AI basics for your business
Giving context: from vague to useful
Context is what turns a vague answer into a useful one. What to include, how to reuse it and what to leave out.
5 min read
Imagine a temp starting today and all you say is: "Answer that email." You'll get an answer, but probably not the right one. AI works the same way. It knows nothing about your business, your customers or how you work unless you tell it.
Context that helps
- Who you are: your business, sector, role and team size.
- Who it's for: a loyal customer, a new prospect, a colleague, a supplier.
- What happened before: the previous email, yesterday's call, the agreement already made.
- What you want to achieve: a meeting, a payment, understanding, a decision.
- What to avoid: no discounts, no delivery dates, no technical detail.
- Your own material: a price list, procedure, earlier text or style guide.
How much is enough?
More context is usually better, as long as it's relevant. A few sentences of background and one example often achieve more than a lengthy instruction. If in doubt, let the AI ask: "What information do you still need to do this well?"
Reusing your context
Typing the same explanation again and again is a waste of time. Most tools let you save context:
- Custom instructions: a standing text about who you are and how you want the AI to respond.
- Projects: a workspace with fixed instructions and documents, for example one per client or per task.
- A second brain: your own collection of notes and documents that your AI assistant can consult every time.
Start small: write five sentences about your business, your customers and your tone. Use them as a standing instruction and improve them every month.
What to leave out
Context isn't a reason to paste everything into an AI tool. Leave out sensitive personal data, passwords, customers' financial details and confidential contracts, unless you're on a business plan and have internal agreements in place. Replacing names with "customer A" or "employee B" is often enough.
Checklist for your next request
Your answers stay only in this browser.
Prompt to copy
Help me write a standing instruction I can use with every AI request. Ask me ten short questions about my business, my customers, my role and the tone I want. Then turn my answers into an instruction of no more than 150 words.
