The Basics
AI Assistant
An AI assistant is a program like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini that you talk to in plain language to write, research, sort and summarize. It’s the front door for most of the other terms on this page.
Chatbot
A chatbot is any program that answers in a chat window, from a scripted “How can I help?” box on a website to a full AI assistant. When a vendor says chatbot, ask whether it follows a script or writes its own answers, because that changes how closely you need to check it.
Large Language Model (LLM)
A large language model is the engine inside an AI assistant: software trained on huge amounts of text to predict which words come next, which is how it writes. I’d spend your energy on setting up one assistant well before you worry about which model is in the menu.
Prompt
A prompt is the message you give an AI assistant, including the question, any instructions and any examples. Better prompts are usually more specific ones: who it’s for, what you want back and what to leave out.
Where Your Instructions Live
Custom Instructions
Custom instructions are standing notes saved in an assistant’s settings so it applies them to every chat, like your business name, who your customers are and how you like replies written. In ChatGPT they hold up to 1,500 characters on the Free and Go plans and 5,000 on paid plans, as of October 2026.
Project
A project is a workspace inside ChatGPT or Claude that keeps its own instructions, files and chat history together. Give one part of the business its own project, like estimates or social posts, so the assistant isn’t guessing which hat you’re wearing.
Skill
A skill is a saved set of instructions, sometimes with reference files, that an assistant loads when a task calls for it, like “reply to a review in our voice.” As of October 2026, Claude and Gemini offer skills, and ChatGPT offers them on its Business, Enterprise and Edu plans.
Custom GPT and Gem
A custom GPT (in ChatGPT) or a Gem (in Gemini) is a saved assistant with its own name, instructions and reference files. Both are being phased out: OpenAI says custom GPTs retire on December 11, 2026, and Google is turning Gems on personal accounts into skills starting November 2026, so build anything new as a project or a skill.
Memory
Memory is an assistant’s ability to recall details about you from earlier chats without being told again. It’s handy, but keep the things that really matter, like your voice and your policies, written down in instructions you can see and edit.
Voice File (Tone of Voice)
A voice file is a short document that describes how your business talks to customers: the words you use, the words you never use, how you open and close, and a sample reply or two. My free Tone of Voice tool builds one from a short interview, and every other tool I install reads from it.
Fine-Tuning vs. Instructions
Fine-tuning means retraining a model on your own examples so its behavior changes for good, which takes developer time and a budget. Instructions, like a voice file saved in a project, shape every reply without retraining anything, and you can edit them in a minute.
Connecting Your Tools
Integration
An integration is a connection that lets two pieces of software share information, like your booking calendar passing new appointments to your email list. For Ash & Pine, connecting the project software (JobTread) to Claude means Ashley can ask out loud what’s on today’s list and get an answer, as the case studies describe.
API
An API (application programming interface) is the door one piece of software opens so other software can read from it or send to it. If a tool you rely on has one, it can usually be connected to an assistant or an automation.
MCP Connector
An MCP connector links an AI assistant to another app using the Model Context Protocol, an open standard Anthropic released in November 2024. Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini all support MCP in some form, which is how an assistant can look inside your other software without you copying and pasting.
Zapier
Zapier is a service that links apps you already use, so something that happens in one, like a new form entry, sets off a step in another, like a text or a new spreadsheet row. It’s the glue when two tools don’t connect on their own.
Automation
An automation is a task that runs by itself once it’s set up, like a confirmation text after someone books. It follows the rules you give it every time, which is exactly what you want for most chores.
Workflow
A workflow is the full set of steps a job takes in your business, from the first call to the final invoice. Following one real workflow start to finish is how you find the steps worth handing off, and it’s how my Teardown begins.
Agent
An AI agent is an assistant that takes a series of actions on its own toward a goal, like researching, filling in a form and drafting an email, instead of answering one message at a time. Start agents on tasks where a mistake is cheap to catch.
Human in the Loop
Human in the loop means a person reviews and approves what the AI does before it reaches anyone. Every tool I build works this way: it shows its work and waits for your thumb before anything goes out.
Trust, Limits and Privacy
Hallucination
A hallucination is when an AI assistant states something false with full confidence, like a made-up price, policy or date. Check every fact and number before it reaches a customer.
Context Window
A context window is how much an assistant can hold in mind at once, counting your instructions, your files and the conversation so far. When a long chat starts forgetting early details, start a fresh one with a short summary of what matters.
Training Data
Training data is the text and images a model learned from before you ever used it, and your own chats can become training data unless your plan or settings say otherwise. ChatGPT Business, Claude’s Team plan and Google Workspace all say they don’t train on customer data by default, and I compare the settings in ChatGPT vs. Claude vs. Gemini.
Customers and Search
Text-Back
Text-back, often called missed-call text-back, sends an automatic text to anyone whose call you miss, so a new lead hears from you while you’re up a ladder. It needs a business line that software can reach, because Apple doesn’t let outside tools read or send iMessages.
Review Gating
Review gating means screening customers first and sending only the happy ones to leave a public review. Google’s review policy says businesses may not “discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers,” so ask everyone. I’d still give every customer a direct line to you, as long as everyone also gets the review link. More in how to get more Google reviews.
AI Search (GEO)
AI search is when people get answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google’s AI answers instead of a list of links. GEO, short for generative engine optimization (a name from a 2023 research paper), is the work of getting your business mentioned and cited in those answers. Checking it is part of the Online Presence Report that starts every Teardown.
Where to Start
If a vendor uses a word that isn’t here, ask them to say it in one plain sentence. When you’re ready to talk about your own week, send me a note.