Terms of Service
Effective October 9, 2026
1. Agreement
These Terms of Service govern your use of Groundwork (the "Service"), operated by Groundwork Web Services LLC ("we", "us"). By asking us to build a website, starting a plan, or otherwise using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.
2. What Groundwork does
We build and run websites for small businesses. You tell us your business name and where you are; we build a website from public information about your business and anything you send us, and send you a link to it. If you want it, it goes live on your own domain and we keep running it: hosting, the changes you email us, and, once you add us as a manager on it, your Google Business Profile. You stay its owner, Google charges nothing for the profile itself, and our price is for our work. Google's notice for businesses that work with a company like ours: Working with a third party (Google). We also send you a monthly email about your site.
We build the site before you pay anything, and you are free to say no. Building a site is not a promise about how it will perform: we do not guarantee search rankings, traffic, calls, or that any search engine or AI assistant will list you.
3. AI-drafted content
We use AI systems (currently Anthropic's Claude) to help draft the text of the sites we build, the changes you ask for, and the emails we send you about your site. Your photos and logo are never generated: images on your site are your own, or stock photography we name as stock. AI drafts can contain mistakes. If anything on your site is wrong, tell us and we will correct it, as Sections 4 and 8 describe.
4. Your business information
The first version of your site is built from information that is already public, together with anything you send us. You are responsible for telling us when something is wrong or out of date, and we will correct it. If you do not want us to build or hold a site for your business, email david@groundworkscan.com or use our removal page and we will remove it.
5. Your content
You keep ownership of your own content: your photos, your text, your logo and your business information. You give us permission to use it to build, publish and run your site. You confirm that you have the right to give us that permission, and that your content does not infringe anyone else's rights. We will not invent reviews, testimonials, prices or credentials for your business, and we do not pass stock photography off as your own.
6. Price, billing and cancellation
There is no build fee. Your first month is free, once per business: a business that has had a subscription with us before is billed from the day it signs up again, and we say so before you enter a card. After that your site is $99 a month, billed monthly in advance through our payment processor, Stripe, and it renews until you cancel. We tell you your price before you enter a card. A card is required to start, and nothing is charged during the free month.
You can cancel anytime, with no lock-in, and cancellation takes effect at the end of the period you have already paid for. Refunds are handled under our Refund Policy. Your price is held for 12 months; after that it can change with 30 days' notice.
7. Your domain
Your domain is registered in your name and it stays yours. It is not included in the monthly price: you pay the registrar directly, typically around $12 a year. If you leave, the domain leaves with you and you are free to point it wherever you like.
8. Changes to your site
Email us the change and we make it. There is no limit on how often you can ask, and changes are included in the monthly price. We may decline to publish content that is unlawful, that we believe infringes someone else's rights, or that would require us to state something about your business that is not true.
9. Copyright complaints
If you believe something on a site we build or run infringes your copyright, send a notice that meets the requirements of 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3) to our designated agent: David Hess, Groundwork Web Services LLC, david@groundworkscan.com. We may remove or disable access to the material, tell the business whose site it is, and end the Service for repeat infringers.
10. Third-party services
The Service relies on third parties including Google (business data and page scoring), Anthropic (AI), Pexels (stock photography), Supabase (database and authentication), Vercel (hosting), Inngest (background jobs), and Stripe (payments). Your use of features derived from them is also subject to their terms. Business data displayed in the Service is provided by Google and remains subject to Google's terms.
The Service, including the sites and previews we build, includes Google Maps features and content. Use of Google Maps features and content is subject to the then-current versions of the Google Maps/Google Earth Additional Terms of Service (https://maps.google.com/help/terms_maps/) and the Google Privacy Policy (https://policies.google.com/privacy).
11. Disclaimers
The Service is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind. We aim to keep your site online and correct, but we do not warrant that it will be uninterrupted or error free, or that the business information we gather is accurate, complete or current. You are responsible for checking your own site and telling us what to fix.
12. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits or revenues. Our total liability for any claim relating to the Service will not exceed the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim.
13. Disputes and arbitration
If a dispute comes up, email david@groundworkscan.com first and we will try to resolve it informally within 30 days. If we cannot, any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved by binding, individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules, held remotely or in Michigan, rather than in court. Either of us may instead bring an individual claim in small claims court.
You and we each waive any right to a jury trial and to take part in a class action or other representative proceeding.
14. Suspension and termination
You may cancel at any time, as described above. We may suspend or end the Service if you breach these Terms, if payment fails, or to protect the Service or third parties. When the Service ends, we stop hosting your site at the end of the period you have paid for. Your domain stays registered in your name either way.
15. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms. If we make material changes we will provide reasonable notice. Continued use after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.
16. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Michigan, USA, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules.
17. Contact
Questions about these Terms: david@groundworkscan.com.