too quickly. One proposal quotes a project price, another a unit price. A later email mentions a different amount, but does not formally update the quote. If the summary chooses one number and fills the blanks, it can look more decisive than the documents allow.
This guide turns two fictional video-editing quotes and one follow-up email into a reviewable comparison. You can try the same task using the source files, prompt and blank worksheet. The example was composed with AI assistance in this chat and checked against the constructed documents. It is an editorial teaching case, not a separately logged model/API experiment or evidence of a general accuracy rate.
1. Decide what the comparison must answer
Our fictional small team needs four edited clips, each no longer than 45 seconds, plus editable project files. Its cap is USD 300 including tax and those files. Desired delivery is seven calendar days after the approved script and all assets arrive. Third-party font and music permissions still need checking.
The question is not simply “which number is smaller?” It is whether an offer is confirmed to fit that scope, cost and delivery requirement. Read the comparison brief before looking at the output. Neither fictional supplier has been booked; no order or message is authorized by this worksheet.
2. Register the documents before collapsing the terms
- A: Alder's November 4 quotation gives a USD 240 project fee excluding unspecified tax and five business days for delivery.
- E: Alder's November 6 email suggests USD 280 excluding tax for planning, explicitly says no revised formal quote has been issued, and makes seven calendar days conditional on booking confirmation.
- B: Birch's November 5 quote gives USD 90 per clip including tax, with a minimum order of four.
The later email is evidence of a different statement. Its date alone does not turn an estimate into an accepted amendment. Keep both amounts and their status visible. Equally, five business days cannot be silently relabelled seven calendar days: the start event, calendar and conditions matter.
Give every passage a stable reference such as E:L03. Ask AI to return the reference and exact supporting quote beside each proposed statement. A citation lets you find the text; it does not by itself prove the summary interpreted it correctly.
3. Review a comparison that preserves the unresolved parts
| Supplier / term | Status | Reviewed statement | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alder / scope | supported | Four clips, each at most 45 seconds. | A:L02 |
| Alder / price | conflicting statements | Formal quote USD 240 excluding tax; later planning estimate USD 280 excluding tax. No revised formal quote issued. | A:L03 · E:L02 · E:L03 |
| Alder / delivery | conditional | Five business days in the quote; seven calendar days only a possibility subject to booking confirmation. | A:L04 · E:L04 |
| Alder / revisions | supported | One consolidated revision round. | A:L05 |
| Alder / project files | unknown | Absent from the original quote; separate quote offered without an amount. | A:L06 · E:L05 |
| Alder / licenses | condition | Client supplies permitted fonts and music. | A:L07 |
| Birch / scope | supported | Four clips, each at most 45 seconds; minimum order four. | B:L02 |
| Birch / price | derived | USD 360 for four clips, including tax. | B:L02 · B:L03 |
| Birch / delivery | condition | Seven calendar days after approved script and all assets; booking availability still needs confirmation. | B:L04 · B:L07 |
| Birch / revisions | supported | Two consolidated revision rounds. | B:L05 |
| Birch / project files | condition | Included, with third-party fonts/music excluded from transfer. | B:L06 |
| Birch / licenses | condition | Separate permission needed for third-party fonts and music. | B:L06 |
Alder's all-in price remains unknown. USD 240 is a formal quoted subtotal; USD 280 is a later planning estimate. Both exclude tax. The additional editable-file amount was not supplied. Picking either number as a tax-inclusive, file-inclusive total would invent information.
Birch's stated four-clip fee is USD 90 × 4 = USD 360 including tax. That fee alone is USD 60 above the USD 300 cap. Project files are included, but third-party fonts and music are excluded from transfer and require separate permission. Do not assume those permissions are free.
Our conclusion is “no offer is confirmed to meet every requirement.” That is useful: it identifies what is known and what would have to change. It does not mean that Alder definitely fails or that Birch is a poor supplier. There are no real suppliers here to evaluate, and the documents do not justify a winner.
