As of 13 August 2026, AI can create a supplier comparison table.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open a blank spreadsheet and create a folder containing every supplier quote, price list, specification, email and attachment for this purchase.
   2. Write down the required specification, quantity, delivery deadline, acceptable alternatives and any criteria such as warranty, payment terms or compliance evidence.
   3. Paste or upload the supplier material and the criteria into a chatbot using the supplied prompt, keeping each document name visible so sources can be traced.
   4. Copy the resulting table into the spreadsheet and keep the source-reference column beside each supplier figure.
   5. Compare every price, VAT treatment, delivery charge, quantity, lead time and contract condition in the table against the original quote or email, correcting transcription errors and replacing unsupported entries with "Not stated".
   6. Send the listed clarification questions to suppliers and add their written replies to the spreadsheet before comparing totals or ranking offers.
   7. Ask a colleague to check the completed table and the source documents, then record the agreed comparison and decision separately from the AI-generated draft.

   Prompt

   Create a supplier comparison table from the supplier information below. Use only facts stated in the supplied documents or text. Do not invent, infer or fill gaps. If suppliers use different units, quantities, VAT treatment, delivery terms or assumptions, show the original wording and add a clearly labelled normalised comparison only when the calculation is unambiguous. Mark missing information as "Not stated" and conflicting information as "Conflict".
   
   Compare these fields where available: supplier name, product or service description, specification, quantity or unit, quoted price, VAT treatment, delivery charge, total quoted cost, currency, lead time, delivery date, quote expiry, minimum order, payment terms, warranty, returns, contract term, insurance or compliance information, and source reference.
   
   Return:
   1. A clear table suitable for pasting into a spreadsheet.
   2. A separate list of missing, conflicting or non-comparable information.
   3. A short list of questions to send to suppliers to make the comparison fair.
   4. A concise comparison of strengths and risks for each supplier, without choosing a supplier unless I explicitly ask you to.
   
   For every row, include the document name, page, email date or other source reference available in the supplied material. Keep supplier claims separate from your own calculations. Flag any calculation that I must verify before using the table for a purchase decision.
   
   My purchasing criteria are:
   [PASTE THE CRITERIA, REQUIRED SPECIFICATION, QUANTITY, DELIVERY REQUIREMENT AND ANY WEIGHTINGS]
   
   Supplier information:
   [PASTE OR UPLOAD THE QUOTES, PRICE LISTS, SPECIFICATIONS AND SUPPLIER EMAILS]

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.