Knowledge Base

Creating your SwiftBid account is quick and straightforward.

1. Visit swiftbid.co.uk and click "Get Started"

2. Enter your email address and create a password, or sign in with Google

3. Complete your profile by adding your full name and company

4. You're ready to purchase credits and start creating bids

Your profile information helps our AI agents tailor bids to your organisation. The more detail you provide, the better the output.

After signing up, you'll land on your dashboard where you can see your active bids, credits, and recent activity.

Here's how to create your first bid from start to finish:

1. Purchase a bid credit from the Buy Credits page — choose Basic (£149), Standard (£349), or Premium (£749) based on the bid value and competition level

2. Click "New Bid Proposal" in the sidebar

3. Fill in the bid details: title, client name, description, and deadline

4. Select which credit tier to use for this bid

5. Upload your documents — at minimum, you need the Tender/ITT Document and your Organisation Profile

6. Optionally add supporting documents: response packs, pricing schedules, case studies, and certificates

7. Click "Start AI Review" to begin processing

Processing typically takes 2-5 minutes. You'll receive a notification when your bid is ready for review. The page auto-refreshes, so you can leave it open or come back later.

Your dashboard gives you an at-a-glance view of your bidding activity.

The stat cards at the top show:

Active Bids — bids currently in draft, processing, or review stages

Completed — bids you've finalised and marked as complete

Average Score — the mean confidence score across all your scored bids

Credits — your available bid credits broken down by tier

Below the stats, you'll see your recent bid proposals listed as cards. Each card shows the bid title, client, tier, status, and score (if available).

Click any bid card to open the full bid detail page where you can upload documents, view the AI review, address gaps, and finalise.

The sidebar provides quick navigation to your bids, settings, and a "New Bid Proposal" button at the bottom.

SwiftBid offers three tiers, each designed for different bid scenarios:

Basic (£149 per bid)

Best for: smaller bids, simple requirements, or when you need a strong first draft fast

2 AI agents: Tender Analyst + Lead Writer

Single document upload

24-hour turnaround

1 round of revisions

Output: 1,500-2,000 word proposal in .docx format

No independent review or compliance audit

Standard (£349 per bid) — Most Popular

Best for: competitive tenders where quality matters

Full 8-agent AI team: Tender Analyst, Evidence Manager, Researcher, Strategist, Lead Writer, Compliance Manager, Red Team Reviewer, Editor

Up to 10 document uploads

12-hour turnaround

3 rounds of revisions

Output: 3,000-4,000 word proposal with independent scoring in .docx and .pdf formats

Includes compliance audit, adversarial review, and editorial polish

Score is the LOWER of Compliance and Red Team assessments for honest scoring

Premium (£749 per bid)

Best for: high-value, competitive bids where winning is critical

6 AI agents + human bid consultant who reviews and provides expert feedback

Unlimited document uploads

6-hour priority turnaround

Unlimited revisions

Win-theme strategy workshop

Premium formatting and graphics

Output: 5,000-6,000 word proposal in .docx, .pdf, and InDesign formats

Human expert review with iterative AI revision based on consultant feedback

The consultant must approve before the bid is returned to you

Rule of thumb: for straightforward bids under £100k contract value, Basic gives you a solid draft. For £100k-£500k competitive tenders, Standard's independent review and compliance audit catches gaps that lose marks. For £500k+ high-stakes bids, Premium's human expert review is worth the investment.

SwiftBid accepts the following file formats:

Document formats:

PDF (.pdf) — recommended for tender documents

Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx) — great for editable documents

Microsoft Excel (.xls, .xlsx) — for pricing schedules and data tables

Image formats:

PNG (.png) and JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg) — for diagrams, certificates, or scanned documents

File size limits:

Maximum file size: 50MB per file

No limit on the number of files per bid

For best results, upload text-based PDFs rather than scanned images. Our AI can extract text from PDFs but cannot read handwritten notes or low-resolution scans.

