How to tell if a client opened your proposal
Quick answer
A PDF or an attachment can't tell you whether the client opened it, and an email open pixel misleads: Apple Mail's Protect Mail Activity loads it whether or not the person reads the email. A link to a page you host can: the page's visitors by day show whether and when it was opened. A plain host counts the visit without naming the person, so send one page or one tagged link per client.
Free plan: no credit card, 90 days of visitor stats, 1 published page. A private link or a password is Pro.
On this page
Three days after you sent the proposal, the client hasn't replied. Before you write "just checking in", you want to know one thing: did they open it? How you sent it decides whether you can find out.
What each way of sending can tell you
| How you sent it | What it can tell you | What it can't |
|---|---|---|
A PDF or an .html file attached to an email | Nothing after it leaves your outbox | Whether it was opened, read, or forwarded |
| An email with an open-tracking pixel | That something loaded the pixel | Whether a person read it: Apple Mail can load it with no one looking |
| Proposal software (Proposify, PandaDoc, Qwilr, Better Proposals) | Views of the tool's own document, with an alert | Anything about the HTML page your AI wrote; the proposal goes into the tool first |
| A link to a page you host | Visits to that page, by day, and where they came from | Who the visitor was, on a host that doesn't name readers |
A link to a hosted page is the way that works with the HTML file your AI already wrote. The rest of this page is about reading its visits correctly.
Why an email "opened" signal misleads
Email open tracking puts a tiny image in the message and counts the times it loads. Apple's Mail Privacy Protection breaks that count. Apple's page on it, read on November 13, 2026, says Protect Mail Activity "downloads remote content in the background by default — regardless of whether you engage with the email." Its Mail guide for Mac adds that the option "prevents senders from collecting information when you view a message, such as when and how many times you view it."
So an "opened" from an Apple Mail reader may mean the email arrived, not that anyone read it. A visit to your proposal page happens only when someone opens the link.
Make a visit mean "the client opened it"
A visit tells you that a browser opened the page. These 3 habits make it mean the client.
- Give each client their own page. A visit to the page made for one client is most likely that client, or someone they shared it with. Free keeps 1 published page at a time. To keep several clients' proposals live at once, Pro keeps up to 100.
- Tag each reader's link. When the proposal goes to 2 or 3 people at the client, add a tag to each person's copy of the link:
https://yourpage.convika.page/?utm_source=financefor one,?utm_source=founderfor another. The page's analytics list visits by tag under Campaigns (UTM). A tag says which link was used, not who used it, and it travels with the link when someone forwards it. - Leave your own visits out. Opening the page from your Convika dashboard doesn't count as a visitor. Opening the live link from your email or a bookmark does, like anyone else's. After you publish, open the page only from the dashboard, or note the day you opened the live link yourself.
Read the page's visitors in Convika
Open the proposal's page on the dashboard. The Last 7 days summary shows its Pageviews and Visitors. Click Open analytics for the page's numbers over a longer period, with its sources and its Campaigns (UTM).
The Site overview shows the same page as a story:
- Visitors counts the browsers that actually ran the page. Most search robots and automated checks read a page without running it, so they stay out.
- A daily bar chart shows which days someone came, with Today (still counting) for the current day.
- Sources lists where visitors came from, such as Email or Direct. Direct means typed, bookmarked, or unknown, and a link opened from a mail app often lands there.
- Form answers counts entries if the page has a form, such as the Accept button.
Free keeps 90 days of visitor stats, and Pro keeps them for all time.
What Convika doesn't show:
- Who opened it. Convika has no reader names and no email gate.
- Which section they read, or for how long.
- An alert. Convika sends no email when someone opens the page. You check the dashboard, or ask Claude or ChatGPT "how many people opened my proposal this week?" once you've connected Convika to the chat.
When to follow up
Let the visits decide what you write, not whether you write.
- No visit after 2 working days: the proposal may be buried. Resend the link in a short message, with one line on what's inside: "The proposal for the new booking page, with 3 options and a start date."
- A visit, then quiet: they've seen it. Ask about one thing on the page: "Does the 6-week timeline work for your launch?"
- Visits on several days, or from more than one tagged link: it's being passed around. Offer a call to walk the decision-makers through it.
- Visits right after your follow-up: the reminder worked. Give it a day before the next one.
