Use this when
- Your website, marketplace listing, onboarding email, pricing page, support macro, or ad mentions a free trial, demo, sample, freemium tier, consultation, proof-of-concept, or introductory offer.
- Trial length, eligibility, auto-renewal, cancellation steps, conversion price, included features, or support access differs by plan, region, product, campaign, or customer segment.
- AI search, chatbots, or sales enablement tools may quote old trial offers after a promotion ended.
- You need a source-of-truth card before publishing new trial/demo wording.
FREE-TRIAL-DEMO-POLICY-CHECKLIST-READY. STOP PUBLISHING: do not let AI invent free-trial length, demo availability, cancellation steps, credit-card requirements, included features, support levels, conversion pricing, refunds, extension eligibility, sample deliverables, data-retention terms, or automatic-renewal promises. Route uncertain wording to the owner, sales lead, support lead, or legal/policy reviewer before public pages change.
Copy/paste source-card worksheet
| Field | What to record | Example / guardrail |
|---|---|---|
| Offer name | Free trial, demo, consultation, sample, freemium plan, pilot, proof-of-concept, beta access, or introductory offer name. | “14-day trial” is different from “free demo call.” |
| Approved public wording | The exact sentence allowed on pricing pages, landing pages, FAQs, support macros, sales decks, and AI-search source pages. | Use one canonical wording block rather than paraphrases. |
| Eligibility | Who qualifies, excluded plan/customer types, new-customer rules, region limits, purchase prerequisites, or approval steps. | Do not imply every visitor qualifies. |
| Duration and start trigger | Trial/demo length, when the clock starts, scheduling window, activation event, and whether weekends/holidays count. | “14 days after account activation,” not “about two weeks.” |
| Credit card and conversion | Whether payment details are required, auto-renewal status, conversion price, tax/fee handling, reminder timing, and cancellation deadline. | Never invent a no-card trial or cancellation grace period. |
| Included and excluded access | Features, usage limits, seats, files, templates, support, setup help, data import/export, integrations, and limits not included. | Separate trial access from paid-plan access. |
| Demo/sample scope | What the demo or sample shows, what is not customized, required source data, prep needed, recording rules, and follow-up deliverables. | Do not promise a custom audit unless it is actually included. |
| Cancellation and refund path | Where to cancel, who confirms cancellation, refund/credit rules, data deletion/export rules, and support channel. | Link to the real policy/source page. |
| Source links | Canonical pricing URL, terms page, support article, campaign page, checkout settings, CRM note, owner approval, and last-reviewed date. | Remove or redirect old campaign pages after expiry. |
| Owner and review cadence | Person responsible, next review date, promotion end date, launch checklist, and emergency rollback contact. | Set a calendar review before trial copy becomes stale. |
AI audit prompt
Review these free-trial/demo policy source cards and the draft public page below.
Goal: find unsupported, stale, or ambiguous trial/demo claims before publication.
Check for invented or unclear:
- trial length, start trigger, extension rules, and eligibility
- credit-card requirements, auto-renewal, conversion price, taxes, fees, and cancellation deadline
- included/excluded features, support level, seats, usage limits, setup help, and data export/deletion
- demo/sample customization, recording, prep requirements, and promised follow-up deliverables
- contradictions across pricing pages, checkout, FAQs, support macros, ads, onboarding emails, and terms
Return:
1. Claims safe to publish exactly as written.
2. Claims requiring owner/support/legal review.
3. Claims that should be removed until source proof exists.
4. A corrected public wording block that does not invent trial or demo promises.
STOP PUBLISHING if any key trial, demo, cancellation, payment, refund, or eligibility detail lacks source proof.Customer-safe wording snippets
- Trial availability: “Current trial availability and eligibility are shown on the checkout or pricing page. If a detail differs from an older ad or article, use the checkout/pricing page as the current source.”
- Demo scope: “The demo shows the workflow and answers setup questions; it does not guarantee custom implementation, pricing, or results unless those items are listed in the written offer.”
- Cancellation: “Cancellation and billing changes should be handled through the account or support path listed in the current policy.”
- Uncertain support reply: “I do not want to guess on trial eligibility or billing. I’m routing this to the owner/support lead to confirm the current policy.”
Review checklist before publishing
- Does the page match the checkout, pricing, terms, onboarding email, support macro, and CRM/source record?
- Are old campaign pages redirected, noindexed, updated, or clearly expired?
- Does the wording avoid invented free access, extensions, custom demos, refunds, support levels, or cancellation grace periods?
- Is there an owner and next review date for trial/demo language?
- Could a chatbot or AI answer engine quote this page without creating a billing or support promise the business cannot honor?
This resource is part of the Horizon Flow AI-search source-control library. For the full worksheet stack, see the free AI search visibility audit and SEO After AI.