# Build a knowledge base your AI answers from

> Researched. Small business · Beginner · Operations. Updated 2026-11-02.

Canonical page: https://www.aisetupsthatwork.com/setups/build-a-business-knowledge-base-your-ai-answers-from/

## What it does
Load your prices, policies and how-tos into one Claude or ChatGPT project so you and your team can ask it questions and get answers from your own documents.

## Who it's for
Owners and small teams who keep answering the same internal questions, or who want a reliable starting point before an AI drafts anything for customers.

## Tools
- Claude Projects or ChatGPT Projects
- Your documents: price list, policies, service areas, how-tos, FAQs

## Steps
1. Gather the 5 to 15 documents people ask about most: price list, policies, service areas, warranty, how-tos. Remove anything private you would not want quoted.
2. Create a project. Anthropic says projects have their own knowledge base and instructions and are available on free accounts; OpenAI says Projects keep chats, files and instructions together.
3. Upload the documents to the project's files or knowledge, not to a single chat, so every new chat can use them.
4. Paste the instructions from the prompt below so it answers only from your files and names the file it used.
5. Test it with five questions you already know the answers to, including one that is not in the files. It should say it does not know.
6. When a price or policy changes, replace the file the same day. Old files are the main source of wrong answers.

## Copy-paste prompt
Adapt bracketed fields to your situation.
```text
Project instructions:

You answer questions about [BUSINESS NAME] using only the files in this project.
Rules:
- Answer in 2 to 5 sentences, then name the file you used.
- If the answer is not in the files, say: Not in our documents. Do not guess.
- Quote prices, dates and policy terms exactly as written.
- If two files disagree, show both and say which is newer.
- Never promise discounts, refunds or deadlines that are not in the files.
```

## Guardrails
- What it touches: Chat input you provide (Claude Projects or ChatGPT Projects; Your documents: price list, policies, service areas, how-tos, FAQs).
- Needs your OK: Send, pay, publish, and account changes stay with you. Treat agent output as drafts first.
- Safety level: Read-only
- Uploading files to one chat instead of the project, so the next chat cannot see them.
- Old price lists left in the project next to new ones.
- Asking it about something it was never given, and trusting a confident guess.

## Tips
- Name files clearly, like price-list-2026-11.pdf, so the cited file name tells you how current it is.
- Keep one project per business, not one per question.
- Add a one-page cheat sheet of the most common answers; it gets used more than long manuals.

## Estimates (labeled, not measured)
- Time saved: About 45 minutes to set up.
- Money saved: Not stated in sources.
- Tool cost: Claude says projects are available on free accounts. ChatGPT Projects availability varies by plan; prices: Not stated in sources.

## Sources
Summaries use the public sources below, not independent verification.
- Anthropic: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/9517075-what-are-projects (What are projects: self-contained workspaces with their own knowledge base and instructions, available on free accounts, RAG mode when knowledge grows (read 2026-11-02 from the official help page via search))
- OpenAI: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/10169521-projects-in-chatgpt (Projects in ChatGPT: keep chats, files and instructions together; owners update instructions and add files (read 2026-11-02 from the official help page via search))
- Anthropic: https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8241126-upload-files-to-claude (Upload files to Claude: add files to a chat or to a project's Files section for use across conversations (read 2026-11-02 from the official help page via search))

## Get the free starter pack
Five beginner copy-paste AI setups, free by email: https://www.aisetupsthatwork.com/starter-pack/?utm_source=ai-agent&utm_medium=markdown&utm_campaign=setup-build-a-business-knowledge-base-your-ai-answers-from

Related:
- [Answer repeat customer questions automatically](https://www.aisetupsthatwork.com/setups/answer-repeat-customer-questions-automatically/index.md)
- [Turn a stack of documents into one brief](https://www.aisetupsthatwork.com/setups/turn-a-stack-of-documents-into-one-brief/index.md)
- [Set guardrails before an AI agent gets access](https://www.aisetupsthatwork.com/setups/set-guardrails-before-giving-an-ai-agent-access/index.md)