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How the AI actually works

Plain English, no jargon. This is the whole mechanism behind a HeritageAI report — what the AI is asked, where the answers come from, and exactly what is and isn’t checked before it reaches you.

The pipeline, step by step

HeritageAI is not a chatbot that has been asked to write a heritage report. It queries named public registers, drafts from what they return, and says so plainly where a register has no answer. Here is that pipeline, in order.

  1. Step 01Automated

    You tell us about the building

    The address, the listing grade and list entry number if you have them, and what you are hoping to do to the building. That is the whole input. Two minutes of typing.

  2. Step 02Automated

    HeritageAI asks specific databases specific questions

    Not a general search of the internet. Named public registers, asked precise questions — is this building listed, and at what grade; what does the list entry actually say; is it in a conservation area; is there a Tree Preservation Order, an Article 4 Direction, or a Scheduled Monument nearby; what has been applied for here before; what did this site look like on the Ordnance Survey maps of the 1880s.

    The registers it asks

    • Historic England — the National Heritage List for England
    • The local council’s own planning and building control records
    • Historic Ordnance Survey mapping and archive plans
    • Heritage Gateway and the local Historic Environment Record
    • MAGIC (Defra) for landscape, ecology and environmental designations

  3. Step 03Automated

    The raw answers come back

    List entry text, grade, designation dates, past applications and their decisions, map extracts, constraint records. Raw and unedited — exactly as each register returned it, with the register it came from recorded alongside it.

  4. Step 04Automated

    The listing is checked against the official record

    Where you give a list entry number, HeritageAI checks it automatically against the National Heritage List for England (NHLE) — the free public register Historic England maintains. If it matches, the verified grade and designation dates replace anything AI-drafted or self-reported. If it doesn’t match, the report says so plainly rather than guessing.

  5. Step 05Automated

    The AI drafts — using only the checked data

    The AI writes the report from the checked file and nothing else, structured to the format planning officers expect: the NPPF published August 2026, Historic England Advice Note 12, GPA2 and GPA3, and Conservation Principles 2008. It is not asked what it thinks about your building. It is asked to set out what the checked records say, in the register a planning officer reads.

  6. Step 06Automated

    Policy references are drafted, not checked live

    The AI cites policy from a fixed set of citation rules built into the prompt — it does not check GOV.UK live for each report. Read any policy reference alongside the source before relying on it.

  7. Step 07Automated

    The report is emailed to you automatically

    The PPHA is sent to the email address you gave us as soon as it is generated. It is not individually reviewed by a person before it is sent — it is a fast first read to help you plan, not professional advice. Have it reviewed by a qualified professional before you submit anything based on it.

What is — and isn’t — checked

  • CheckedThe listing, against the National Heritage List for England, when you give a list entry number.
  • Not checked automaticallyPolicy citations and wording — the AI drafts these from a fixed set of rules, not a live check against GOV.UK.
  • AlwaysHave any document reviewed by a qualified professional before you submit it. Documents SOANE Architects produces under its own appointment are written and signed off by a chartered architect; self-serve documents are reviewed by the practice that downloads them.

What the AI is not doing

It is not guessing.

Every statement in the report traces back to a record retrieved from a named public register. Where a register has no answer, the report says so rather than filling the gap.

It is not searching the whole internet.

It queries a fixed set of statutory and archive sources. A forum post, or an estate agent’s description of your house, never enters the pipeline.

It is not making the planning decision.

Your local planning authority decides. HeritageAI assembles and structures the evidence that decision will be made on, and tells you where the risks are before you commit.

It is not replacing your architect.

Design judgement belongs to a person. What HeritageAI removes is the fortnight of manual register and archive searching that has to happen before that judgement can be exercised properly.

Start where the pipeline starts

A Preliminary Planning and Heritage Appraisal (PPHA) for £195. The address and your proposed works go in; a checked appraisal of designation, policy, consent requirements and risk comes back by email.

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