As of 13 August 2026, AI can recommend antivirus software for your UK small business.

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 note and record your number of users, device inventory, operating systems, servers, remote-working setup, existing security tools, budget and any cyber-insurance or customer requirements.
   2. Paste those details into the prompt and replace every bracketed slot with your own information, leaving no requirement blank that could affect platform support or management.
   3. Ask the chatbot for the comparison and save the sources it gives for each material claim about features, platforms, management, contracts and data handling.
   4. Open the current official product pages for the shortlisted products and compare their supported platforms, product tier, administration features and contract terms with the drafted table.
   5. Check independent antivirus or endpoint-security testing for the exact product tier where available, and remove any claim the chatbot cannot support with a current source.
   6. Ask an IT or security professional to check the shortlist if your business handles sensitive data, has servers, needs compliance evidence or cannot tolerate an endpoint outage.
   7. Run a trial or technical review on representative devices, confirm alerting and central administration work, and send the final requirements and verified shortlist to the person responsible for approving the purchase.

   Prompt

   Recommend antivirus or endpoint-security software for a UK small business. Do not make a purchase recommendation until you have compared the options against my requirements.
   
   Business details:
   - Industry and type of data handled: [details]
   - Number of users: [number]
   - Number and types of devices: [details]
   - Operating systems and versions: [details]
   - Any servers, cloud services or remote-access tools: [details]
   - Office, remote or hybrid working: [details]
   - Existing security products: [details]
   - Need for central administration, device policies, reporting or alerts: [details]
   - Main concerns, such as malware, ransomware, phishing, lost devices or unauthorised access: [details]
   - Budget and contract preference: [details]
   - Any compliance, cyber-insurance or customer requirements: [details]
   
   Use current official UK or vendor documentation where available. Separate antivirus, endpoint protection, EDR and managed detection services rather than treating them as the same product. Do not invent prices, test results, certifications, platform support or features. For every important claim, give the source and say when it needs checking because it may change. Exclude products that do not support the operating systems or management needs listed above.
   
   Return:
   1. The top three suitable options, including the product tier rather than only the company name.
   2. A table covering supported platforms, central management, ransomware and web protection, alerting, deployment, data-handling considerations, contract terms and any important limitations.
   3. The best fit, the best lower-cost or simpler fit if supported by the evidence, and the cases where each should be rejected.
   4. Questions I should ask a supplier before buying.
   5. A short implementation and testing checklist.
   
   State clearly which parts I must verify on the current product pages, trial account or with a qualified IT or security professional. This is a procurement comparison, not a guarantee that any product will prevent a breach.

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