The short answer
The best prompts for negotiation use AI to prepare, not to negotiate for you: map both sides, set your walk-away point, list tradeable terms beyond price and rehearse with a tough role-play. Use Perplexity for salary and market data, because it shows its sources, Claude for preparation and firm but friendly emails, and ChatGPT voice mode for spoken practice. Keep confidential contract terms out of personal plans, which can train on your chats unless you switch that off.
How to use these negotiation prompts
AI cannot negotiate for you, but it is excellent at the work that decides most negotiations before they start: preparation, options and practice. These 12 prompts cover salary and job offers, suppliers and contracts, sales and internal negotiations with your manager. They borrow from the ideas most negotiation courses teach, such as knowing your best alternative if there is no deal, setting a walk-away point and trading things that are cheap for you but valuable for the other side.
Replace everything in [square brackets] with your own detail. Mark what you know and what you assume, and ask the AI to do the same: a confident plan built on a wrong guess about the other side is worse than no plan.
Prompts to prepare any negotiation
Map both sides before you start and Find tradeable issues beyond price work for any negotiation, from a pay rise to a software contract. The preparation sheet makes you write down your walk-away point before you are in the room, when it is easy to agree to something you will regret. The tradeable issues prompt is where AI earns its place. It is good at listing terms people forget, such as payment timing or contract length, and a negotiation with several issues on the table is far easier to settle than a fight over one number.
Prompts for salary and job offers
Research a fair salary range with sources, Script my salary or raise conversation and Respond to a job offer are the prompts most people come here for. Do not trust an AI's memory for pay data. Use a tool that searches the web and shows its sources, such as Perplexity, where every answer lists numbered sources, and open them to check the date and the method. A range from two or three recent, named sources is something you can say out loud. A number the AI made up is not.
The script prompt includes the hardest part of any salary talk: stating your number and then staying quiet. It also gives you a fallback package, because "no budget" often means no budget for salary this quarter, not no movement at all. If you are still interviewing, start with our prompts for job interviews.
Prompts for suppliers and contracts
Prepare a supplier renewal and Spot the risky terms in a proposal help buyers, founders and managers who negotiate contracts without a procurement team. The risky-terms prompt asks the AI to flag what needs a lawyer, because an AI tool is not a substitute for legal advice on a contract that matters. Remove prices, customer names and anything under a confidentiality clause before pasting, unless you are on a work plan your company has approved.
Prompts for sales and everyday work
Handle a price objection in sales, Negotiate workload or deadlines with my manager, Recover a negotiation that stalled and Write up the agreement cover the negotiations that happen every week. The workload prompt reframes a hard "no" as a choice for your manager, which is easier for both of you. The write-up prompt is the habit that prevents most disputes: confirm every agreed term in writing the same day.
Practise with a role-play before the real thing
Role-play the other side is the single most valuable prompt on this page. Telling the AI to use real tactics, such as anchoring low or claiming a fixed budget, and to stay firm, gives you a rehearsal you cannot get from a friend who wants to be nice. Practise out loud: ChatGPT's voice mode is included on the free plan with limits, and Gemini Live is part of Gemini's free plan. Run the same scenario twice, and the second time you will notice yourself pausing instead of filling the silence with a concession.
How to adapt these prompts
- Say how much the relationship matters. A one-off purchase and a ten-year partner need different tactics. Tell the AI which it is.
- Add the culture. Directness, the role of small talk and how offers are made differ between countries. Name the countries involved.
- Give the power balance honestly. If they have better alternatives than you, say so. The AI's advice is only as good as your honesty about your position.
- Update the plan as you learn. Paste what the other side said after each round and ask the AI to update your prep sheet.
Which AI tool works best for negotiation
Claude is our pick for preparation and written messages, because it reasons carefully through both sides and writes firm emails that still sound friendly. ChatGPT is the best place for spoken role-play with voice mode; free users get GPT-6 Luna and Plus subscribers GPT-6 Sol. Perplexity is the right tool for salary and market research, because it cites its sources. For deals at work, use your company's approved plan, since personal plans of ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity can train on your chats unless you switch that off. See the best AI for sales and the best AI for research for more.
