StepForth AI Ethics & Responsible Use Policy

1. Purpose and scope

This policy explains how StepForth Web Marketing Inc. uses generative AI tools in our work. It extends our long standing SEO Code of Ethics to this new area of technology.

Our goal is simple. Use AI to support better results for you. Never to replace human expertise, judgment, or accountability. This policy applies to all StepForth staff, contractors, and any contributors working on client projects.

We encourage our team to use AI where it improves efficiency and insight, as long as they follow the guidance below.

2. Defining principle: Humans first, AI last

Our defining principle for AI is:

Humans are always responsible. AI can assist, but it never replaces human judgment or accountability.

In practice, that means:

• A human is always responsible for the accuracy, fairness, originality, and quality of any work we deliver.
• A human must review and approve any AI assisted content, analysis, or recommendation before it is shared with a client or the public.
• We use AI to support our work. We do not rely on it to make final decisions.

If there is ever a situation where AI generated content is used without normal human oversight, we will treat that as an exception and it will require full disclosure and review.

3. Transparency and disclosure

We believe you have the right to know when and how AI is involved in your projects.

We commit to:

• Service level disclosure. For services where AI plays a meaningful role, we will make that clear in our service descriptions, proposals, and agreements. We will explain whether AI is used at all, and what parts of the service it supports. For example research, drafting, or quality checks.
• Deliverable level transparency. Where appropriate, we will indicate when a deliverable was human created, human created with AI assistance, or AI assisted research that has been human verified.
• Plain English explanations. If you have questions about how AI was used in your project, we will explain it in plain English. No jargon, no vague answers.

4. Acceptable uses of AI at StepForth

Our team may use AI in the following ways, provided that a human always reviews and approves the output before use or publication.

4.1 Research and analysis

• Brainstorming keyword ideas and related topics, then validating them with trusted SEO tools.
• Drafting summaries of long documents, webinars, or recordings for internal understanding.
• Helping identify patterns or opportunities in data that are then checked by a human.
• Tracking the visibility of our clients’ citations and mentions within AI search results, so we can measure and report on presence in AI-driven search beyond traditional rankings.

4.2 Content and copywriting assistance

• Generating outlines, talking points, or rough drafts for articles, FAQs, landing pages, or emails.
• Suggesting alternative phrasings to improve clarity, tone, or readability.
• Assisting with editing for grammar, structure, and consistency.

4.3 Technical and operational support

• Suggesting code snippets or patterns for items like schema markup or small technical fixes, which our developers then review.
• Supporting quality checks such as spotting missing meta tags or inconsistent headings.

4.4 Internal productivity

• Producing internal notes and summaries from meetings or recordings.
• Generating internal documentation drafts that are later edited by the team.

In all of these cases, AI output is treated as a draft or assistant, not a finished product. A human expert is responsible for fact checking, editing, and context.

5. Unacceptable or restricted uses of AI

There are areas where we will not use AI or will only use it in a very limited and controlled way.

We will not:

• Use generative AI tools to fully write strategic recommendations, audits, or roadmaps without meaningful human authorship and analysis.
• Use AI to generate fake testimonials, fake case studies, or fabricated performance claims or “proof.”
• Use AI for legal, regulatory, or compliance advice. Where these issues arise, we rely on human experts and official sources.
• Use AI to create deceptive or manipulative content, including deepfakes or impersonations of real people, brands, or organizations.
• Use AI to copy or closely mimic a competitor’s content, brand voice, or proprietary work.
• Use AI tools that do not offer adequate privacy control when working with proprietary or client data.

If a use case falls into a grey area, our team is required to ask for guidance before proceeding.

6. Data privacy, security, and client confidentiality

We treat your data with the same care whether AI is involved or not.

We commit to:

• No careless data sharing with AI tools. We will not upload confidential or sensitive client information to AI tools that use customer data for training without strong contractual controls, or that do not offer adequate privacy, security, and retention settings.
• Use of privacy controls. We only use client information on corporate AI accounts that are not used for AI training and are kept secure for specific staff use only. We do not use personal or unmanaged AI accounts for any work involving client data.
• Tool selection and review. We only use AI tools that meet our minimum standards for data security and encryption, clear policies on data use and retention, and appropriate compliance with relevant laws.

We will not use AI in ways that violate our confidentiality obligations, our SEO Code of Ethics, or any data processing agreements with clients.

7. Accuracy, fact checking, and quality control

AI tools can be helpful, but they can also produce incorrect or misleading information.

To manage this, we commit that:

• AI generated factual claims, such as statistics, technical statements, or claims about how Google works, are verified against reliable human curated sources before use.
• We will not base important recommendations solely on AI output without independent verification and human analysis of the business context.

Our team is responsible for correcting errors, adding missing nuance or context, and ensuring that any AI assisted content reflects our expertise and your reality, not just what an algorithm produced.

8. Bias, fairness, and sensitive topics

AI systems can reflect and amplify bias that exists in their training data.

We take steps to reduce harm and unfairness:

• Our team reviews AI assisted content, personas, and targeting recommendations for harmful stereotypes, discriminatory or exclusionary language, and unfair or inappropriate targeting suggestions.
• For sensitive topics or vulnerable audiences, we may limit or avoid the use of AI generated messaging, or add an extra layer of human review with explicit attention to bias and impact.

If a client raises any concern about bias or harm in AI assisted work, we commit to review it quickly and make necessary changes.

9. Intellectual property and originality

We respect intellectual property rights in all our work.

With AI this means:

• We do not intentionally use AI prompts or workflows that are meant to recreate specific competitor content, proprietary material, or protected creative styles.
• We run plagiarism checks on significant or high profile written content where appropriate.
• We respect the license terms of AI tools and any training or output restrictions they specify.

Ownership of final deliverables will follow our normal agreements. Unless otherwise stated in our contract with you, you own the final work product we create for you, including AI assisted work. This is subject to any third party license terms that apply, which we will disclose where they are relevant.

10. Governance, training, and continuous improvement

AI and its regulations are changing quickly. So this policy is a living document.

Internally, StepForth will:

• Designate a person or small group as our AI Ethics Lead / Committee.
• Review and approve new AI tools before broad use.
• Provide team training on responsible and safe AI use, this policy, and our SEO Code of Ethics.
• Review and update this policy as tools, laws, and best practices evolve.

Clients can always ask us how we used AI in a specific project, what tools we used, and how we protected their data and maintained our ethical standards.

11. Questions or concerns

If you have any questions about this policy or how AI is being used in your project, please contact us. We will be transparent about our approach and, where necessary, adjust how we use AI in your engagement to align with your comfort level and compliance needs.