If your tender document is password-protected, remove the password before uploading.

The quality of your bid output depends heavily on the quality of documents you provide. Here's how to prepare them:

Tender / ITT Document (Required)

Upload the complete invitation to tender, including all appendices and schedules

If the tender is split across multiple files, upload each one and categorise them all as "Tender / ITT Document"

Include any clarification questions and answers if available

Organisation Profile (Required)

A document describing your company's capabilities, experience, and track record

Include: company history, key personnel, relevant experience, accreditations, and certifications

The more specific and detailed, the better — generic marketing brochures produce weaker bids

Response Pack / Forms (Recommended)

Any evaluation forms, scoring matrices, or response templates provided by the buyer

These help our AI understand exactly how the bid will be assessed and structure the response accordingly

Supporting Documents (Optional but valuable)

Case studies of similar work you've completed

Certificates and accreditations (ISO, Cyber Essentials, etc.)

CVs of key personnel who would deliver the contract

Pricing schedules or rate cards

The more evidence you provide, the stronger the bid. Our AI agents are trained to ground every claim in your uploaded documents — they won't make things up.

When uploading documents, you'll select a category for each one. Here's what each category means:

Tender / ITT Document

The actual invitation to tender or request for proposal from the buyer

Includes specification documents, terms, and conditions

Organisation Profile

Your company capability statement, company profile, or corporate brochure

Should describe who you are, what you do, and evidence of past performance

Response Pack / Forms

Any forms, templates, or structured documents provided by the buyer for your response

Evaluation matrices, scoring sheets, or method statement templates

Pricing Schedule

Cost breakdowns, rate cards, or pricing templates

Kept separate from the main tender to inform the bid without dominating it

Case Studies / Evidence

Examples of similar work you've delivered

Should include: client name, challenge, your solution, outcomes, and measurable results

Certificates / Accreditations

ISO certifications, Cyber Essentials, DBS checks, insurance certificates

Professional body memberships and qualifications

Other Supporting Document

Anything that doesn't fit the above categories but supports your bid

Organograms, project plans, policies, testimonials, references

Follow these tips to get the highest quality output from SwiftBid:

1. Upload everything relevant

More documents = more evidence for our AI to draw from

Even seemingly minor documents (certificates, testimonials) can strengthen specific sections

2. Use text-based PDFs

Scanned image PDFs are harder for AI to process accurately

If you only have scans, consider using OCR software first

3. Write a detailed description

The bid description field helps our AI understand context that might not be in the documents

Mention any specific win themes, differentiators, or key messages you want emphasised

4. Include case studies with measurable outcomes

"Delivered 30% cost savings for NHS Trust" is much stronger than "Completed project successfully"

Our AI prioritises evidence with specific numbers, dates, and named clients

5. Set a realistic deadline

This appears in the bid output and helps frame urgency appropriately

6. Review and re-process

After the first review, address the gaps identified

Upload additional evidence or update your description

Re-process to improve the score — most bids improve significantly on second iteration

7. For Premium bids, engage with the human review

The consultant's feedback is based on real bid evaluation experience

Their revision notes guide the AI to focus on exactly what matters

SwiftBid uses a team of 8 specialised AI agents that work sequentially on your bid. Each agent has a specific role and expertise:

1. Tender Analyst

Reads the tender document with 15 years of bid-reading experience

Produces a 9-section analysis: requirements matrix, evaluation criteria, compliance checklist, key dates, budget analysis, win themes, capability mapping, risk register, and bid strategy

2. Evidence Manager (Standard & Premium only)

Forensic researcher who maps your documents to tender requirements

Produces an evidence bank: evidence matrix, case study library, credentials register, key personnel profiles, statistics database, social value evidence, and evidence gaps

3. Researcher (Standard & Premium only)

Builds a client intelligence dossier from tender documents

Deep-dives into legislation, regulations, and standards referenced in the tender

Analyses sector context, competitive landscape, and calculates market-benchmarked pricing

