Choosing an AI provider for your business is a decision that will affect data security, costs, and team productivity for years to come.

Unfortunately, most companies make this decision too hastily.

They purchase subscriptions to popular cloud tools for a few employees and only discover the problems weeks later: exceeded limits, data on servers in the USA, GDPR fines, rising costs.

This article is a checklist of 10 key questions you must ask before choosing an AI provider. The answers will help you make an informed decision and avoid costly mistakes.

Question 1: Where is my data physically stored?

Why does this matter?

Server location directly affects:

  • GDPR compliance – transferring data outside the EU requires additional legal safeguards
  • Security – data in the USA is subject to US law (Cloud Act, FISA)
  • Speed – servers in the EU = faster responses than from the USA
  • Legal risk – servers outside the EU = potential fines from the supervisory authority

How different providers respond:

Public Cloud AI (Global providers):

  • Servers most often in the USA
  • Data transferred outside the European Economic Area
  • Requires Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC)
  • ❌ Data leaves the European Union

aikeep.io:

  • Servers in the EU
  • Data never leaves the country
  • Full GDPR compliance without additional contracts
  • ✅ Data stays in the EU

✅ The correct answer should be:

"Data is stored exclusively on servers in the EU and is never transferred outside the European Union."

Question 2: Will my data be used to train your models?

Why does this matter?

If your AI conversations are used for model training:

  • Your company secrets could end up in responses to other users
  • Customer data can be "memorized" by the model
  • Business strategies become part of the AI's "knowledge"
  • You lose control over what happens to your data

A real-life story:

Samsung banned employees from using public AI after engineers pasted source code fragments. The cloud operator used this data (in accordance with the terms of service at the time) to train their models.

How different providers respond:

Public models (Default settings):

  • Often: YES, data may be used for training
  • Can be disabled in settings (but this is not always the default)
  • Even after disabling, data still reaches the operator's servers
  • ⚠️ Requires active management of privacy settings

aikeep.io:

  • NO, data is never used for training
  • The Mistral Small 3.2 model runs locally
  • No ability to "learn" from your conversations
  • ✅ Complete privacy

✅ The correct answer should be:

"No, your data is never and will never be used to train models or for any purpose other than delivering the service."

Question 3: Are there limits on the number of queries? What are they?

Why does this matter?

Query limits can:

  • Block work – when an employee exceeds the limit in the middle of the day
  • Generate hidden costs – you need to buy additional accounts
  • Frustrate the team – constant "wait 3 hours" messages kill productivity
  • Be dishonestly hidden – "unlimited*" (*up to X queries/hour)

How different providers respond:

Standard cloud plans:

  • E.g. 40 queries every 3 hours (for leading models)
  • Daily query limits with intensive use
  • During peak hours the model may be unavailable
  • ❌ Limits often block work

Cloud team plans:

  • Higher limits, but still limited
  • Often no clear information about exact numbers
  • ⚠️ "Higher limits" ≠ no limits

aikeep.io:

  • No query limits
  • You can send any number of queries 24/7
  • ✅ Truly unlimited access

✅ The correct answer should be:

"There are no limits on the number of queries. You can use AI without restrictions."

Question 4: What happens to my data after the subscription ends?

Why does this matter?

This is often overlooked but a critical question:

  • Will the provider delete your data?
  • Within what timeframe?
  • Will you be able to download it?
  • Will the data still be used for training?

How different providers respond:

Global cloud operators:

  • Conversation history is retained for a set period (e.g. 30 days)
  • You can request data deletion, but the process can be complicated
  • No clear guarantees regarding data that has already been used for training
  • ⚠️ Often unclear retention policy

aikeep.io:

  • Data is deleted immediately after the subscription ends
  • Option to download history before cancellation
  • Data was never used for training, so there is no risk of "remaining in the model"
  • ✅ Clear deletion policy

✅ The correct answer should be:

"Your data will be completely deleted within [specific number] days of your subscription ending. You will have the opportunity to download it beforehand."

Question 5: What AI model do you use and how does it compare to market leaders?

Why does this matter?

Not every AI model is equally good:

  • Response quality – does the model understand context?
  • English language support – does it handle English well?
  • Specialization – is the model good at your tasks?

How different providers respond:

Public Cloud:

  • Leading commercial models (closed source)
  • Most cutting-edge models on the market
  • Excellent quality, but at the cost of privacy
  • ✅ Highest quality (but security risk)

aikeep.io:

  • Mistral Small 3.2 11B v3
  • 11 billion parameters
  • In benchmark tests achieves results comparable to leading commercial models
  • Excellent English language support
  • ✅ High quality + complete privacy

Mistral Small 3.2 11B v3 benchmark tests:

Task Public Model (Premium) Mistral Small 3.2 11B v3
Document analysis ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Content generation ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐
English language ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Coding support ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Summaries ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

✅ The correct answer should be:

"We use the [name] model with [number] parameters, which achieves [specific results] in benchmark tests. It is particularly good at [your use cases]."

Question 6: How much will it cost when my team grows?

Why does this matter?

