Terms of service

§ 1 Scope, provider

(1) These terms of service apply to all contracts for the use of the software-as-a-service application “AI Optimizr” (the “application”), available at https://ai-optimizr.com.

(2) The provider is Marcel Neidig, trading as “MarcelN”, Wiesbadener Str. 9, 68305 Mannheim, Germany, email: ai-optimizr@perfomodo.com (the “provider”).

(3) The offer is directed at consumers within the meaning of § 13 of the German Civil Code (BGB) and at businesses within the meaning of § 14 BGB, legal entities under public law and special funds under public law (together the “customer”). When registering, the customer states whether they act as a consumer or as a business. Provisions that apply only to consumers or only to businesses are marked as such.

(4) Deviating, conflicting or supplementary terms of the customer do not become part of the contract unless the provider expressly agrees to them in text form.

§ 2 Services of the provider

(1) The application helps the customer assess and improve how findable their websites are in answers of AI-based services. In particular, it comprises:

• the website analysis: capturing publicly accessible pages of a website named by the customer, AI-based assessment of those pages and of the website as a whole, and recommendations for improvement;
• the visibility test: asking AI platforms (currently ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, depending on the plan) questions defined by the customer, and evaluating whether and how the customer’s brand and competitors recorded by the customer appear in the answers.

(2) The specific scope of a plan — in particular the number of websites, questions per website, available AI platforms, pages per analysis and monthly credit allowance — follows from the plan overview in the application and on the website valid when the contract is concluded or the plan is changed.

(3) The application starts paid operations only at the customer’s instigation. Before an operation starts, it shows how many credits it is expected to use.

(4) The application’s results are based on answers of third-party AI models and on automated evaluations. They are assessments at the time of measurement. AI answers can change at any time without any action by the customer or the provider, and can be incomplete or incorrect. The provider owes the proper performance of the analyses, not a particular outcome, and in particular no particular visibility, ranking or mention in AI answers or search engines.

(5) Texts and recommendations generated by the application are suggestions. The application publishes nothing on the customer’s websites. Whether and in what form the customer adopts suggestions is the customer’s own decision and responsibility; the customer checks them for accuracy and lawfulness before using them.

(6) The provider uses service providers to deliver the service, in particular for hosting, database, payment processing, page capture and access to AI models. Which ones is set out in the privacy policy. The provider may change service providers and the AI models connected through them, provided the agreed service is not materially impaired.

§ 3 Registration and account

(1) Use requires an account. The customer provides truthful information when registering and confirms their email address.

(2) Access credentials must be kept secret. The customer is responsible for actions taken through their account to the extent they are answerable for them. If there are indications of misuse, the customer informs the provider without delay.

(3) Addresses of disposable email services are excluded from registration.

(4) There is no entitlement to the conclusion of a contract.

§ 4 Conclusion of contract

(1) Registration concludes a free-of-charge contract of use for the free plan (“Free”). When registering, the customer accepts these terms; they apply to all plans and purchases within the account.

(2) A paid plan is concluded when the customer completes the order in the checkout of the payment service provider Stripe and authorises the payment. The same applies to the purchase of a credit package.

(3) Consumers have the statutory right of withdrawal for distance contracts for purchases under para. 2. Purchase and payment are handled by Stripe as reseller (§ 7 para. 2); Stripe applies the statutory withdrawal periods for consumers. Consumers may also declare their withdrawal by email to the provider.

§ 5 Credits

(1) Use of paid features is charged in credits. How many credits each operation costs follows from the price list in the application as valid at the time. Credits are used only for operations that complete successfully; if an operation fails, no credits are deducted.

(2) Before an operation starts, the application reserves the credits it is expected to need. If the available balance is insufficient, the operation does not start.

(3) Starting credits. New customers receive a one-time starting balance of 100 credits after confirming their email address. The starting balance is granted only once per email address. This also applies if an account is deleted and registered again with the same address, and to variants of the same address, in particular suffixes after a “+” and, for Gmail addresses, dots. The starting balance can be used only once per website: once an account without any previous purchase has spent credits on a website, no other account without a previous purchase can analyse or test that website with credits for 24 months. Every address under the same domain, including its subdomains, counts as the same website. This restriction does not apply to customers with a plan or a purchased credit package.

