Give your AI assistant useful business context

A short brief and a few well-chosen files can save you from explaining your business every time.

An assistant gives more useful answers when it knows what you do, who you help and what a good result looks like. Start with the information a new colleague would need for one task. You don't need to upload everything your business has ever produced.

1. Write a one-page business brief

Include:

• What your business sells, in plain language
• Who buys it and what they need help with
• Your main services and current priorities
• Your preferred writing style, with a short example you wrote
• Important constraints, such as service area, budget or promises you cannot make
• Which facts are confirmed and which are still being tested

Date the brief. A clear, current page is more useful than a large folder of conflicting information.

2. Choose a small set of reference files

Start with an up-to-date service list, an approved brand guide and one or two examples of good work. Give each file a descriptive name and date. Mark old prices, drafts and superseded documents clearly, or leave them out.

Before uploading, check whether the tool and account are appropriate for that information. Remove passwords, payment details and unnecessary personal data. Don't upload a customer's private information just because it appears in a useful document. Use an anonymized example where possible.

If your app supports reusable instructions or a project workspace, use it for this approved context. Otherwise, paste the brief into the conversation when you start. Don't assume information carries between separate chats or tools; ask the assistant what references it can actually access.

3. Say how you want it to work

Preferences are most useful when they are specific:

“Use short sentences and everyday language.”

“Flag missing facts instead of filling them in.”

“Give me a draft to review before anything is sent.”

“Separate recommendations from actions you've actually completed.”

Context helps the assistant understand your business. Permission tells it what it may do. Keep those separate, especially when it can use connected accounts.

Try this prompt

“Use the business brief and reference files I've provided to help draft a reply to this fictional customer inquiry. First identify any facts you need that aren't in the references. Keep the reply under 150 words, use our approved service descriptions and don't invent a price or deadline. Prepare the draft here for review; don't send it.”

Use a fictional inquiry for the first test. Check whether the reply sounds right, uses current facts and spots missing information. Correct the brief rather than repeatedly fixing the same mistake in individual answers.

Before you rely on it

• Are the prices, services and contact details current?
• Can it distinguish approved material from drafts?
• Does it ask when a consequential fact is missing?
• Does it understand what needs your approval?
• Have you checked the output against the original sources?

Review the brief whenever your offer changes. Good context is maintained, not written once and forgotten.