Founder's library
Methods & tools for an AI that serves people
by Sergei Ponomarev, PhD, founder of AI Business
My own methods for governing AI from the human side, published here as I build them. Free, and made to be used today.
This is a personal library: the methods here are my own work, collected and published as I develop them. Where a guide draws on someone else's work, I say so, everything else is mine. Each one takes a single piece of the problem , how to judge an AI service, how to describe one, how to keep it accountable, and turns it into something you can use today. Built from long practice in standards, quality assessment, and civic control, now applied to AI. New methods added regularly.
24 materials
AI Test Purchase · Shopify stores · 8 US stores · Consumer research, not a ranking
Can Your Customer's AI Get the Right Product Into the Cart on Your Shopify Store?
For Shopify store owners and ecommerce teamsAn AI agent followed one shopper's path in 8 US Shopify stores, from finding a product to the cart. Six findings for store owners, the problems we found and what already works.
Read & download · 7 pages →AI Test Purchase · Dubai apartment series · Summary of 3 episodes · 174 websites
Dubai Real Estate Through an AI Assistant's Eyes: 10 Typical Barriers + 3 Ready-Made Checklists
For brokers, developers and management companiesA 5-page summary of three Dubai test purchases on 174 websites: 10 typical barriers for an AI assistant and 3 checklists you can run in 15 minutes.
Read & download · 5 pages →AI Test Purchase · Dubai apartment series · Episode 3 · 66 holiday home operators
Renting Out a Dubai Apartment Remotely Through an AI Assistant. Episode 3: Choosing a Holiday Home Operator
For holiday home operatorsCan an owner abroad sign up with a Dubai holiday home operator without flying in? Only two of 52 websites the AI read said so directly.
Read & download · 19 pages →AI Test Purchase · Dubai apartment series · Episode 2 · 55 developer websites
Buying a Dubai Apartment Remotely Through an AI Assistant. Episode 2: Finding an Apartment
For real estate developersAn AI looked for a ready one-bedroom flat on 55 developer websites. None showed a unit with its number, availability and price.
Read & download · 14 pages →AI Test Purchase · Buying a Dubai apartment remotely through an AI assistant · Episode 1 · 53 small and mid-sized agencies
Buying a Dubai Apartment Remotely Through an AI Assistant. Episode 1: Choosing a Broker
For real estate agencies and brokersAn AI looked for a broker on 53 Dubai agency websites. In more than half of cases, no broker could be chosen from the pages.
Read & download · 16 pages →AI Test Purchase · How to prepare an online store for shoppers' AI assistants · 5 US e-bike brands
How to Prepare an Online Store for Shoppers' AI Assistants: Five US E-Bike Brands
For ecommerce teams and online store ownersAn AI agent walked one shopper's pre-purchase journey on five US e-bike websites: finding a bike, the price with shipping and tax, and the return terms.
Read & download · 10 pages →How AI finds products in online stores · 10 UK stores · Gemini and Perplexity checked against saved store pages
What Will AI Tell a Shopper About Your Store? One External Drive, Ten UK Stores, Three AIs
For ecommerce teams and online store ownersAI assistants searched ten UK stores for one external drive, and every offer they named was opened and checked against saved store pages.
Read & download · 10 pages →AI Test Purchase · Series 6 · 5 public generative AI assistants of mattress, bedding and bed brands
Can I Return a Mattress After 18 Months? Five Bedroom Brands, One Shopper, Twelve Questions
For ecommerce, CX and conversational-AI teams in home and sleep retailThe AI assistants of five mattress, bedding and bed brands answered the same twelve questions about products, shipping, home trials and returns.
Read & download · 18 pages →AI Test Purchase · Series 5 · 6 public generative AI assistants of apparel, footwear and accessories brands
Which Size Should I Order? Six Apparel, Footwear and Accessories Brands, One Shopper, Twelve Questions
For ecommerce, CX and conversational-AI teams in apparel and retailThe AI assistants of six apparel, footwear and accessories brands got the same twelve questions on sizes, shipping, returns and payment.
