Most UK small business owners we talk to have a Claude or ChatGPT account, opened it twice, and forgot about it. The reason is rarely scepticism. It is that nobody told them what to actually type. So here are five prompts. Each takes under ten minutes. Each ends with something you can act on, not a wall of text to read.
Run them this week, in order, on your business. We use the same five with new clients on day one of any AI engagement.
Prompt 1 · The brutal homepage audit
Paste your homepage copy into Claude. Then ask: 'Read this homepage as a stranger who has never heard of this business. In one paragraph, tell me what this company does, who they do it for, and what action I should take. Then list every sentence that confused you or felt generic.' The output is uncomfortable. It is also the cheapest copy review you will ever get.
We ran this on a flooring company in Bath last month. Claude flagged 'we pride ourselves on quality' as meaningless and asked what city they were in. The owner had assumed the location was obvious. It was not on the page anywhere.
Prompt 2 · The objection list
Ask Claude: 'I run a [your business] in [your area]. Quote my services at around [your price floor]. Generate the 12 most likely objections a serious-but-cautious customer would have before booking. For each, write the one-sentence response that would actually land.' You now have your FAQ page. You also have the script for your sales calls.
Prompt 3 · The competitor x-ray
Pick three competitors. Paste their homepage copy in. Ask: 'Compare these three to mine [paste yours]. Where am I weaker on positioning? Where am I weaker on proof? Where do they sound the same as each other in a way I could break away from?' The 'sound the same' answer is usually the gold.
Prompt 4 · The 30-day content plan
Ask: 'I am [your business] in [your area]. My customers are [describe them in one sentence]. Generate 30 days of social posts — one per weekday — that mix three categories: behind-the-scenes job photos, customer-question explainers, and local relevance. Format as a simple list with hook, body, and image direction.' Six weeks of content in one output.
Prompt 5 · The weekly brief
Last one and the most useful. Open Claude every Monday morning. Paste in this week's bookings, last week's leads, and any open quotes. Ask: 'Based on this, what should I focus on this week, what is at risk of slipping, and what is one thing I am underweighting?' Treat Claude as a junior analyst who has the whole picture.
- , The brutal homepage audit — a stranger reads your site
- , The objection list — 12 objections, 12 answers
- , The competitor x-ray — find the gap nobody owns
- , The 30-day content plan — six weeks of social
- , The weekly brief — Monday morning analyst
If you cannot get value out of an AI tool in ten minutes, the prompt is wrong, not the tool.
Seb Planchais
None of these prompts require a paid plan. None of them require any setup beyond an account. The reason most UK SMBs have not got value from AI yet is that they are using it like Google instead of like a junior employee. Treat it like an employee with no context who is brilliant once briefed, and the picture changes fast.