How the Tender Check works: the 16 questions, the four stages and what the score means

The Tender Check is a free, three-minute self-assessment that scores a subcontractor’s website out of 32 on the things buyers and AI tools check before they shortlist a firm. This guide explains where the sixteen questions come from, how the scoring works, what the four stages mean and what to do with the result. If you would rather just run it, it is at groundproof.co.uk/tender-check.

Where the questions come from

We built the check from three sources: the experience and compliance sections of PQQs used by UK main contractors and public bodies, the supply chain registration forms the Tier 1s run, and the questions we found procurement teams and AI assistants actually asking when they look for a subcontractor. Everything on the list is something a buyer does, consciously or not, before they decide whether to invite you to tender. Nothing on it is a marketing nicety.

The four stages

The sixteen questions are grouped into four stages, in the order a buyer meets them.

• Found: can a QS or an AI tool find you for your trade in your region? Page one for the trade plus region, Google reviews from clients and main contractors, a page per trade or package, and whether AI tools name you when asked.
• Verified: can they confirm what you claim in a minute? SSIP accreditation written out with level and expiry, insurance limits, ISO certificates with the issuing body, and business details that match Companies House, Constructionline and Google.
• Evidenced: does the site prove you have delivered their kind of package? Case studies in PQQ format with value bands and programmes, sector pages, a downloadable capability statement, and your health and safety and environmental figures.
• Contacted: once they have decided, can they get a tender to the right person? A named tender contact with a direct email, tap-to-call on mobile, a stated response time and a route for drawings and tender packs.

How the scoring works

Each question is answered yes, partly or no, scoring two, one or none. A stage is out of eight and clears at six. The site is out of 32: under 13 is not cleared, 13 to 23 is partly cleared and 24 or more is cleared. The stage pattern matters more than the total. A site that clears Contacted and fails Verified has a phone number and no proof, which is the commonest pattern we see, and the fix is one accreditations page rather than a rebuild.

What happens after you run it

1. You see your score and stage results immediately, with the fixes ranked by how much each one moves the score.
2. A copy goes to your email, with the same fixes written out so you can forward it to whoever looks after the site.
3. Within one working day someone on our team opens your site and checks the things you cannot score yourself: whether your accreditations exist as text a machine can read or only as logos, how the site loads on a phone over a mobile connection, what ChatGPT and Google AI say when asked for a subcontractor in your trade and region, and a screenshot of the first thing a QS sees.
4. You get a short message saying what we would fix first. If the site is sound, we say so. If the £999 Foundations Sprint would fix it, we say that. If it needs rebuilding, we say that and quote from the published price list. Nothing is charged and nothing is signed up for.

What most sites score

Most subcontractor sites we review score between 10 and 16 out of 32. Contacted usually passes, because every site has a phone number. Found is mixed. Evidenced is usually weak, because case studies are galleries rather than records. Verified is where almost everyone fails, because the accreditations are logos. That is also the cheapest stage to fix (the accreditations guide shows how) and the one AI assistants weigh most, which is why it is the first week of the Foundations Sprint.

How honest to be

Honest. The check is for you, not for us, and a flattering score tells you nothing. If you are not sure whether you appear on page one for your trade and region, open a private browser window and look. If you are not sure what ChatGPT says about you, ask it. The questions each include a note on how to check.

What to do this week

• Run the check with your website open in another tab and answer each question by looking rather than from memory.
• Share the emailed result with whoever looks after your website, or with your estimator, who will recognise most of the questions from PQQs.
• Fix the Verified stage first if it failed. It is one page, it takes a day, and it changes what every buyer and every AI tool sees.

Why these sixteen and not sixty

The questions are deliberately the ones a buyer can answer from your website in under a minute, because that is the test a website faces. They map onto the sections of the Common Assessment Standard that a procurement team checks first: identity and financial standing, health and safety accreditation, insurance, experience and the contact who deals with tenders. They do not try to replace the Standard. A subcontractor should hold it, through Constructionline Gold or another recognised body, and the check asks whether your website shows that you do.

The reason for the AI questions in the Found stage is Forrester’s 2026 finding that 94% of business buyers used AI in their last purchase and rated it above supplier websites as a research source. The AI visibility audit explains how to test that for your own firm in an hour; the Tender Check is the three-minute version.