How to Teach AI About You Before You Ask for Help

Most small business owners I know don’t want AI to “do everything.” They want it to help with something—a stuck marketing message, a confusing services page, a proposal that takes too long to write.

But here’s the secret most folks miss when they open an AI tool like ChatGPT:

If you don’t teach AI about you first, it’s just guessing.
And guessing leads to generic advice.

Luckily, you don’t need to be a coder or prompt engineer to fix this. You just need to set the stage.

🧠 Why Context is Everything

Imagine walking into a business coach’s office and saying, “Help me grow.”
Their first question would probably be:

“Great. But… who are you? What do you do? Who do you serve?”

AI works the same way. If you don’t give it that baseline context, it’ll pull from whatever’s generic and floating around the internet. That’s why answers often feel flat or irrelevant at first.

✅ How to “Onboard” AI to You

Before asking for help solving a business problem, take a few minutes to introduce yourself. You can do this in one chat thread or conversation. Here’s how:

1. Paste In Key Content

Start with:

• Your About page

• Your Services or Products page

• A recent newsletter or blog post
  Then say:
  👉 “Summarize this so you understand what my business is and who I serve.”

2. Drop In Your Bio or LinkedIn Profile

Add your personal background—just copy/paste your LinkedIn profile or bio—and ask:
👉 “Here’s a little about me. Summarize this and keep it in mind moving forward.”

3. State Your Brand Voice

Give the AI a few adjectives to work with:
👉 “I want to sound clear, warm, and direct—like I’m talking to a smart friend, not writing corporate fluff.”

4. Describe Your Ideal Customer

Write 2–3 sentences about who you serve. Example:

“We work with local business owners—usually solo or small teams—who need clarity in their marketing but don’t have time for long strategy sessions.”

Ask:
👉 “Please remember this as my target audience.”

📌 Now You’re Ready to Ask for Help

At this point, AI has enough context to act like a partner—not a stranger.

Now ask:

• “Can you help me write a more compelling description of my services for that audience?”

• “What’s unclear in the way I’m explaining what I do?”

• “Based on everything above, give me 3 post ideas I could share on LinkedIn this week.”

Suddenly, the responses feel… like you. Because you taught the system how to show up in your world.

🧭 Final Thought

Don’t skip the intro.
AI isn’t just smart—it’s contextual. And you get out what you put in.

Take 10–15 minutes to onboard it to your story, your voice, and your customers—and you’ll save hours down the line fixing off-brand content or vague advice.

We’ve helped dozens of small businesses do this, and it changes the game.

If you want a done-for-you onboarding prompt kit or a walkthrough of how we do it with clients, just reach out.