Every time you open a new chat in ChatGPT or Claude, you're talking to someone who has never heard of you.
It doesn't know what you sell. It doesn't know who your customers are, how you talk to them, or what you'd never say. So you either type all of that in again, or you take the generic answer and spend ten minutes fixing it.
Think of it like hiring the smartest temp in the world and sending them home every night with no memory of the day before. Every morning you start over.
There's a fix built into both tools, and most owners I talk to have never clicked on it. It's called a Project.
What a Project is
A Project is a folder with a standing brief inside it. ChatGPT and Claude both have them, and both hold the same three things:
- Instructions. A few paragraphs that apply to every chat inside the Project. Write them once and they're always on.
- Files. Documents you upload once that the AI reads every time: your price sheet, your service list, a sample of emails you've sent.
- Chats. Every conversation you start inside the Project lives there, with the brief and files already loaded.
In ChatGPT, a Project's instructions also override your general custom instructions, so a "customer emails" Project can sound different from a "marketing" Project without you rewriting anything.
That's it. No code, no setup fee, no new software. It's a button you probably already have.
Write the brief in 10 minutes
The brief is the part that matters. A good one reads like the page you'd hand a new hire on day one:
- What you sell, in plain words.
- Who buys it, and why they pick you.
- How you talk to customers. Formal, casual, somewhere in between.
- What you never say or promise.
- The one or two things people always get wrong about your business.
Don't stare at a blank page to write it. Make the AI interview you. Paste this into a new chat:
I own a business and I want to write a one-page brief so you understand it every time we work together. Interview me one question at a time. Ask about what I sell, who my customers are, how I talk to them, what I never say, and anything else you need. When you have enough, write the brief in plain language, under one page.
Answer the questions like you're talking to a person. When it hands you the brief, read it, fix anything it got wrong, and that's your instructions.
Set it up
In ChatGPT:
- Start a new project from the left sidebar. A Create project box opens.
- Name it after the job, like "Customer Replies." The memory menu under the name is where you pick Project-only memory (more on that below).
- Open the ••• menu, then Project settings, and paste your brief into the instructions.
- Add files: a PDF, a spreadsheet, a doc or pasted text all work.
In Claude:
- Click Projects in the left sidebar, then New project.
- Name it and add a short description.
- Paste your brief into the project instructions.
- Upload your files to the project knowledge.
Now start a chat inside the Project and ask for something real. "Write a reply to a customer asking why the quote went up." Watch it answer like it already works for you. Because now it sort of does.
One project per job, not one for everything
The mistake I see most is one giant Project called "My Business" with every file thrown in. The AI gets a junk drawer and gives you junk drawer answers.
Build one Project per job instead. Three is a good start:
- Customer Replies. Your brief, your tone, a few emails you were happy with, your common questions and answers.
- Marketing. Your brief, your services and what makes you different, past posts or ads that worked.
- Operations. Your brief, any checklists or SOPs you already have, your vendor list. This is where you turn "how we do it" into written steps.
Same brief at the top of each. Different files underneath. Each one gets sharper the more you use it.
What stays out
A Project is convenient, which is exactly why you need a rule about what goes in it.
- Never upload card numbers, passwords, Social Security numbers, or anything about a customer you wouldn't want on a postcard.
- Strip names out of sample emails before you upload them. The AI needs your tone, not your customer's address.
- In ChatGPT, pick Project-only memory when you create the Project, for anything you want walled off. It keeps the Project from pulling in your other chats, and keeps your other chats out of it.
If it would be a problem on a printed page left at the front counter, it doesn't go in the folder.
Start with one
Pick the job you explain to AI most often. Make one Project for it today. Write the brief with the interview prompt above, add two or three files, and use it for a week.
I run my own business out of a setup built on this same idea: tell the AI once, and it remembers. A Project is the simplest version of that, and anyone can set one up before lunch.
On Thursday I'm posting a video that walks through the whole setup on screen, in both ChatGPT and Claude, so you can follow along click by click.