AI costs should be:

  • Predictable – you know exactly how much you will pay
  • Scalable – you can easily add/remove users
  • Transparent – no hidden fees

How different providers respond:

Standard cloud pricing:

  • Individual Plan: ~$20/user/month
  • Team Plan: ~$30/user/month (min. 2 users)
  • Enterprise Plan: undisclosed (negotiations, high user minimums)
  • ⚠️ Costs grow linearly, can be high for larger teams

aikeep.io:

  • Freelancer Plan: 17 EUR/month (1 person)
  • Small Team Plan: 70 EUR/month (up to 5 people)
  • Larger teams: multiples of the Small Team plan
  • Example: 20 people = 4× Small Team = 280 EUR net/month
  • ✅ Lower costs for teams, predictable scaling

Cost comparison for a growing team:

Team Cloud (Individual Plan) Cloud (Team Plan) aikeep.io
1 person ~20 EUR - 17 EUR
5 people ~100 EUR ~150 EUR 70 EUR
10 people ~200 EUR ~300 EUR 140 EUR
20 people ~400 EUR ~600 EUR 280 EUR
50 people ~1000 EUR ~1500 EUR 700 EUR

✅ The correct answer should be:

"We have a transparent pricing model. For [X] people you will pay [specific amount]. You can add or remove users at any time."

Question 7: How long does implementation take and do I need an IT team?

Why does this matter?

Time is money:

  • Fast implementation – you start earning sooner
  • No IT team needed – you don't need to hire specialists
  • Simple configuration – anyone can do it

How different providers respond:

Public SaaS:

  • Implementation: ~5 minutes (registration and purchase)
  • No IT team required
  • Configuration: minimal
  • ✅ Fast implementation

aikeep.io:

  • Implementation: ~5 minutes (registration and plan selection)
  • No IT team required
  • Configuration: zero (ready to use)
  • Adding users: 2 minutes
  • ✅ Fast implementation

✅ The correct answer should be:

"Implementation takes a maximum of [specific time]. You don't need an IT team or any technical configuration."

Question 8: What service availability guarantees (SLA) do I get?

Why does this matter?

When AI stops working:

  • Employees lose productivity
  • Customers wait for responses
  • The company loses money

How different providers respond:

Public services (B2C/B2B):

  • Often no official SLA for basic plans
  • Enterprise plans: typically 99.9% uptime
  • In practice: outages occur during peak hours
  • ⚠️ No guarantees for smaller companies

aikeep.io:

  • 99.9% uptime (availability)
  • 24/7 monitoring
  • Dedicated infrastructure (no "peak hours")
  • ✅ Guaranteed availability

✅ The correct answer should be:

"We guarantee [X]% uptime. In the event of outages longer than [Y] minutes, you will receive [specific compensation]."

Question 9: Can I process sensitive data (NDA, personal data, medical data)?

Why does this matter?

This question is critical for:

  • Law firms (NDA agreements)
  • HR departments (CVs, employee data)
  • Medical companies (patient data)
  • Financial firms (client data)

How different providers respond:

Public Cloud:

  • Officially: yes, but often requires complex DPA agreements
  • In practice: data reaches servers outside the EEA (e.g. USA)
  • GDPR risk: high (data transfer to third countries)
  • ⚠️ Possible, but legally risky

aikeep.io:

  • YES, sensitive data is safe
  • Servers in the EU = automatic GDPR compliance
  • No model training = zero risk of leakage
  • Data never leaves the EU
  • ✅ Safe for all types of data

✅ The correct answer should be:

"Yes, you can safely process all types of sensitive data. We are fully GDPR compliant and data never leaves the EU."

Question 10: What support will I receive and in what language?

Why does this matter?

When a problem arises:

  • You need fast help in your language
  • Technical support should understand your needs
  • You don't want to communicate through a translator

How different providers respond:

Global providers:

  • Support mainly in English
  • Documentation: partially translated (machine translation)
  • Response time: depends on plan (priority for Enterprise)
  • ⚠️ Often no dedicated local language support

aikeep.io:

  • Support in English
  • Email and chat
  • Standard plans: response within 24h
  • Enterprise plans: response within 4h
  • Documentation and FAQ in English
  • ✅ Full support in English

✅ The correct answer should be:

"We offer support in English."

Summary: How to evaluate a provider's answers?

Red flags 🚩 – avoid the provider if:

❌ They don't know exactly where the data is (or say vaguely "in the cloud")
❌ They can't guarantee that data won't be used for training
❌ Hidden limits ("unlimited*" with an asterisk)
❌ Costs grow unpredictably
❌ No SLA or availability guarantees
❌ They say "probably GDPR compliant" instead of "we are GDPR compliant"
❌ Support only in English for a local company

Green flags ✅ – a good provider:

✅ Clearly states the data location (country/region)
✅ Guarantees data is not used for training
✅ No limits or clearly stated limits
✅ Transparent pricing and predictable costs
✅ Offers SLA (availability guarantee)
✅ Full GDPR compliance without additional contracts
✅ Support in your language

How does aikeep.io perform in this test?

Question aikeep.io Public Cloud
1. Where is the data? 🔒 Local EU server 🇺🇸 USA / Outside EEA
2. Model training? ❌ Never ⚠️ Often yes
3. Query limits? ✅ None ❌ Yes (standard)
4. What after cancellation? ✅ We delete data ⚠️ Unclear
5. Which model? Mistral Small 3.2 24B Closed Model
6. Team costs? ✅ Lower ⚠️ Higher
7. Implementation time? ✅ 5 minutes ✅ 5 minutes
8. SLA? ✅ 99.9% ⚠️ Depends on plan
9. Sensitive data? ✅ Yes ⚠️ Risky
10. Support? ✅ Yes ❌ No / Limited

Don't make decisions blindly

Choosing an AI provider is a strategic decision. Ask these 10 questions to every provider you consider.

aikeep.io answers all questions with full transparency:

  • 🌍 Data in the EU – zero GDPR risk
  • 🔒 No training – complete privacy
  • ⚡ No limits – work without restrictions
  • 💰 Predictable costs – from 17 EUR/month
  • 🚀 5-minute setup – zero configuration
  • 💬 Support in English – we understand your needs

Check aikeep.io Pricing