Custom AI assistants · Kent and by video
AI assistants that know your prices, policies and way of writing
A general chatbot doesn't know your price list, your returns policy or how you sign off a letter. A custom assistant does, because it works from your own documents and instructions. We build up to three for your team in the AI tool you already use, test them and show your staff how to use them.
£495
Based in Kent, working with businesses across the UK: on site in Kent, by video anywhere else.
Four ideas to start from
Uses your price list
Quote drafter
Paste in site notes or a customer's request and it drafts a quote letter with your current prices, standard exclusions and payment terms, ready for you to check.
Uses your handbook
Policy Q&A
Staff ask "How much notice do we need for holiday?" or "What's our refund window?" and get the answer from your own documents, with the section it came from.
Uses past examples
Tone-of-voice writer
Given ten emails or posts you're happy with, it writes new ones that sound like your business rather than a chatbot.
Uses your procedures
Onboarding helper
New starters ask it what they'd feel awkward asking twice: where things are kept, how a job is booked in, who signs off what.
How they work, and why "trained on our documents" isn't quite right
People often ask for an AI "trained on our documents". What actually happens is simpler. The assistant is an ordinary AI model given written instructions (who it's for, what it does, what it must not do), a set of your files, and sometimes examples of good answers. When someone asks a question, it reads the relevant parts of those files and answers from them. The model itself doesn't change.
So when your prices go up, you replace the price list and the next answer uses the new figures. The catch: it can misread a long document or fill a gap with something plausible. Each assistant is told to say where an answer came from and to admit when the files don't cover a question.
Where your assistants will live
We build in the tool you already pay for. Each has its own name for an assistant and its own rules on who can make and share one.
| Your tool | The assistant is | Who can create and share | Data and training |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | A Project (files, instructions and chats together) or a Plugin | Projects on every plan. Go and above can create Plugins; sharing them with colleagues needs a Business or Enterprise workspace. | Business: not used for training by default. Personal plans: switch it off in Data controls. |
| Claude | A Project with your files and instructions | Up to 5 Projects on Free, unlimited on paid plans. Sharing with colleagues needs Team or Enterprise. | Team and Enterprise: no training on your content by default. |
| Google Gemini | A Gem, or a notebook in Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) | Gems on every Workspace business plan, Starter upwards. | Google says it never uses organisations' data to train Gemini Notebook. |
| Microsoft Copilot | An agent | With a Copilot licence, internal agents at no extra cost. On free Copilot Chat, agents that use SharePoint files are charged per message through Azure, typically around 10p or more per answer. | With a work sign-in, prompts aren't used to train the underlying models. |
From each provider's help and pricing pages, checked October 2026. Plan rules change often, so we check yours before building.
Why we won't build you a new custom GPT
In September 2026 OpenAI announced custom GPTs are being retired in favour of Plugins, starting with Enterprise workspaces on 11 December 2026, with other plans expected to follow. New GPTs can no longer be created on Free, Go, Plus or Pro. Existing ones keep working for now, and we can move what one does into a Project or Plugin as one of your three assistants.
What £495 includes
- Up to three assistantsIn ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot, on your business's own account.
- Set up with your materialPrice lists, policies, templates and past examples, tidied where needed so the assistant reads them correctly.
- Tested on real questionsEach one tried on genuine examples, with the instructions adjusted until the answers hold up.
- A handover sessionYour staff see how to use them, how to check them and how to update the files.
- A one-page guideWhat each assistant is for, what it isn't for, and who looks after it.
- Usually within two weeksCounted from when your documents arrive.
Keeping your documents safe
Three rules on every build. Business accounts only: an assistant on someone's personal login leaves when they do. Nothing goes in that its users shouldn't see, because an assistant reading a shared folder can repeat anything in it to anyone who asks, so we check access first. And no customer personal data in the source files unless there's a clear need and the account's data terms allow it.
These assistants are for staff. For customers, you need a different set-up with a hand-off to a person: see an AI assistant for your website. Managed AI can look after updates month to month, and if your team is new to the tool, pair this with ChatGPT training.
Questions people ask
Can we still build a custom GPT for our business?
Only in a ChatGPT Business, Enterprise or Edu workspace, and not for long: Enterprise stops new GPTs on 26 October 2026. GPTs are being retired in favour of Plugins, so a Project or Plugin is the better home for anything new.
What's the difference between a Gem, a Project and a Copilot agent?
Each company's name for much the same idea: an AI with standing instructions and a set of your files. They differ in which plans can create and share them.
Can a custom assistant use our private data securely?
On a business plan with sensible limits, yes. ChatGPT Business, Claude Team and Copilot with a work sign-in don't train on your content by default, and sensitive files stay out unless needed.
Do we need a paid plan?
Not necessarily: Gems and ChatGPT Projects work on free plans. Sharing with colleagues and keeping data out of training usually means a business plan.
What happens when our prices or policies change?
Replace the file and the assistant uses the new version straight away.
Who you'll work with
James Hayes Consulting is led by Ross Hayes, who builds software for his own businesses and uses AI tools in them every day. We set AI up on your real work, explain it in plain English, and tell you straight if something isn’t worth paying for.
Every project starts with a free 15-minute call, and prices are agreed in writing before you commit.
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