4. Use AI to draft the structure, then check the decision
The full copyable prompt asks for supported facts, conflicting statements, conditional terms, unknowns and calculations. Its core instruction is:
For every supplier and term, return: status | statement | source document:line | exact quote | calculation. Keep quotes separate from estimates. Preserve conditions and unknown extras. A later date is not proof of an accepted amendment. If no offer is confirmed to meet every requirement, leave winner blank.
Check the quote and its surrounding passage, then the scope and units. Verify the arithmetic separately. A confident final paragraph must not erase an unresolved row. Our local fixture review checked 18 exact quote links across 12 rows and rejected nine deliberately altered controls, including a missing qualifier, incorrect total, invented quote, filled unknown cost and unsupported winner. Those checks apply to this fixed example; they do not automatically fact-check arbitrary AI prose.
5. Turn the gaps into specific questions
- Alder: please confirm one formal four-clip price including tax and editable project files.
- Alder: can you commit to seven calendar days after the approved script and all assets, and confirm the booking?
- Both: which third-party assets require permission, and what project files can actually be delivered?
- Birch: the stated four-clip fee is USD 60 over our cap. Is there an explicitly revised scope/price? Do not assume a discount.
These are draft questions, not messages we sent. If a revised quote arrives, add it as another source and explicitly record which terms it changes. Do not silently overwrite the old file or treat an unconfirmed discount as a new offer.
Read the complete constructed sources
Every supplier, date and offer below is fictional training material. The stable line IDs let you trace the table back to the actual words. The same files are included in the download.
A · Alder quotation
FICTIONAL TRAINING MATERIAL. Alder is an invented supplier, not a real offer. A:L01 | Quote dated 2026-11-04. Currency: USD. A:L02 | Project scope: four edited clips, each no longer than 45 seconds. A:L03 | Project fee: USD 240, excluding tax. The tax amount is not specified. A:L04 | Delivery: five business days after the approved script and all client assets are received. A:L05 | Includes one consolidated round of revisions. A:L06 | Editable project files are not specified in this quotation. A:L07 | Client must provide fonts and music with permission for the intended use. A:L08 | This quotation is not a booking or accepted order; final availability must be confirmed.
E · Alder follow-up
FICTIONAL TRAINING MATERIAL. A later note, not an accepted amendment. E:L01 | Follow-up email dated 2026-11-06. Same four-clip project as quote A. E:L02 | For planning, allow USD 280 for the project, excluding tax. E:L03 | This is an estimate only. We have not issued a revised formal quotation. E:L04 | Seven calendar days may be possible, subject to booking confirmation after script and asset receipt. E:L05 | We can quote editable project files separately; the additional amount is not yet provided.
B · Birch quotation
FICTIONAL TRAINING MATERIAL. Birch is an invented supplier, not a real offer. B:L01 | Quote dated 2026-11-05. Currency: USD. B:L02 | Four clips, each no longer than 45 seconds. Minimum order: four clips. B:L03 | USD 90 per clip, tax included. B:L04 | Delivery: seven calendar days after the approved script and all client assets are received. B:L05 | Includes two consolidated rounds of revisions. B:L06 | Editable project files are included; third-party fonts and music are not transferred and need separate permission. B:L07 | Availability and final booking must be confirmed before work starts.
Take the prompt and blank worksheet
Download the free comparison kit ↓
The ZIP contains ten plain-text, Markdown and JSON files: the brief, three sources, reusable prompt, reviewed comparison in two formats, blank worksheet, bounded review report and README. No script, account or extra software package is required to read them.
Blank comparison worksheet · Prompt · Reviewed Markdown · Reviewed JSON · Bounded review report · README
Apply the structure to your own permitted documents
Choose one actual decision, state its scope and list the source versions. Draft the comparison, follow every citation and leave missing terms visible. Use the worksheet to record your human review before sending questions or making a commitment.
We did not test PDFs, OCR, scanned contracts, long multilingual files, repeated model runs or real suppliers. We have no measured time saving, user feedback, purchase outcome or revenue for this example. Source-backed comparison is the task demonstrated here. For related work, try the meeting-action review or inspect the actual Forms insight case.