Terms of Service

By accessing or using MerbIQ ("the Service"), operated by Luis Armando Fraga Guimaraes Barbosa, a self-employed professional (autónomo) in Spain trading as MerbIQ ("MerbIQ", "we", "us", or "our"), with address at Carrer de Pere IV, 105, Sant Martí, 08018 Barcelona, Spain, you ("User", "you") agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree, you must not use the Service. These Terms form a legally binding agreement effective upon your first use or account creation.

MerbIQ is an AI visibility analytics platform that reports how a business appears across AI platforms including ChatGPT (OpenAI), Claude (Anthropic), Gemini (Google), Perplexity, and Grok (xAI). Features include:

• AI Visibility Scans: automated queries assessing how a business is mentioned or recommended, producing a score (0-100) and grade (A-F)
• Competitor Analysis: reporting of competitors that AI platforms independently mention for a given area
• Technical Analysis: assessment of Schema.org, robots.txt, NAP consistency and other AI-visibility factors
• IDAI Pages: hosted profile pages with optional DNS integration
• Dashboard and Monitoring: monitoring, alerts, trend tracking and AI simulator tools

The AI Visibility Score is strictly informational and analytical. You acknowledge that:

• The Score is not a guarantee or warranty of your business's quality, reputation or ranking on any platform.
• MerbIQ does not control or modify the responses generated by third-party AI platforms.
• The Score reflects a point in time and may fluctuate as AI models change.
• A high score does not guarantee more business; a low score does not indicate poor quality.
• MerbIQ is not liable for business decisions made in reliance on the Score.

A core function is to report which businesses AI platforms mention for a given area. You acknowledge:

• Source: competitor data originates entirely from third-party AI responses; MerbIQ does not select, curate or endorse which competitors appear
• No endorsement: inclusion of a competitor is not MerbIQ's opinion or recommendation
• Accuracy limits: MerbIQ does not verify competitor information returned by AI; responses may contain errors or hallucinations
• No defamation liability: MerbIQ acts as a reporting intermediary and bears no liability for AI-generated content; claims about AI responses must be directed to the respective platform
• Temporal nature: competitor data is a snapshot; results may differ across scans

• AI responses are variable and can change daily or between queries.
• Scores, grades and competitor data are point-in-time snapshots, not definitive assessments.
• Technical analysis relies on public data and may not reflect recent unindexed changes.
• MerbIQ makes reasonable efforts for accuracy but does not warrant that all data is error-free.

You must provide accurate information and keep your credentials confidential. You represent that:

• You have the right to scan any brand or domain you submit (owner, authorized representative, or with permission).
• You will not use results to harass, defame or unfairly target any individual or business.
• You will not use the Service for unfair competitive practices or false claims.
• You understand scores and data are estimates, not guarantees.
• You will comply with all applicable laws, including data protection (GDPR/LGPD) and consumer law.

Reviews ("Merber" reviews) are the opinions of their authors, not of MerbIQ. By submitting a review you represent that:

• It reflects your genuine, first-hand and truthful experience with the business.
• You are solely responsible for its content and for any claim arising from it.
• It contains no hate speech, harassment, defamation, spam, links, or off-topic/political content, and complies with our moderation policy and applicable law.
• You grant MerbIQ a non-exclusive license to host, display and distribute the review as part of the business's IDAI.

MerbIQ acts as a neutral intermediary that hosts third-party opinions (safe harbor). We do not author reviews and are not liable for reviews made in bad faith or that are defamatory; responsibility lies with the author. We moderate for authenticity and policy only, never by sentiment: all authentic reviews (positive and negative) are published, and a business owner cannot delete a genuine negative review, only respond to it.

Optional AI polishing (Pro businesses) only improves wording and never invents facts; the reviewer accepts it and the original text is preserved. We may remove content that violates these Terms.

Any reference to "IDAI Points" or a rewards program is informational: the program is NOT yet active. When launched, it will be available only to registered Merber accounts, points will have no monetary value and will not be transferable or redeemable for cash, and the terms, availability and any expiry may change or be discontinued at any time.

