Sunda Cloak
Send the approach, not the method. Write a two-level proposal: the what, the why, the outcomes, the timeline and the price in full; the how at summary level only. Hold the detailed methodology back until signature, or send it to a qualified buyer as a separate, cloaked appendix, with a one-line confidentiality note in the proposal and the cover email. None of this stops a determined reader; it makes “ask an AI to turn it into a plan” cost more than calling you.
Why the proposal is your riskiest document
Every other document you send sits behind a contract. The proposal does not, and three things make it exposed:
- It is full of approach — the better the proposal, the more of your thinking is on the page.
- There is no paper yet — your only footing is the note in the document and the reader’s norms.
- It is forwarded by default — the file most likely to be dropped into an AI tool with “write us a plan like this”.
The answer is not a worse proposal, but deciding which level of detail each reader gets.
The two-level structure
Level one is the proposal everyone gets, complete enough to say yes to. Level two is the detailed methodology (templates, step sequences, scoring rubrics), released after signature or as a separate appendix. A working outline, with the usual “why you” and a named next step around it:
- Situation and goal. Their problem in their words; what success looks like.
- Outcomes. What they will have at the end, in deliverable terms.
- Approach, at summary level. The phases and what each is for, not the interview guide or the map template.
- Timeline, price and terms. In full — hedging here costs you the deal; hedging on method costs you nothing.
- Appendix (on request / after signature): detailed methodology. Listed in the contents, not attached.
Could a competent person in their team do the job from level one alone, or ask an AI tool to? If yes, move the specifics down.
The one-line confidentiality note
One readable sentence under the title or in the footer tells every reader what the document is for and gives you something to point at later.
This proposal and the approach it describes are confidential to [Prospect] for the purpose of evaluating this engagement and are not to be used, in whole or in part, to brief another supplier or an automated tool.
This line is a starting point to review with a lawyer, not legal advice. A note is not a signed agreement, and what it is worth varies by jurisdiction; it sets a norm, not a substitute for a contract.
Say it once more in the cover email: “happy for you to share this internally; I’d just ask it isn’t passed to another supplier or run through an AI tool.”
When to send the cloaked full version
Sometimes a buyer needs the detail before they can commit: a procurement panel, a technical lead, a second meeting that went well. Send it then, and send it differently:
- Qualify first. A budget, a decision-maker and a reason to ask; a cold enquiry does not get level two.
- Send it as a separate file, named for them and the round, so you know which copy went where.
- Cloak that copy. Cloaking leaves the visible text exactly as written and adds hidden text only machines read (look-alike decoys beside each real value, plus decoy paragraphs and steering notes), so a one-click upload gives an AI tool a noisy read. How protection works sets out the limits.
- Let the per-copy mark do its quiet job. Each cloaked copy carries an invisible mark designed to survive a copy-paste of the visible text, so you can tell which copy travelled. The opt-in tripwire signals only if a tool follows the link; many never do.
- Say it is protected and offer a plain copy — Telling your client has the wording. Proofread it like any deliverable; the mark can shift a line break.
A mutual NDA before detailed scoping
An NDA is a real tool and real friction: reasonable for large scopes, regulated sectors or work where you must see their data to scope at all — keep it mutual and short — and overkill for a first conversation. A useful sequence: level-one proposal with the confidentiality line; mutual NDA once detailed scoping starts both ways; contract with an AI clause before the work.
If they ghost and do it themselves
It happens. Decide in advance how you will react, so the moment doesn’t decide for you.
- Check what you actually know. A per-copy mark or tripwire hit tells you a copy travelled, not who uploaded it or what they did. Silence tells you nothing.
- Have the conversation, if you want the relationship: “I noticed the team went ahead with an approach close to my proposal — happy to help, and the method was shared for evaluation only.”
- Decide whether to escalate. A note and your records are footing, not a case; ask a lawyer whether it is worth pursuing, which often costs more than the fee.
- Mostly: qualify harder next time. Level two only goes to people who have shown they are buying; the wider habits are in how to stop clients reusing your work with AI.
What none of this does
- A confidentiality note is not a signed agreement; what it is worth legally varies, and the language here is a starting point to review with a lawyer, not legal advice.
- Cloaking only touches the file-upload path. Copy-paste out of Word, a screenshot or a PDF export hands an AI tool a clean copy, and extractors that strip hidden text recover the original.
- Per-copy marks tell you a copy travelled, not who used it or how. The tripwire fires only when a tool actually follows the hidden link; silence proves nothing.
- Anyone who turns formatting marks on will see the decoys — hidden is not secret. Strength depends on how each AI tool reads files, and providers change pipelines; expect months, not years.
- All of it is a deterrent against casual AI reuse — not a guarantee, and never a substitute for a contract. The structure of the proposal does more than any tool.
Frequently asked
Usually not for a first proposal: it adds friction when the prospect is least committed, and a two-level proposal shows enough without it. For large scopes, or where you must see their data to scope, ask for a short mutual NDA once detail starts flowing both ways.
In general terms, the text of your proposal — the words and layout you wrote — is protected by copyright automatically in most jurisdictions; the ideas and method it describes are not, because copyright covers expression, not ideas. That is why structure and a confidentiality line matter more than a © symbol. This is general information, not legal advice — check with a lawyer for your jurisdiction.
Not if you say so and offer a plain copy. The visible text reads exactly as you wrote it; the only difference is hidden text that makes a one-click AI upload a noisy read. One line in the cover email — ‘lightly protected against AI extraction; plain copy on request’ — makes it a norm, and Telling your client has wording.
Expect it. Proposals are forwarded to the budget holder, a colleague, procurement: that is how buying works, and a note that only restricts use by another supplier or an automated tool allows for it. A cloaked copy carries an invisible mark, so you can tell which one travelled.