25 Questions to Ask Before Hiring an AI Design Agency or Subscription
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The questions to ask an AI design agency fall into five groups: how it uses AI, who owns the output, what it will put in writing about risk, what it does with your data, and how you leave. Use the 25 below on a call or send them by email, and keep the answers. A firm that answers clearly in writing is usually easier to work with than one that says "it depends" to everything.
These questions are for hiring a firm to make design and marketing assets. If you are hiring a team to build AI software, you need a different list.
Group 1: How AI is used in the work
| # | Ask | A good answer sounds like | Red flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Where in the process do you use AI, and where do you not? | Names steps: briefs, drafts, resizing, final art | "We use AI for everything" or "we never do," with no detail |
| 2 | Which tools and models do you use? | Names them, and says what changes if a tool changes | Refuses to say |
| 3 | Does a person review every asset before delivery? | Yes, with the role named | Review is "optional" or sampled |
| 4 | Will AI be used in my final deliverables, and can I opt out? | A clear policy, and an opt-out for specific assets | No opt-out, or the answer varies by who you ask |
| 5 | Can you show process examples, not just finished work? | Shows brief, drafts and edits | Only polished case studies |
Firms differ here in their own words. Designity says it does not use AI for final creative works. Design Pickle says nothing ships without a person's eyes on it and names Firefly, Midjourney and OpenAI as tools. Superside calls its approach human-led by design. Use those as examples of answers you should be able to get, and see our guide to what an AI design agency is for the two meanings of the term.
Group 2: Ownership and intellectual property
| # | Ask | A good answer sounds like | Red flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Who owns the final assets, and where does the contract say so? | You do, with a clause number | "Ownership is standard" with no clause |
| 7 | Do you assign copyright, or license it? | Assignment of whatever rights exist, in writing | Licence only, or silence |
| 8 | How do you handle the fact that purely AI-generated material may not be protected by copyright? | Explains human contribution and how they document it | Promises full copyright on everything |
| 9 | Will you hand over source files and prompts? | Source files yes; prompts and settings on request | Delivers flattened files only |
| 10 | Which assets, if any, will you not make with AI? | Names categories: logos, people, regulated claims | Nothing excluded |
| 11 | Can you keep a record of human authorship for assets I want to protect? | Yes, as a log of selections and edits | Not sure what that means |
The US Copyright Office has said that copyright does not extend to purely AI-generated material and that prompts alone do not provide sufficient control, so a contract cannot create rights the law does not give. Admiral Media's own pricing page advises clients to confirm that creative assets belong to them and to check the contract for AI-generated content. Our copyright explainer covers the law in plain English.
Group 3: Risk, indemnity and disclosure
| # | Ask | A good answer sounds like | Red flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Do you offer indemnification if an asset infringes someone's rights? | Yes, with scope and cap in the contract | "We can't promise that" without alternatives |
| 13 | Which models or tools are covered by indemnity, and which are not? | Specific list | "All of them" with nothing in writing |
| 14 | How do you check outputs for logos, watermarks, real people and look-alikes? | A defined review step | No check |
| 15 | Which disclosure rules for AI-generated ads do you track? | Names jurisdictions and platforms, and when they last checked | "That's the client's problem" |
| 16 | Will you label or document which assets were AI-assisted? | Yes, per asset | Not tracked |
Enterprise terms exist in this market. Pencil's Pro tier, for example, lists IP assignment, no training on your data, indemnification and data ringfencing among its terms. If you are a mid-size or regulated company, ask for equivalents in writing, and ask how any indemnity depends on which tools are used.
Group 4: Data, security and confidentiality
| # | Ask | A good answer sounds like | Red flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Do you upload my files, brand assets or briefs into third-party AI tools? | States which tools and under what terms | "Maybe" |
| 18 | Is my data used to train any model? | No, and the contract says so | Not addressed |
| 19 | Who on your side can access my files, and where are they stored? | Named roles, a location, a retention period | "Our team" |
| 20 | What happens to my data when I leave? | Deletion on request, with a timeframe | No policy |
Group 5: Price, speed and exit
| # | Ask | A good answer sounds like | Red flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | What is the all-in monthly cost, including software or platform fees? | One number with every fee listed | Fees appear later |
| 22 | What counts as a request, and how many revisions are included? | Defined in writing | "Unlimited" with undefined limits |
| 23 | How fast do you deliver, and how do you measure it? | A measured average, with your own tracking available | A slogan with no data |
| 24 | What is the term, and how do I pause or cancel? | Clear notice period and pause terms | Auto-renewal buried in terms |
| 25 | Who is my day-to-day contact, and what happens if they leave? | Named role and a backup | Rotating team with no owner |
Pricing and exit terms vary widely and are worth checking against published pages. Superside lists an annual commitment, a $1,000 a month software fee and overages billed at its standard rate. ManyPixels states no contracts and a $10 a month pause. Designjoy states one request at a time and an average 48-hour delivery. Delivery claims are the firms' own, which is why question 23 asks how it is measured. Our Superside alternatives guide lays out the prices side by side, and the best AI design agencies price table adds what each firm says about AI.
How to use these questions to ask an AI design agency
- Send 8 to 10 questions in writing before a call. Choose the ones that matter most to your risk: usually 6, 7, 12, 17 and 24.
- Compare answers in a table. One row per firm. Mark each answer green, amber or red against the "red flag" column.
- Ask for contract language, not reassurance. If an answer matters, ask which clause covers it.
- Run a paid pilot with the same three-asset brief for every finalist. Track the time from brief to usable asset yourself.
- Have your lawyer review ownership, indemnity and data terms before you sign.
What we could not verify
We did not read any firm's contract. The sample answers are descriptions of what to look for, not statements about a particular firm, and the firms quoted above are described only as their public pages describe them on 2026-11-01. Disclosure rules change quickly, so question 15 is deliberately open; ask for current rules from your own counsel.
Frequently asked questions
Which questions matter most?
Ownership (6 and 7), indemnity (12), data use (17 and 18) and exit terms (24). Those are the ones that are expensive to fix after you sign.
Should I ask for a trial?
Yes, if the firm offers one. Use the same brief for every firm you shortlist so the work is comparable.
Do these questions apply to a design subscription as well as an agency?
Yes. A subscription is a recurring agency relationship with a defined queue. Ownership, data and exit terms matter just as much.
