Great question! AI can definitely streamline tasks for small business owners, though our recent survey found that nearly 60% don’t use it. For those who are interested in using AI, here are some that can make a difference: Virtual assistants: Tools like Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant can manage schedules, set reminders and control smart devices, saving you time. AI chatbots: Platforms like Manychat or Tidio handle repetitive customer inquiries, freeing up your time for more complex interactions. Data analysis tools: IBM Watson or Google Looker Studio help make sense of your data with visual reports and actionable insights. Document processing: AI tools automate tasks like invoice processing, reducing manual errors and improving efficiency. Expense trackers: Tools like Expensify streamline financial tracking and organize expenses with ease. Meeting assistants: Apps like Otter.ai record and transcribe meetings, ensuring you focus on what matters during discussions. Insurance solutions: For those in industries requiring Certificates of Insurance (COIs), companies like NEXT have tools that generate COIs instantly, helping you land jobs or submit bids faster. NEXT’s survey shows that small business owners primarily use AI for marketing, customer service and scheduling. If you’re just getting started, focus on tools that address your most time-consuming tasks. We recently had a discussion about it over in another sub: https://www.reddit.com/r/NextInsurance/comments/1ibjxco/2024_survey_data_how_small_businesses_use_ai/ Answer from MattfromNEXT on reddit.com
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Dialpad
dialpad.com › homepage › dialpad's blog › 11 ai tools for small businesses (low cost, big impact!)
11 AI Tools for Small Businesses (Low Cost, Big Impact!) | Dialpad
September 15, 2025 - Dialpad's agentic AI takes those capabilities a step forward with agents that act as real-time assistants for human teams. Agentic AI can autonomously do things like scheduling appointments, providing order updates without being prompted, or ...
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/entrepreneur › what are the best ai tools that actually help your business?
r/Entrepreneur on Reddit: What are the best AI tools that ACTUALLY help your business?
March 28, 2024 -

Looking for suggestions for some decent AI tools that actually help increase productivity! Besides the standard ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Midjurney, etc. I'll get the ball rolling-

I recently came across a pretty useful tool on this sub called https://www.talonic.ai/ it basically lets you talk to your database. You can upload a bunch of spreadsheets and ask questions to generate insights or combine certain data into 1 spreadsheet through prompts. I've seen a couple versions of this concept before, but the issue I faced was that the AI would hallucinate a lot with the large amounts of data I threw at it, which hasn't happened here yet. They also surf and get you internet data through prompts but i haven't utilised that feature a lot.

Not sponsored or anything- just something which actually ended up increasing our productivity! Would love to hear about similar tools you're using for your businesses!

Top answer
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Great question! AI can definitely streamline tasks for small business owners, though our recent survey found that nearly 60% don’t use it. For those who are interested in using AI, here are some that can make a difference: Virtual assistants: Tools like Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant can manage schedules, set reminders and control smart devices, saving you time. AI chatbots: Platforms like Manychat or Tidio handle repetitive customer inquiries, freeing up your time for more complex interactions. Data analysis tools: IBM Watson or Google Looker Studio help make sense of your data with visual reports and actionable insights. Document processing: AI tools automate tasks like invoice processing, reducing manual errors and improving efficiency. Expense trackers: Tools like Expensify streamline financial tracking and organize expenses with ease. Meeting assistants: Apps like Otter.ai record and transcribe meetings, ensuring you focus on what matters during discussions. Insurance solutions: For those in industries requiring Certificates of Insurance (COIs), companies like NEXT have tools that generate COIs instantly, helping you land jobs or submit bids faster. NEXT’s survey shows that small business owners primarily use AI for marketing, customer service and scheduling. If you’re just getting started, focus on tools that address your most time-consuming tasks. We recently had a discussion about it over in another sub: https://www.reddit.com/r/NextInsurance/comments/1ibjxco/2024_survey_data_how_small_businesses_use_ai/
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Jasper helps a lot to our content writer, and Sintra ai connects data from different sources like CRM, analytics, and outreach tools, then gives insights through its bots. Super usefull for reporting and spot trends faster.
Discussions

