Compare: Spotting Conflicts Between Documents
Compare is the AI Assistant's document comparison tool. You give it two documents and it identifies everything that differs between them: conflicting obligations, misaligned definitions, gaps in coverage, and clauses in one document that contradict or undermine the other. Compare doesn't analyse or rewrite anything. Its job is to surface the differences so you can decide what to do about them.
How to use Compare
- Open the SimpleAI sidebar in Word
- Select Compare from the action selector
- Upload your two documents
- Hit send
- Review the output and follow up with Ask or Redline as needed
Compare works on any two related documents. The most common use is checking whether two agreements that will operate alongside each other are actually consistent.
What Compare is built for
Use Compare when you want to:
- Check a DPA against an MSA to identify any conflicting obligations or gaps in coverage
- Compare a term sheet against a final agreement to see whether the commercial deal made it into the contract accurately
- Check a schedule or exhibit against the main agreement to catch inconsistencies
- Review what a counterparty changed between two drafts of the same document
- Validate a contract against an issues list or negotiation record before signing
💡 Compare is especially valuable for definition conflicts. When two documents operate together, a difference in how they define the same term can create significant problems. Compare surfaces these alongside everything else. A different definition of "Personal Data" in a DPA compared to an MSA, for example, can undermine the whole data protection framework.
What the output looks like
Compare produces two things.
A visual diff. Differences shown clearly, clause by clause, so you can scan the full picture of what has changed or conflicts between the two documents.
A summary of material differences. A structured overview of what was added, removed, or conflicts, grouped by clause or topic.
From there, you use Ask to understand what the differences mean and Redline or Draft to fix anything that needs resolving.
The most common use cases
DPA against an MSA
A data processing agreement needs to be consistent with the master services agreement it sits under. Conflicting definitions, incompatible liability positions, or obligations in one that are not reflected in the other can create real exposure. Compare surfaces all of these.
Upload the MSA and the DPA. Then use Ask: "Are there any conflicts between the obligations in these two documents?"
Ask: "Does the definition of 'Personal Data' in the DPA align with how data is described in the MSA?"
Term sheet against a final agreement
Term sheets capture the commercial deal. Final contracts do not always reflect them accurately. Running Compare between the two before signature is the fastest way to check that nothing was lost or quietly changed during drafting.
Upload the term sheet and the contract. Then use Ask: "Are there any commercial terms in the term sheet that are missing or misrepresented in the contract?"
Schedule or exhibit against the main contract
Schedules often contain obligations, definitions, and service levels that interact with the main agreement. Inconsistencies between them are easy to miss in a linear review.
Upload the main contract and the schedule. Then use Ask: "Are there any conflicts between the obligations in the schedule and the main agreement?"
Two drafts of the same document
When a counterparty returns a revised draft, Compare shows you exactly what they changed so you don't have to find it manually.
Upload your last clean draft and the counterparty's version. Then use Ask: "Which changes weaken our position?"
Follow-up prompts for Ask after Compare
Compare tells you what's different. Ask tells you what it means. These are the most useful Ask prompts to run after a Compare:
"Are there any conflicts between the obligations in these two documents?"
"Summarize all material differences in plain English."
"Does the definition of 'Services' mean the same thing in both documents?"
"Are there any gaps in the DPA that should be covered given what's in the MSA?"
"Which of these differences are likely to create problems in practice?"
"Summarize the key differences for the commercial team."
What to do with the output
Ask for meaning. Use Ask to understand the impact of specific differences before deciding how to respond.
Redline to correct. Once you know which clauses need fixing, highlight the relevant clause and switch to Redline.
Highlight the clause, switch to Redline: "Align this definition with the one used in the MSA."
Draft to fill gaps. If a clause is missing from one document that should be there given what's in the other, use Draft to create it.
"Draft a clause for the DPA that reflects the liability position agreed in the MSA."
What Compare won't do
Compare surfaces differences. It does not tell you whether those differences matter or what to do about them. That is Ask's job. Run Ask after every Compare to get from a list of differences to an understanding of their significance.
Compare also requires two documents. If you only have one document and want to understand it, use Ask.
Compare as part of a workflow
Checking two related agreements before signature
Upload the DPA and the MSA.
Ask: "Are there any conflicts between these two documents that could create problems?"
Highlight the conflicting clause, switch to Redline: "Align this with the definition used in the MSA."
Pre-signing term sheet check
Upload the term sheet and the final contract.
Ask: "Are there any commercial terms from the term sheet that are missing or changed in the contract?"
Draft or Redline any clause that doesn't accurately reflect the agreed deal.
Counterparty draft review
Upload your last clean draft and the counterparty's revised version.
Ask: "Which changes weaken our position?"
Highlight the relevant clause, switch to Redline: "Restore the original position on the limitation of liability."
Next chapter → Putting It Together: Multi-Step Workflows