Proposal tools that track opens, compared
These tools hold the proposal as their own document and alert you when it's viewed. We read each one's pricing page on November 13, 2026, and give the cheapest plan that tracks opens.
| Tool | Cheapest plan that tracks opens | What its page says it tracks | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proposify | Build, $49 per user a month billed monthly, or $39 billed annually | "Get notified by email and see when prospects are viewing your document", ticked on every plan | No; a 14-day trial, no card |
| PandaDoc | Free, 5 documents a month | "Real‑time tracking and notifications" | Yes |
| Qwilr | Starter, $49 per user a month billed monthly, or $35 billed annually | "Get real-time alerts when pages are viewed, accepted, or stall", on every plan | No; a 14-day trial of Starter, no card |
| Better Proposals | Starter, $19 a month billed monthly for 1 user, or $13 billed annually | "Open tracking and live notifications", included on every plan | No; a 14-day trial, no card |
| Stacktree | Solo, $19 a month | "See who opened it, by name, and when" | Yes, 3 pages in total, live for 7 days |
| Tiiny Host | Solo, $18 a month | Tracked links: "how many views and unique visitors that link has had" | Yes |
| Convika | Free | Visitors by day and their sources; not who, and no alert | Yes |
The proposal tools tell you more about each view, and the proposal has to go into the tool first. Hosting the page your AI wrote keeps the AI's version and tells you less: whether, when, and through which link.
Set up a proposal you can track in 4 steps
Publish one page for this client
Upload the proposal's HTML file under Upload an HTML file, check the preview, then click Publish page. Under Who can open this page?, choose Public and click Next. The first time you publish, Convika shows Publish free, and under it Publish without the Convika bar, which opens an order for Pro monthly ($12 a month). To publish on Free, click Publish free. A Free page is public, and search results may list it; a Private link keeps it out of search, on Pro. How to send a client an HTML proposal as a link covers the choice.
Tag each reader's link
Copy the page's address. For each person you're sending it to, add ?utm_source= and a word for them, such as ?utm_source=finance. Use a role rather than a name, since the reader sees the tag in the address bar.
Send it and leave it alone
Send each person their link. Don't open the live link from your email afterwards. To look at the page, open it from the dashboard.
Check the visitors before you follow up
Open the page on the dashboard. Check Visitors in the Last 7 days summary, then Open analytics and Campaigns (UTM) to see which tagged link was used, and on which day.
Frequently asked questions
Can I tell if someone opened my PDF proposal?
Not from the PDF itself. A file sent as an attachment reports nothing back. To know whether it was opened, send a link: to a page you host, which counts visits, or to a document-tracking tool's viewer.
Are email read receipts or open tracking reliable?
Not for Apple Mail readers. Apple says Protect Mail Activity "downloads remote content in the background by default — regardless of whether you engage with the email", so an open pixel can load with no one reading. A link to a page you host counts a visit only when someone opens the link.
Does Convika tell me who opened my page?
No. Convika counts visitors and shows the days and sources, but it never names a visitor. One page per client, or one tagged link per person, makes a visit most likely theirs.
Does Convika email me when the client opens the proposal?
No. Convika sends no "opened" email. It does email you each new entry when the page has a form, so a client who clicks Accept reaches your inbox.
Is there a free way to track whether a proposal was opened?
Yes. PandaDoc's Free plan says it includes "Real‑time tracking and notifications", for 5 documents a month, on documents in PandaDoc. To keep the HTML page your AI wrote, publish it on Convika Free and read its visitors by day.
Does opening my own proposal count as a visit?
From the Convika dashboard, no. From the live link in your email or a bookmark, yes. Open the page from the dashboard, or note when you opened the live link.
Can I see which part of the proposal they read?
Not on Convika. It counts visits to the page, not scrolling or time on each section. Qwilr's pricing page lists page analytics that show "where they're spending time and what they are clicking on", for proposals made in Qwilr.
Sources
- Mail Privacy Protection & Privacy (Apple), read on November 13, 2026
- Change Privacy settings in Mail on Mac (Apple), read on November 13, 2026
- Proposify pricing, read on November 13, 2026
- PandaDoc pricing, read on November 13, 2026
- Qwilr pricing, read on November 13, 2026
- Better Proposals pricing, read on November 13, 2026
- Stacktree pricing, read on November 13, 2026
- Tiiny Host for sales teams and Pricing plans (Tiiny Host help), read on November 13, 2026
Next step
How to password protect an HTML page or website
A JavaScript password script leaves the password in the page source. To password protect an HTML page or link, encrypt the file or let a server check it.
Related articles
- How to send a client an HTML proposal as a link (from Claude or ChatGPT)Your AI wrote the proposal as an HTML file. Publish it and send the link: it opens on any phone, you can fix it at the same address, and the client can still save a PDF.
- Add an Accept button to your HTML proposal (and get the client's yes by email)Add a short form to the proposal page your AI wrote: the package the client picks, their name, and an Accept button. Each answer arrives by email and stays in a list.
- How to see who visits a page you made with AICount visitors and see where they came from on a page ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini made. GA4, Cloudflare, Plausible, Clarity, and Convika compared.
- How to get a client's feedback on a website you built with AIWalk a client through your AI-built draft on a call or send a review link, collect feedback for your AI, and publish each round at the same address.
- How to Send an HTML File by Email (Gmail, Outlook, or Link)Gmail and Outlook let you attach .html files, though work filters can block them and mail apps may show code. Or publish it and email a link instead.
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