What are the best AI tools that ACTUALLY help your business?
Great question! AI can definitely streamline tasks for small business owners, though our recent survey found that nearly 60% don’t use it. For those who are interested in using AI, here are some that can make a difference: Virtual assistants: Tools like Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant can manage schedules, set reminders and control smart devices, saving you time. AI chatbots: Platforms like Manychat or Tidio handle repetitive customer inquiries, freeing up your time for more complex interactions. Data analysis tools: IBM Watson or Google Looker Studio help make sense of your data with visual reports and actionable insights. Document processing: AI tools automate tasks like invoice processing, reducing manual errors and improving efficiency. Expense trackers: Tools like Expensify streamline financial tracking and organize expenses with ease. Meeting assistants: Apps like Otter.ai record and transcribe meetings, ensuring you focus on what matters during discussions. Insurance solutions: For those in industries requiring Certificates of Insurance (COIs), companies like NEXT have tools that generate COIs instantly, helping you land jobs or submit bids faster. NEXT’s survey shows that small business owners primarily use AI for marketing, customer service and scheduling. If you’re just getting started, focus on tools that address your most time-consuming tasks. We recently had a discussion about it over in another sub: https://www.reddit.com/r/NextInsurance/comments/1ibjxco/2024_survey_data_how_small_businesses_use_ai/ More on reddit.com
🌐 r/Entrepreneur
210
72
March 28, 2024
Best AI tools for business?
This is a friendly reminder that r/smallbusiness is a question and answer subreddit. You ask a question about starting, owning, and growing a small business and the community answers. Posts that violate the rules listed in the sidebar will be removed. A permanent or temporary ban may also be issued if you do not remove the offending post. Seeing this message does not mean your post was automatically removed. I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns. More on reddit.com
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May 8, 2025
What AI Tools Are Small Business Owners Using? Planning a Workshop for Beginners
I’m organising a workshop to introduce small business owners to AI tools, focusing on how they can improve productivity using tools like ChatGPT. Many of my participants will be beginners in AI, and I want to make sure the content is relevant and practical. What AI tools have you found most useful for ... More on reddit.com
🌐 r/smallbusinessuk
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September 14, 2024
AI for small business
This is a friendly reminder that r/smallbusiness is a question and answer subreddit. You ask a question about starting, owning, and growing a small business and the community answers. Posts that violate the rules listed in the sidebar will be removed. A permanent or temporary ban may also be issued if you do not remove the offending post. Seeing this message does not mean your post was automatically removed. I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns. More on reddit.com
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2 weeks ago - Burlap & Barrel, a spice company based in the US, sees AI-powered shopping as an opportunity to boost sales. Ori Zohar, the firm's co-founder and co-chief executive, acknowledged that the company is better positioned than many other small businesses in his sector to draw in shoppers, given its robust online presence.
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March 25, 2025 - While the best AI tools for your company depend on a variety of factors, here are our top picks based on the categories provided above: Best Free AI Tools for Small Business: Thryv Online Presence Scanner, ChatGPT
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2025’s Best AI Tools for Startups and Small Businesses: Top 15 Picks
In this post, we’ll explore the top 15 AI softwares specifically designed for startups and small businesses, highlighting their features, benefits, and how they can help you achieve your goals. Whether you're looking to optimize your marketing efforts or improve customer service, there’s an AI solution to meet your needs. Selecting the right AI tools for your startup or small business involves a strategic approach.
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Entrepreneur
entrepreneur.com › growing a business
AI Adoption Doesn't Have to Be Daunting Anymore — Here's How to Choose the Right AI Tools For Your Small Business
January 10, 2025 - When seeking an AI tool, look for one that acts as a partner of your team and easily integrates with existing technology and infrastructure already in place. It should be straightforward, fully transparent and give small business owners complete control of the project they are working on.
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Google Workspace
workspace.google.com › resources › ai-for-small-business
AI for Small Business | Google Workspace
AI can help small businesses make the most of their resources, giving them the tools needed to easily create tables and trackers, create compelling first-drafts of content and presentations, and serve as a research partner.
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Investopedia
investopedia.com › how-small-businesses-can-use-ai-tools-8609366
How Small Businesses Can Use AI Tools
March 8, 2025 - Better yet, some of these tools, like ChatGPT and Google Docs, are free. According to the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council’s 2023 Small Business AI Adoption Survey, 83% of small business owners plan to use AI in the next year.
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U.S. Small Business Administration