You agree not to:

• Scrape or use automated tools to extract data beyond provided features.
• Conduct automated mass scanning beyond your tier's limits.
• Resell or redistribute results or data without prior written consent.
• Reverse-engineer the scan methodology or scoring algorithms.
• Infringe the intellectual property, privacy or other rights of third parties.
• Circumvent security, rate-limiting or access-control features.
• Submit false or fraudulent information.
• Damage, overburden or impair the Service.

Violations may result in immediate suspension or termination without refund.

• Plans: various subscription tiers as described on the pricing page; prices include applicable taxes unless stated otherwise
• Auto-renewal: subscriptions renew at the end of each cycle at the then-current price unless cancelled; a reminder is sent at least 7 days before renewal
• Cancellation: cancel anytime from your dashboard; access continues until the end of the period; no pro-rata refunds for partial periods
• Refund policy: no refunds for scans already consumed; for unused subscription portions, requests may be submitted within 14 days of purchase (EU Directive 2011/83/EU). By initiating a scan you consent to immediate performance and waive the withdrawal right for that scan
• Payment processing: payments processed securely through Stripe; we do not store full card details

• Eligibility: IDAI Pages require an active paid subscription; free tier users do not get a public IDAI Page or custom URL
• URL (slug): generated from your business name and location, customizable subject to availability, first-come first-served; no exclusivity guaranteed
• Verification: the IDAI Page must correspond to a real business you own or represent; MerbIQ may modify or deactivate URLs that do not correspond to a verifiable business
• No squatting: creating pages for businesses you do not own to reserve or resell names is prohibited and leads to termination without refund
• Trademark disputes: contact legal@merbiq.com with proof of registration; we resolve disputes under applicable trademark law
• Deactivation: IDAI Pages are active only while your subscription is current; on lapse the URL and any custom DNS stop resolving
• Personalized address (subdomain): paid plans (Basic and above) may claim a personalized subdomain (yourbrand.merbiq.com), subject to availability, reserved words and trademark restrictions; address changes are limited to two, after which a different address requires registering your own domain
• Address reservation on lapse: your subdomain is tied to your active subscription; if it lapses we keep the handle reserved for one year in case you reactivate, after which it may be released and become available to other businesses. MerbIQ is not liable for any marketing spend or goodwill associated with a released handle. For an address that is fully yours and independent of your MerbIQ subscription, register your own domain (which remains yours for as long as you keep it renewed with the registrar)
• Content responsibility: you are responsible for the accuracy of all information on your IDAI Page

• Free scans are limited per device, IP and email; registration may be required after a reasonable number.
• Free scans analyze your business using one AI platform; full multi-platform analysis requires a paid plan.
• Unlimited free scans are not guaranteed and the policy may change at any time.
• Automated or bulk scan requests are prohibited and may lead to IP blocking.
• Free scan results may be used in aggregated, anonymized form for research and improvement.

• Reseller: MerbIQ resells domain registration through a third-party registrar (Vercel/its registry partners); the domain is registered in your name and you are the registrant
• Annual subscription: buying a domain creates a yearly subscription that auto-renews to keep the domain live; a valid card is required; the price includes MerbIQ's service fee and may differ from wholesale registry rates
• Immediate, non-refundable: domain registration is performed immediately and is final; once registered the domain fee is non-refundable. By purchasing you request immediate performance and waive the EU 14-day withdrawal right (Directive 2011/83/EU) for that registration
• Registrant data (ICANN): as required by ICANN and the registry, your contact details (name, address, phone, email) are transmitted to the registrar and may appear in public WHOIS records subject to available privacy protection; inaccurate data may cause suspension
• Cancellation and expiry: cancelling the subscription or a failed renewal payment stops the renewal; the domain will then expire and may be suspended and released by the registry; MerbIQ is not liable for the loss of an expired or non-renewed domain
• Your responsibility: you are responsible for lawful use of the domain and must not infringe third-party trademarks; disputes are handled under applicable domain-name and trademark policy (e.g. ICANN UDRP)
• Availability: availability and price are checked in real time at purchase and are not guaranteed until registration completes; if registration fails after payment MerbIQ will refund that charge

