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Set ChatGPT to always cite sources for technical product questions, and draft customer email replies in your own voice
Bryan Scott, store manager of Southern Tool Supply, a one-location tool and hardware store in Louisville, Kentucky, on The Grit Blueprint podcast
"I have kind of trained my ChatGPT to automatically give me sources... what size drill bit do I need to use for this tap? I want it to be able to give that to me but then also give me the sources so I can double check it." Per the episode notes, he uses ChatGPT daily for tasks like email writing. His suggested starting point: paste the email and say "this is what I want to say. Make it sound like me." For a customer who sends 10 paragraphs, "Tell it, I need this summarized in 10 bullet points," then tell it your reply and let it type the email for you to send.
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The problem
He uses ChatGPT for quick technical answers, such as what size drill bit to use for a tap, and passes them on to customers, the owner and staff. But "it's still an emerging technology, it's still going to make mistakes." Some customers also send long emails.
What happened
He says checking sources "allows me to be able to be confident in what I'm seeing and be confident in passing that information along to customers, to the store owner, to the employees." No figures are given. Owner-told.
Quoted in the source: Bryan Scott, store manager, Southern Tool Supply. Source: The Grit Blueprint podcast: Embracing AI in Small Business: Southern Tool Supply | Sponsored by Do it Best (host Stefanie Couch) (2025-09-26) · Added 2026-10-20.
How to set it up yourself
- What Southern Tool Supply does: Bryan Scott has set up his ChatGPT to give sources with technical product answers, so he can double-check them before passing them on. His suggested starting point for email is to summarize long customer emails into bullet points and have ChatGPT write the reply he tells it to.
- In ChatGPT's settings, add a standing instruction like the prompt below so every technical answer comes with sources.
- Ask your product question. Open the source it gives and check the answer there before telling a customer. If there's no source or it doesn't match, don't pass the answer on.
- For a long customer email, paste it and ask for a 10-bullet summary. Then say what you want to reply, such as the delivery date and price, and ask it to write the email in your voice. Check the date and price before you send.
Copy-paste prompt
For any technical or product question I ask about {STORE TYPE, e.g. tools and hardware}, give a short answer, then list the sources you based it on (manufacturer spec sheets, standards charts or manuals) with links. Never invent a size, spec, price or source. If you aren't sure or can't find a source, say so and write [MISSING: source] instead of guessing.One short email a day: 3 new AI use cases from real small businesses, each with its source and setup steps, plus a Tool of the Day. Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Tools used
ChatGPT
General AI assistant for writing, research, brainstorming and analysis.
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Rather not do it yourself?
We'll set this up in your tools, in your voice, tested. $149/mo with setup included (6-month minimum), or $497 pay-once. Satisfaction guarantee: we'll fix it until it works. Pay-once setups: or we refund your setup fee. $149/mo plan: cancel in the first 30 days and we refund your first month. Terms. We reply within 1 business day.
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