The Small Business AI Acceptable-Use Policy: A Plain-English Template

Banning AI outright does not work; people use it anyway, just quietly. The better move is a short acceptable-use policy that tells your team how to use AI safely. It does not need to be long. It needs to be clear, and it needs to be shared.

Say which tools are approved

List the AI tools your business has vetted and pays for, and make clear that company data should only go into those. Free consumer chatbots may store or train on what users paste, so an approved, business-tier tool with proper data controls should be the default for anything work-related.

Define what must never be pasted in

Spell out the data that never belongs in a public AI tool: client records, financial statements, contracts, passwords, health information, and anything covered by a confidentiality agreement. Give people a simple test: if you would not post it publicly, do not paste it into an unapproved tool.

Require a human check and name an owner

AI output can be confidently wrong, so require that a person reviews anything client-facing or decision-driving before it goes out. Name someone who owns the policy, keeps the approved-tools list current, and answers questions as new tools appear month to month.

Good AI governance is not about saying no. It is about giving your team a safe, clear yes.