• MerbIQ's IP: the Service, methodology, scoring, templates, generated content, interfaces, code, trademarks and logos are MerbIQ's exclusive property under Spanish, EU and international law
• User content: you retain ownership of the brand data you submit and grant MerbIQ a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide license to process and display it solely to provide the Service
• Analytical outputs: scores and reports are derived works; you receive a non-exclusive, non-transferable license for internal business use and may not resell them as your own without attribution

MerbIQ processes personal data under the GDPR, the Spanish LOPDGDD (Ley Orgánica 3/2018) and, for users in Brazil, the LGPD (Lei nº 13.709/2018). Details are in our Privacy Policy, which forms an integral part of these Terms. By using the Service you confirm you have read it.

To the maximum extent permitted by law:

• MerbIQ is not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages (lost profits, data, goodwill, business interruption or reputational harm).
• MerbIQ is not liable for the content of third-party AI responses, including competitor mentions or inaccuracies.
• MerbIQ's total aggregate liability shall not exceed the fees you paid in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim.
• Nothing excludes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any liability that cannot be limited under EU or Spanish law.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless MerbIQ, its owner, employees and agents from claims, damages and costs (including reasonable legal fees) arising from: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your breach of these Terms; (c) your violation of any law; (d) your infringement of third-party rights; or (e) any third-party claim related to competitor data or AI content from a scan you initiated.

• AI evolves rapidly: the AI platforms we query update frequently; a scan today may differ tomorrow, not due to MerbIQ
• AI can make mistakes: AI may produce inaccuracies or hallucinations; we use verification layers but cannot eliminate them
• Scores reflect AI perception: a low score means AI does not yet recognize your business, not that it is low quality
• No industry standards yet: AI visibility is a new discipline; our methodology may evolve
• Service improvements: we may recalculate historical scores as our methodology improves

The Service relies on third parties including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Perplexity, xAI, Serper, Stripe, Resend, Upstash, Vercel and Supabase. MerbIQ is not responsible for their availability or performance, and changes to their APIs or terms may affect the Service.

MerbIQ aims for high availability but does not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation. We may modify, suspend or discontinue any aspect at any time; for material changes adversely affecting paid subscribers we provide at least 30 days' notice.

We may update these Terms; material changes are communicated by email or in-Service notice at least 30 days before taking effect. Continued use after changes constitutes acceptance.

• By you: terminate anytime via legal@merbiq.com or your dashboard
• By MerbIQ: we may suspend or terminate immediately for breach, fraud, or legal requirement; for non-breach terminations we give 30 days' notice
• Effect: on termination your access ceases, IDAI Pages and DNS stop resolving; you may request data export within 30 days, after which data may be deleted per our retention policy. Sections 3, 4, 5, 10, 12, 13, 14, 18 and 19 survive termination

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Kingdom of Spain, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Barcelona, Spain.

If you are a consumer under EU law, you may also bring proceedings in your country of residence, and nothing here affects your mandatory statutory consumer rights. You may use the EU Online Dispute Resolution platform at https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.

If you are a consumer resident in Brazil, the Brazilian Consumer Protection Code (Código de Defesa do Consumidor, Lei nº 8.078/1990) applies on a mandatory basis: nothing here limits your rights thereunder and you may bring proceedings before the courts of your domicile. The Marco Civil da Internet (Lei nº 12.965/2014) and the LGPD also apply to users in Brazil where relevant.

• Severability: if a provision is invalid, the rest remain in force and the invalid one is modified to the minimum extent necessary
• Entire agreement: these Terms with the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement and supersede prior agreements
• Assignment: you may not assign without our consent; MerbIQ may assign in a merger or sale of assets
• Waiver: failure to enforce a right is not a waiver of it

• Operator: Luis Armando Fraga Guimaraes Barbosa (self-employed professional / autónomo in Spain, trading as MerbIQ)
• Address: Carrer de Pere IV, 105, Sant Martí, 08018 Barcelona, Spain
• General enquiries: hello@merbiq.com
• Legal notices: legal@merbiq.com
• Phone: +34 627 272 949