(4) Monthly allowance. Paid plans include a monthly credit allowance that is credited with each paid monthly invoice. Unused credits from the allowance are retained, but only up to a balance of three times the monthly allowance; a credit that would exceed this ceiling is granted only up to the ceiling.

(5) Credit packages. Customers on a paid plan can buy additional credits as packages at the prices shown in the application. Individual packages may be limited to certain plans. Purchased credits are credited in full once payment has been received, and do not expire.

(6) Credits are neither legal tender nor e-money and do not represent a monetary value. They entitle the customer solely to use the services described in the application within the application. Payout, refund or exchange of unused credits for money is excluded; this also applies on termination, on a change of plan and on deletion of the account. Credits cannot be transferred to other accounts. The customer’s statutory rights remain unaffected, in particular where the provider fails, for reasons for which the provider is responsible, to render a service owed, as does the consumer’s right of withdrawal (§ 4 para. 3).

(7) The provider may change the price list (credits per operation) with effect for the future, for example if the costs of the AI models used change. The provider announces changes at least four weeks before they take effect by email to the address stored in the account. Credits already granted are retained.

§ 6 Automatic credit top-up

(1) Customers with a running subscription to a plan that includes credit packages can switch on automatic credit top-ups in the billing settings. Automatic top-ups are off by default; no automatic purchase takes place unless the customer expressly switches it on.

(2) When switching it on, the customer chooses the credit package bought each time. The package’s price is shown before it is switched on.

(3) If the customer’s credit balance falls below 20% of the credits included in their plan each month after a paid operation, the provider buys the chosen package on the customer’s behalf at the price shown and charges the payment method used for the subscription. An invoice is issued for every purchase.

(4) At most three automatic purchases take place per calendar month. Purchases whose payment fails are not counted.

(5) The credits are granted once payment has been received. If payment fails, no credits are granted and the amount is not collected afterwards; a new attempt is made at the earliest with the next paid operation.

(6) Automatic purchases take place only while the subscription is running. The customer can switch automatic top-ups off or choose a different package at any time, with effect for future purchases.

(7) Independently of automatic top-ups, the application notifies the customer as soon as their available balance falls below 20% of the credits included in their plan each month, or below 100 credits without a plan that includes monthly credits.

§ 7 Prices and payment

(1) The prices shown in the application when the contract is concluded apply. Prices are stated and paid in euros.

(2) The prices shown are final prices. Purchase and payment processing are handled by Stripe as reseller (merchant of record). Stripe issues the invoice and pays the VAT included in the price where it is due in the customer’s country; the total amount does not change as a result. Whether VAT is due, for example for businesses with a valid VAT number under the reverse charge procedure, is determined by Stripe from the details given at checkout.

(3) The plan fee is due monthly in advance and collected through Stripe from the stored payment method. The customer receives an invoice from Stripe by email for every payment.

(4) If a payment fails, Stripe retries the collection. As long as a plan fee is unpaid, the monthly allowance for that month is not credited. If the subscription ends because of non-payment, the free plan applies.

(5) The provider announces price changes for running subscriptions at least six weeks before they take effect by email to the address stored in the account. The customer can cancel the subscription until the change takes effect; otherwise the new price applies from the next billing period.

(6) If the provider refunds a payment in full or in part, the credits acquired with that payment are deducted from the balance in the same proportion, insofar as they are still available. If the customer initiates a chargeback through their bank or payment service provider, the credits acquired with that payment are deducted from the balance insofar as they are still available, a running subscription ends immediately, and the account is locked. A locked account can still view its previous results and be deleted; paid services and purchases are not possible. If the chargeback is decided in the provider’s favour or otherwise resolved, the provider lifts the lock and credits the deducted credits again. Further claims of the provider remain unaffected.

§ 8 Term, change of plan, cancellation

(1) Paid plans run monthly and renew for one month at a time unless cancelled.

(2) The customer can cancel at any time with effect from the end of the current billing period, through the customer portal in the billing settings. The plan’s services remain available until the end of the paid period; a scheduled cancellation can be withdrawn until then.

(3) The customer can switch between the available paid plans to the extent this feature is offered. A switch to a higher-priced plan generally takes effect immediately. Fees already paid for the unused part of the current billing period are credited pro rata. The difference to the higher-priced plan is calculated pro rata and generally invoiced immediately.