4. Strategist (Standard & Premium only)

Develops the golden thread — a single narrative reinforced across every section

Creates win themes tied to evaluation criteria for each section

Plans evidence deployment, personnel mapping, and competitive positioning

5. Lead Writer

Core drafting engine that produces the actual proposal

Follows the tender's own structure and questions, not a generic template

Weaves evidence inline, uses named personnel, and includes calculated pricing

6. Compliance Manager (Standard & Premium only)

Independent auditor who reviews with fresh eyes

Produces a score out of 10 with detailed strengths, weaknesses, compliance audit, and competitive assessment

7. Red Team Reviewer (Standard & Premium only)

Adversarial reviewer who plays the role of the evaluator

Tests three things: would this score highly? Could a competitor beat it? Are there red flags?

Provides an independent score — the final score is the LOWER of Compliance and Red Team

8. Editor (Standard & Premium only)

Final polish for language, tone, grammar, structure, and consistency

Editing checklist covers: language/tone, grammar, structure/formatting, impact/scoring, compliance, and consistency

Does not add content or fill gaps — only polishes what exists

Your bid receives a confidence score out of 10, independently assessed by the Compliance Manager and Red Team. The final score is the LOWER of these two assessments, ensuring honest evaluation.

Score ranges:

9-10 — Excellent. Ready for submission with minor tweaks. Strong evidence, full compliance, compelling narrative.

7-8 — Good. Competitive bid with some gaps to address. Review the identified weaknesses and consider re-processing.

5-6 — Average. Significant improvements needed. Multiple gaps in evidence or compliance. Upload more supporting documents and re-process.

3-4 — Below average. Major gaps in requirements coverage or evidence. Likely needs substantial additional documentation.

1-2 — Poor. Fundamental issues with compliance or evidence. The tender requirements may not match your capabilities.

How to improve your score:

1. Read the review summary carefully — it explains exactly what's strong and what's weak

2. Check the gaps list — each gap tells you what's missing and what category it falls in

3. Upload additional documents that address the identified gaps

4. Update your bid description to add context the AI might have missed

5. Re-process the bid — scores typically improve by 1-3 points on re-processing with additional evidence

Remember: the score reflects how well your bid would perform in a real evaluation, not the quality of the AI's writing. A low score usually means you need more evidence, not a better writer.

After processing, your bid includes a list of gaps — specific areas where the bid could be stronger. Each gap has:

Type — what kind of issue it is (evidence gap, compliance gap, quality gap)

Category — which section of the bid it relates to

Question — what specific information or evidence is missing

Status — open (needs attention) or resolved (addressed in a re-process)

How to address gaps:

Evidence gaps: Upload additional documents that contain the missing information. Case studies, certificates, and capability statements are the most common fixes.

Compliance gaps: Check that your tender document upload is complete. If the gap references a requirement you can't meet, consider whether this tender is the right fit.

Quality gaps: These relate to the strength of the narrative. Update your bid description with more context about your win themes and differentiators, then re-process.

After addressing gaps, click "Re-process" to run the bid through the AI pipeline again. The agents will use the new evidence and context. Gaps that have been addressed will be marked as resolved.

Not all gaps need to be addressed — some may relate to optional criteria or areas where you're genuinely weaker. Focus on the gaps that affect the highest-weighted evaluation criteria.

Premium tier bids include a human expert review from a bid consultant. Here's how the process works:

1. Request Review

After your AI processing is complete, click "Request Human Review" on the bid detail page

This sends your bid to our queue for consultant review

2. Consultant Review

A bid consultant reviews your full proposal, the AI assessment, gaps, and score

They bring real-world bid evaluation experience and industry knowledge

Review typically takes 1-2 business hours

3. Revision or Approval

The consultant may send revision notes if improvements are needed

These notes are fed back to the AI agents, which re-process the bid incorporating the consultant's feedback

The revised bid returns to the consultant for re-review

4. Final Approval

Once the consultant is satisfied, they approve the bid with a written verdict

The verdict summarises their professional assessment and any final recommendations

You'll see a "Human Review Approved" badge and the full verdict on your bid page

5. Finalise

With the consultant's approval, you can finalise your bid with confidence

The approved bid has been reviewed by both AI and human expertise

The consultant's approval means your bid has been checked for compliance, evidence quality, persuasive narrative, and competitive positioning by someone who has evaluated bids professionally.