Read & download · 19 pages →AI Test Purchase · Series 4 · 5 public generative AI assistants of beauty brands
Five Beauty Brands, One Shopper: Generative AI Assistants and Twelve Questions
For ecommerce, CX and conversational-AI teams in beauty and retailOf 61 beauty websites, five had an AI assistant for both products and purchase terms. One shopper, twelve questions, every answer checked.
Read & download · 22 pages →AI Test Purchase · Series 3 · 7 public generative AI bank assistants
Seven Brave Banks: Generative AI Assistants, One Customer Story
For bank product, CX and conversational-AI teamsThe public generative AI assistants of seven banks answered the same ten questions from one 18-year-old customer, checked against sources saved in advance.
Read & download · 24 pages →AI Test Purchase · Series 2 · 17 local council chatbots in England and Scotland
UK Council Chatbots: One Resident, Ten Questions
For local government, public-sector AI owners and researchersSeventeen UK council chatbots got the same ten questions from a resident who has just moved in, each answer checked against the council's own website.
Read & download · 34 pages →AI Test Purchase · Pilot on 12 state government chatbots
US DMV Chatbots and REAL ID
For public-sector AI owners and researchersTwelve US state DMV chatbots answered the same ten questions about REAL ID, each checked against the agency's own website.
Read & download · 21 pages →Joint paper with Andrey Ekhmenin, ANDEKS
Right, but Unproven
For anyone who asks an AI about a personWhat five AI models said about one person, and why an AI can be factually right about someone and still give you no reliable reason to believe it.
Read & download · 5 pages →The method behind every Light check, published
AI Agent Test Purchase Light
For AI agent owners and buildersThe short, open method behind our Light checks: one demanding visitor, one session, every answer compared with what the organisation itself published.
Read & download · 3 pages →Case 14/30 · A thought experiment
Two Companies, One Agent, One Error
For leaders running an AI agentA thought experiment: an AI agent quotes the wrong return period, and only one of two companies can say when it started and who was affected.
Read & download · 7 pages →Joint paper with Andrey Ekhmenin, ANDEKS
Silence Rather Than Error
For leaders and AI evaluatorsTwo independent checks of one support agent: it said nothing false, yet left a customer without an answer the company had published.
Read & download · 6 pages →Joint paper with Amanda Cunningham, Savvy Pixel®
From AI Induction to AI Accountability
For executivesWritten with Amanda Cunningham: induct AI like a new employee before it meets customers, then prove its promises hold in real use.
Read & download · 12 pages →The method, published in full
AI Agent Test Purchase
For anyone checking an AI agentThe full method for evaluating AI services through the customer's eyes, carried over from seven years of test purchases in public services.
Read & download · 35 pages →For business owners adopting AI
Your Company's AI Through the Customer's Eyes
For entrepreneursFive requests from your most demanding customer: a guide to adopting AI so that the people who pay you actually accept it.
Read & download · 42 pages →For customers dealing with company AI
Demand the AI Receipt
For consumersThree demands that put consumers back in control of company AI: the AI Receipt, the AI Service Passport and Public AI Rules.
Read & download · 32 pages →AI Service Governance
Start with Your Services
You can't digitize chaos: a 7-step playbook for putting your services in order first, then putting AI safely inside them.
Read & download · 14 pages →EU AI Act · Customer Disclosure
AI Transparency Kit
Free, editable templates for telling customers they are talking to AI, as the EU AI Act requires from 2 August 2026.
Read & download · 16 slides →Governance from the consumer side
Consumer Control of AI
A practical method and a ready-to-use card for judging any AI service from the customer's side of the counter.
Read & download · 10 pages →
About the founder
Sergei Ponomarev, PhD , founder of aibusiness.vc and a specialist in assessing service quality from the consumer's side. A PhD on e-government and seven years leading nationwide quality monitoring, independent assessment and test purchases of public services, now applied to AI.