(4) A switch to a cheaper plan takes effect only at the end of the current billing period. Until then, the services of the previous plan remain available. From the following billing period, the services and prices of the new plan apply.

(5) On a switch to a higher-priced plan, the difference between the two plans’ monthly credit allowances is credited pro rata for the remaining part of the current billing period, once the difference has been paid. The new plan’s full allowance is credited from the next regular monthly invoice.

(6) When a paid plan ends, the free plan applies. Existing credits remain in the account and can be used within the free plan. Content exceeding the free plan’s limits, such as additional websites or questions, remains stored but can only be used to a limited extent.

(7) The customer can delete their account themselves at any time in the settings. A running subscription then ends immediately; the current billing period is not refunded. Existing credits lapse with the deletion.

(8) The right of both parties to terminate for good cause remains unaffected. Good cause exists for the provider in particular if the customer breaches § 9 despite a warning.

§ 9 Customer obligations, permitted use

(1) The customer may only have websites captured and analysed that belong to them or that they are authorised to analyse.

(2) The customer phrases questions and competitor entries so that they do not violate applicable law or the rights of third parties.

(3) In particular, it is prohibited:

• to use the application or its interfaces other than through the controls provided, in particular to call database functions or programming interfaces directly in order to circumvent billing or usage limits;
• to circumvent security measures or to place an excessive load on the application;
• to create multiple accounts in order to receive starting credits more than once or to circumvent plan limits;
• to pass on access to third parties outside the customer’s own business or household.

(4) In the event of a breach, the provider may temporarily block access and offset credits or services obtained without entitlement.

§ 10 Availability

(1) The provider endeavours to keep the application available with as few interruptions as possible, but does not owe any particular availability.

(2) Features that rely on third-party services — in particular AI platforms and page capture — may be temporarily limited if those services are unavailable or change their interfaces. Failed operations do not use credits (§ 5 para. 1).

(3) The provider carries out maintenance at times of low usage where possible.

§ 11 Rights to content and results

(1) The customer grants the provider the rights to the content they enter that are necessary to provide the service, in particular for transmission to the service providers and AI models used.

(2) The customer receives a simple, perpetual right to use the results of the analyses, including generated texts and recommendations, for their own purposes, to the extent the provider holds such rights.

(3) The application itself, its software and design remain the property of the provider. For the term of the contract, the customer receives a simple, non-transferable right to use the application over the internet as intended.

§ 12 Data protection and retention

(1) The provider processes personal data in accordance with its privacy policy.

(2) Captured page content is deleted no later than 30 days after the respective analysis, complete answers of the AI platforms after 12 months. Metrics and assessments derived from them are kept for the life of the account. The customer is responsible for keeping their own copy of results they need for longer.

§ 13 Liability

(1) The provider is liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health, under the German Product Liability Act and to the extent of any guarantee given.

(2) For a slightly negligent breach of an essential contractual obligation — an obligation whose fulfilment makes the proper performance of the contract possible in the first place and on whose observance the customer may regularly rely — liability is limited to the damage typical for the contract and foreseeable.

(3) Otherwise, liability for slight negligence is excluded.

(4) The provider is not liable for the content of answers of third-party AI platforms or for decisions the customer takes on the basis of the results, unless para. 1 or 2 applies.

(5) The above limitations also apply in favour of the provider’s vicarious agents.

§ 14 Changes to these terms

(1) The provider may change these terms with effect for the future where this is necessary for a valid reason, for example because of a change in the law, new features or changed services of service providers, and the customer is not unreasonably disadvantaged by it.

(2) Changes are notified to the customer at least six weeks before they take effect by email to the address stored in the account. For businesses: if the customer does not object before they take effect, the changes are deemed accepted; the provider points out the right to object and the consequences of silence in the notice. For consumers, changes take effect only if the consumer agrees to them. In the event of an objection or a refused consent, either party may terminate the contract with effect from the date the change takes effect.

§ 15 Final provisions

(1) The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. For consumers, this choice of law applies only insofar as it does not deprive them of the protection of mandatory provisions of the state in which they have their habitual residence.

(2) If the customer is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law, the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from this contract is Mannheim.

(3) Should a provision of these terms be invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions remains unaffected.