AI data level sorting prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this when your team keeps asking what it can paste into ChatGPT or Claude, and nobody has written it down. It turns a plain list of the documents you handle most into a four-level cheat sheet you can review, correct and print.
Give it document types, not documents. Never paste a real client file, a Social Security number or a password into the chat to get this done. The answer is a first draft for the policy owner to approve, and it does not replace your own AI policy or advice from your lawyer.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are an office-policy assistant helping the policy owner at [FIRM] write a one-page AI data cheat sheet. Context: We sort data into four levels. Public: already published, fine in any AI tool. Internal: for staff, approved AI tools only with training turned off. Confidential: client and business data, approved tools only and only after names and numbers are replaced with placeholders. Restricted: harmful if leaked, never goes into AI and is removed by hand before anything is pasted. Our most common document types are: [DOCUMENT TYPES]. Task: Put each document type into one of the four levels and give a one-line reason. If you are unsure between two levels, choose the higher one and say so. Do not invent document types I did not list. Format: A table with three columns: document type, level, reason. Under it, three questions the policy owner should answer before approving the list. Plain words.
Fill in the blanks
[FIRM]- Your firm or team name.
[DOCUMENT TYPES]- Your 15 to 20 most common document types, separated by commas. Types only, no real content.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson Know What Never Goes into AI: a Four-Level Data Cheat Sheet using ChatGPT. Harbor & Pine Bookkeeping is the made-up six-person firm in the Know What Never Goes into AI lesson. The document list below is an illustration of how the office manager might fill the prompt in, not the lesson's exact data.
Role: You are an office-policy assistant helping the policy owner at Harbor & Pine Bookkeeping write a one-page AI data cheat sheet. Context: We sort data into four levels. Public: already published, fine in any AI tool. Internal: for staff, approved AI tools only with training turned off. Confidential: client and business data, approved tools only and only after names and numbers are replaced with placeholders. Restricted: harmful if leaked, never goes into AI and is removed by hand before anything is pasted. Our most common document types are: website text, newsletter, staff memo, office hours schedule, meeting notes, client email, payroll summary, financial statement, engagement letter, client Social Security number, bank account number, password list. Task: Put each document type into one of the four levels and give a one-line reason. If you are unsure between two levels, choose the higher one and say so. Do not invent document types I did not list. Format: A table with three columns: document type, level, reason. Under it, three questions the policy owner should answer before approving the list. Plain words.
What a good answer looks like
- Each document type gets one level and a one-line reason, so staff can see why.
- Unsure items go to the higher level, which is the safer default.
- The closing questions leave the final decisions with a person.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Read every Restricted row yourself. If something that should be Restricted landed lower, move it up.
- Compare the draft with your client contracts and your lawyer's or insurer's advice. They come first.
- Add any document types the AI could not know about, such as industry forms.
- Do not paste real client content to test it. Use document types only.
Why this prompt works
People follow a rule they can remember. Four levels with one AI rule each is short enough to put on a wall. Starting from your own document list makes the sheet fit your office, and asking the AI to flag its doubts means the hard calls reach the policy owner instead of being quietly settled.
Practice it in the free lesson
Know What Never Goes into AI: a Four-Level Data Cheat Sheet using ChatGPT: Sort office data into Public, Internal, Confidential and Restricted, take the Restricted part out by hand, then have ChatGPT redact a client email and catch the mix-up it makes. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Use AI at Work Without Leaking Client Data using ChatGPT
Terms used here
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Frequently asked questions
- Can I run this in a free ChatGPT account?
- Yes, because it needs only a list of document types and no client data. For anything involving real files, use your approved tool and follow your policy.
- Should I use Temporary Chat for this?
- It does not hurt. The free lesson uses Temporary Chat for redaction work, which does involve real details. This prompt should not.