Prompts to copy
Map both sides before you start
I am negotiating [what] with [the other party]. Here is what I know: [paste]. Build a one-page preparation sheet: my goal, my walk-away point and my best alternative if we do not agree; then my best guess at their goal, their pressures and their alternatives, each marked as known or assumed. End with the three questions I should ask early to test my assumptions.
You get: A prep sheet that separates what you know from what you are guessing
Find tradeable issues beyond price
In my negotiation over [deal or topic], price is not the only lever. List every other term we could trade, such as timing, volume, payment terms, scope, length of contract, support or flexibility. For each, say whether it is likely to be cheap for me and valuable for them, or the other way round. Suggest three packages I could offer that give them what they value most.
You get: A list of trades that turn a tug of war into a deal
Research a fair salary range with sources
Find current salary data for a [job title] with [years] of experience in [city or country] at a [company size or type]. Use only sources from the last 12 months, link every figure, say how each source collected its data and give a realistic range rather than one number. Tell me where the sources disagree. If you cannot search the web, say so instead of estimating from memory.
You get: A sourced range you can defend, not a single guess
Script my salary or raise conversation
I want to ask for [a raise to X / a higher offer of X] for my role as [job title]. My evidence: [achievements with numbers, market data, new responsibilities]. Write what I should say in the first minute, how to state the number and then stop talking, two responses if they say there is no budget and one non-salary package to fall back on, such as a review date, title, training or flexible working.
You get: Words for the conversation, including what to say when they say no
Respond to a job offer
I have received this offer: [paste the key terms]. I want to accept if we can improve [salary / start date / remote days / bonus]. Draft a warm, short email that thanks them, says I am excited about the role, makes one clear request with a reason and asks for a call. Under 150 words. Do not sound like an ultimatum.
You get: A counter-offer email that keeps goodwill
Role-play the other side
Play the [hiring manager / procurement lead / client] in a negotiation about [topic]. Your position: [what they likely want and their limits, as far as I know]. Be realistic and firm, use common tactics such as anchoring low, claiming a fixed budget or asking for a quick yes, and do not give in easily. When I say or type "pause", tell me what I gave away too early and what I should try next.
You get: A tough practice partner and honest coaching
Prepare a supplier renewal
Our contract with [supplier] for [service] renews on [date]. Current terms: [paste key terms, with confidential details removed]. Our usage and issues: [paste]. Prepare my negotiation plan: what to ask for, what evidence supports each ask, what I can offer in return, my walk-away point and an opening email asking for a renewal meeting.
You get: A renewal plan and the email that opens it
Spot the risky terms in a proposal
Here are the commercial terms from a supplier proposal: [paste, without confidential details]. List the five terms that most favour the supplier, explain the risk to us in one sentence each and suggest a fairer alternative to propose. Flag anything I should get legal advice on rather than negotiate myself.
You get: A short list of terms to push back on and how
Handle a price objection in sales
A prospect for [product] says: "[their objection, for example: your competitor is 20% cheaper]". Our real strengths: [paste]. Give me three ways to respond that explore what is behind the objection, without discounting straight away. Then suggest what I could trade if a discount becomes necessary, such as a longer term or a case study.
You get: Ways to defend price before you reach for a discount
Negotiate workload or deadlines with my manager
My manager has asked me to take on [new project] by [date]. My current priorities are: [paste]. Draft how I can raise this in our next one-to-one: show the trade-off clearly, propose two options (for example, moving a deadline or dropping a task) and ask them to choose. Keep it positive and solution-focused.
You get: A calm way to say yes, but with a trade-off
Recover a negotiation that stalled
My negotiation with [party] about [topic] has stalled. Last positions: mine [paste], theirs [paste]. What has been said so far: [summary]. Suggest three ways to restart it: a question that reveals what is blocking them, a new option that meets both sides' core interests and a face-saving way for either side to move. Draft the message I could send.
You get: Fresh options and a message to get talks moving
Write up the agreement
We just agreed the following in a call: [paste rough notes]. Write a short follow-up email that confirms every agreed term in a numbered list, names who does what by when and asks the other side to reply to confirm or correct. Neutral tone, under 200 words. Flag anything in my notes that is ambiguous.
You get: A clear written record before memories differ