sba.gov › business-guide › manage-your-business › ai-small-business
AI for small business | U.S. Small Business Administration
AI can help you analyze your small business data and pick out common themes. Use your own client data to make better strategic decisions. Data inclusive tools can also help you compare your business to similar businesses and find gaps that you can address or advantages you can exploit to give your business an extra boost.
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forbes.com › forbes homepage › innovation › enterprise tech
20 Game-Changing AI Tools Every Small Business Leader Needs Now
June 23, 2025 - What makes this great is that it essentially adds AI assistance to the popular Office tools that have long been the backbone of small business productivity. Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and more all benefit from the integration of Copilot, meaning that everything from drafting emails and web copy to creating presentations and analyzing data can be automated and managed with natural language prompts. In Excel, for example, Copilot can recommend formulas, create visualizations and spot trends in your business and customer data.
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Datacose
datacose.com › blog › ai-tools-small-business
AI Tools Every Small Business Owner Should Know in 2025
It’s well-suited for internal use cases like project management, product planning, and team communication. Get 12 AI Opportunities Tailored to Your Business in 60 Seconds · In 60 seconds, you’ll get a custom report showing how AI can: ... Just drop in your website. Scan it and see exactly where AI fits in your business. ... You don’t need 20 tools. You need the right 2 or 3 that: ... AI works best when you pair it with clear problems.
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Castmagic.io
castmagic.io › post › ai-tools-for-small-business
What AI Tools for Small Business Are Most Effective
February 6, 2025 - As content strategists who have helped countless small businesses learn how to use AI, we’re here to guide you through the essential AI tools that can transform your business. From content creation to customer service to business operations, AI is making an impact across the board. Let's dive in and explore the best ...
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Durable
durable.co
Durable AI Website Builder and Small Business Software
Generate a website in 30 seconds with the world's fastest AI website builder. Then, use powerful AI marketing, invoicing, and CRM tools to grow your business. All with one app.
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Wisconsin Lutheran College
wlc.edu › academics › programs › ai-literacy.html
AI Literacy Minor
Develop critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills to strategically assess where and how AI can add value, and position yourself as a forward-thinking professional ready to navigate and leverage AI across business. Elective offering. Hands-on projects that use real AI tools to solve problems connected to your major
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Notion
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... Keep your workspace safe with security, compliance, analytics, and auditing tools. ... No data is stored with LLM providers. 30 day retention for non-Enterprise. ... Notion AI is included in the price of Notion's Business and Enterprise plans.
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mckinsey.com › capabilities › tech-and-ai › our-insights › superagency-in-the-workplace-empowering-people-to-unlock-ais-full-potential-at-work
AI in the workplace: A report for 2025 | McKinsey
January 28, 2025 - From unlocking enterprise value with agentic AI and elevating next-generation leadership to building resilience for growth amid geopolitical volatility, they’ll explore what will likely shape the global business landscape in 2026. ... As noted at the beginning of this chapter, employees anticipate AI will have a dramatic impact on their work. Now they would like their companies to invest in the training that will help them succeed. Nearly half of employees in our survey say they want more formal training and believe it is the best way to boost AI adoption. They also would like access to AI tools in the form of betas or pilots, and they indicate that incentives such as financial rewards and recognition can improve uptake.
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hootsuite.com
Social Media Marketing and Management Tool | Hootsuite
That’s why employee advocacy is our number one tool for expanding reach, attracting top talent, and growing revenue. See how it works with a risk-free demo of Hootsuite Amplify. ... Schedule, engage, monitor, and analyze social media posts.
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Canva
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Canva AI: Your all-in-one AI assistant
Bring ideas to life instantly with Canva AI, your all-in-one creative teammate. By combining Canva’s generative tools into one intuitive experience, Canva AI can help generate on-brand designs, write content, and give design advice as you create.
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Google Cloud
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Vertex AI Agent Builder | Google Cloud
Tools and pre-built agents (example, Code Interpreter, BigQuery) will incur fees for developers based on the tools used by their agents. ... Estimate your costs, including region-specific pricing and fees. ... Connect with our sales team to get a custom quote for your organization. ... Whether your business is early in its journey or well on its way to digital transformation, Google Cloud can help solve your toughest challenges. ... Top reasons businesses choose us. ... Get enterprise-ready AI.