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PARTLY

As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly find a cheaper energy tariff.

This still needs a person who signs their name to it.

Can you do it?

15 minutesto a draft.

30 minutesto something you’d act on.

Cost, all in£0

Skill neededchat-fluent

Who has to check ityou

What the alternative costsNo comparable human or software price is provided here.

If this goes wrong: you choose a tariff that is not actually available to you or misunderstand its charges, and the mistake continues through your energy bills until you correct it.

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 your latest energy bill and record your supplier, tariff name, meter type, unit rates, standing charges, tariff end date, exit fee and annual consumption.
    2. Ask your supplier for the current tariff details and obtain written quotes for any alternative tariffs you are considering, including rates, standing charges, term, exit fees, payment method and estimated annual cost.
    3. Paste the bill figures and every complete quote into the prompt, replacing each bracketed slot and keeping the units and billing periods visible.
    4. Ask the chatbot to calculate each tariff using your actual annual electricity and gas consumption, rather than relying only on a supplier's estimated annual cost.
    5. Compare the chatbot's table with each supplier's written quote, checking the unit rates, standing charges, term, exit fee, payment method and eligibility conditions line by line.
    6. Contact the chosen supplier to confirm the tariff is available for your meter and postcode, then switch only through the supplier or a comparison service after checking the final confirmation.

    Prompt

    Help me compare energy tariffs for my home in the UK. Use only the information I provide and do not invent current prices, availability, savings or eligibility. My details are: postcode area [POSTCODE OR POSTCODE AREA], electricity meter type [METER TYPE], gas meter type [METER TYPE OR NOT APPLICABLE], current supplier [SUPPLIER], current tariff name [TARIFF NAME], current electricity unit rate [RATE], current electricity standing charge [CHARGE], current gas unit rate [RATE OR NOT APPLICABLE], current gas standing charge [CHARGE OR NOT APPLICABLE], annual electricity use [KWH], annual gas use [KWH OR NOT APPLICABLE], tariff end date [DATE OR UNKNOWN], exit fee [AMOUNT OR NONE]. Here are the live offers or supplier quotes I am considering: [PASTE EACH FULL QUOTE, INCLUDING UNIT RATES, STANDING CHARGES, TERM, EXIT FEES, PAYMENT METHOD, ESTIMATED ANNUAL COST AND ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS]. Put the offers in a table. Work out the annual cost using my stated consumption, show the calculation for each fuel separately, flag any missing or unclear information, and identify which offer is cheapest only on the figures supplied. Do not recommend switching if the comparison is incomplete. List the exact points I must confirm with the supplier before switching. This is not professional advice.

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

What it gets wrong

  • AI cannot see every live tariff or know whether a particular offer is still available for your postcode and meter.
  • It cannot detect a missing charge or eligibility condition unless that information appears in the material you provide.
  • It cannot guarantee that a supplier's estimated annual cost matches your future usage or payment pattern.
  • It does not take responsibility for the contract, the switch or the bills that follow.
  • It cannot replace a supplier's final written confirmation of the tariff you are actually being offered.

What caps this at PARTLY: real time truth, verification cost and stakes of error.

How we scored this

Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.

AxisScore (0–2)
Output1
Inputs1
Verification1
Liability1
Effort delta1
Total5 / 10

The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.

FAQ

Can ChatGPT find me a cheaper energy tariff?
Partly. It can compare current quotes that you paste in and calculate which is cheaper on your stated usage, but it cannot reliably search all live tariffs or confirm availability for your home.
What information does AI need to compare energy tariffs?
Give it your current unit rates, standing charges, meter type, tariff end date, exit fee and annual electricity and gas use. It also needs complete alternative quotes, including their charges, contract terms, payment method and eligibility conditions.
Can AI tell me if switching energy supplier is worth it?
It can compare the costs shown in the quotes and identify missing information. You must confirm the final tariff, availability and terms with the supplier before switching, because the chatbot is not professional advice.
Is it safe to use AI to compare energy tariffs?
It is reasonably safe for organising figures and spotting differences when you check the result against written supplier quotes. You remain responsible for the contract and bills, and a serious dispute or financial difficulty needs an energy adviser or your supplier's complaints team.

Nearby answers

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Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.

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