Why ChatGPT business plans get sent back — and how to fix them
A general chatbot will happily write you a business plan. The problem is what it doesn't know it's missing — and a banker will spot it in a page.
There's nothing wrong with using AI to write a plan. The problem is that a blank chatbot only helps if you already know what a lender checks — and most owners don't, so the gaps go unnoticed until the file is in front of a banker.
What generic plans get wrong
- Confident numbers with no stated assumptions behind them
- A DSCR that's never calculated or shown
- A vague use of funds
- Generic market talk with no real competitors
- No grip on the specific criteria a Canadian lender scores
The invented numbers are the tell. A banker can't check a figure that came from nowhere — so they don't trust any of them.
How to fix it
Whatever wrote your first draft, run it through the lens of the eight things a lender checks. Document every number. Show the coverage. Name real competitors. That's the difference between a plausible-looking draft and a fundable one — and it's exactly the rigor a purpose-built tool bakes in.
See where your plan stands
Paste the plan you have into the free Scanner. It scores you against the eight criteria Canadian lenders use — in about thirty seconds, no account, nothing leaves your device.
Score my plan — freeLenderReady is an educational service, not a lender, broker, or financial advisor. Lending criteria vary by institution and change over time; treat this as a starting point, not a guarantee.