When you're satisfied with your bid score and have addressed the key gaps, it's time to finalise.

Finalising a bid:

Click "Finalise Bid" on the bid detail page

If your score is 9/10 or above (or human review approved), the button is green

If below 9/10, you'll see "Finalise Anyway" — this works but prompts a confirmation

What finalising does:

Marks the bid as complete — it moves from "Review" to "Completed" status

The bid becomes read-only (no more re-processing)

Your proposal remains accessible from your dashboard

Using the output:

Click "View Full Proposal" to see the complete bid text

Copy the proposal content and paste it into your actual bid submission documents

Use the AI review summary to inform your final quality check

Reference the compliance checklist to ensure nothing is missed

Important: SwiftBid produces the proposal content, but you should always:

Replace any [INSERT] placeholders with your specific information

Verify all facts, figures, and claims against your actual capabilities

Adapt the formatting to match the buyer's required response format

Add any mandatory forms, signatures, or declarations required by the tender

Your account settings are accessible from the sidebar under "Settings".

Profile settings:

Full Name — displayed in admin views and used to personalise communications

Company — your organisation name, helps AI agents tailor bids to your company

Email — tied to your authentication and cannot be changed from the settings page

Your profile information is used by our AI agents when drafting bids. Keeping it accurate and up-to-date ensures better results.

If you need to change your email address, please contact support.

SwiftBid uses a credit-based system. Each bid requires one credit to process.

Purchasing credits:

Go to Buy Credits from the sidebar or click "Purchase Credits" in the credits section

Choose your tier: Basic (£149), Standard (£349), or Premium (£749)

Pay securely via Stripe (card payments)

Credits are added to your account immediately after payment

Using credits:

When you create a new bid, you select which tier of credit to use

The credit is reserved for that bid

Processing the bid consumes the credit

Credit refunds:

If you delete a draft bid (before processing), the credit is returned to your account

Once a bid has been processed, the credit cannot be refunded

If processing fails due to a system error, the credit is automatically returned

Credits never expire. You can purchase credits in advance and use them whenever you're ready.

Your purchase history is visible in Settings under "Credits & Billing".

SwiftBid accepts card payments via our secure payment processor, Stripe:

Visa, Mastercard, and American Express credit and debit cards

All payments are processed securely through Stripe. SwiftBid never stores your card details.

Invoices and receipts:

A receipt is emailed to your registered email address after each purchase

You can view your purchase history in Settings > Credits & Billing

For formal invoices, please contact support with your purchase details

VAT:

Prices shown include VAT where applicable

UK businesses can request a VAT invoice by contacting support

If a payment fails, check that your card details are correct and that your bank isn't blocking the transaction. You can retry the purchase from the Buy Credits page.

You can permanently delete your SwiftBid account from Settings.

What gets deleted:

Your profile and account information

All bid proposals and AI-generated content

All uploaded documents (removed from storage)

Payment records and credit history

Notification history

What is NOT deleted:

Stripe payment records (retained by Stripe for their legal obligations)

Anonymised usage analytics

How to delete:

1. Go to Settings

2. Scroll to the "Danger Zone" section

3. Click "Delete Account"

4. Type "delete my account" to confirm

5. Click "Delete My Account"

This action is immediate and irreversible. You will be signed out and redirected to the homepage. If you have unused credits, they will be lost — consider using them or contacting support first.

If you want to pause your account rather than delete it, you can simply stop using it. Your data will be retained and your credits won't expire.