ISSUE #4 · SCEPTICAL ABOUT AI? SO ARE WE. · 3 MIN READ
Morning.
So last Tuesday I did something slightly daft. I read more than 1,600 comments under business posts and videos, one by one.
I wanted to know where customers actually ask questions...
01 · THE BIG ONE
Your buyers aren't on LinkedIn
What happened: I pulled hundreds of recent posts and videos from UK manufacturers, engineers and accountants, then went through the comments one by one.
On LinkedIn, 810 posts and 651 comments turned up about one genuine customer question. One.
Two-thirds of company page posts got no comments at all. Owners posting as themselves did a bit better... but the comments came from peers and suppliers pitching their own stuff. Barely a buyer in sight.
Then I looked at YouTube. Completely different story. On accountancy videos, 35% of comments were questions, mostly owners stuck on something real, like a letter from HMRC or which software to use. On Instagram, manufacturers were being asked for prices about once every 30 comments. On LinkedIn it was nearer 1 in 600.
Is it a perfect study? No. But that's a big gap.
The UK catch: loads of the LinkedIn replies had AI written all over them. Same openers, same neat structure, same polite agreement with a little twist at the end. I didn't count them, so no percentage from me. But there were loads.
So you've got AI-written posts being answered by other people's AI, and the algorithm rewarding both.
Even LinkedIn has had enough. It told CNN earlier this month it's now showing posts it flags as low-quality AI to fewer people outside your connections.
The bit nobody's reading: LinkedIn's own user agreement already bans using bots to create, comment on, like or share posts, or to drive inauthentic engagement. And those auto-comment tools you see advertised? LinkedIn says they're not allowed and can get your account restricted.
So if a tool is writing your comments for you, you're breaking the rules and wasting your time.
THE SMALL PRINT VERDICT
Real. Just not for selling.
LinkedIn's fine for your reputation and the people who refer you. As a place your customers ask questions... it barely shows up.
FAFF FACTOR: LOW · COST: £ · RISK: ROBOTS TALKING TO ROBOTS
Do this instead: stop letting AI write your LinkedIn posts and replies. Post as yourself, not the company page. Put your answers where customers actually ask, like plain explainer videos or your website. And count questions, not likes.
Our take: if you're posting stuff made by AI and other people's AIs are commenting... what is actually happening? It looks like engagement. Nobody's buying anything.
02 · WORTH IT?
Claude, now inside Google Docs
On 6 October Anthropic put Claude in a sidebar inside Google Docs, Sheets and Slides. It edits the file you've got open. It's in beta, for paid plans only.
Cost: Claude Pro is £18 a month plus VAT, so £21.60, on top of whatever you pay Google.
Faff factor: low. Install it from the Google Workspace Marketplace. On a business Google account, the admin may have to allow it first (probably you). Well under 30 minutes.
The catch: Anthropic's help page lists the gaps. Once you approve a change it goes straight in, not as a tracked suggestion, and it can't read comments. Google files only, no Word documents. And on Pro your documents fall under Anthropic's consumer terms. Business terms need the Team plan or above.
I use Claude most days, so I gave it a go. It's OK. Whether it's any use to you depends on how you write your documents in the first place. If it fits the way you already work, great. If it doesn't, ignore it.
THE SMALL PRINT VERDICT
Fine if it fits how you work. If not, ignore it.
If your documents already live in Google Docs and you pay for Claude, install it and see. If you write in Word, or you'd be paying £21.60 a month just for this, don't bother.
COST: £ · FAFF FACTOR: LOW · WOULD I PAY? ALREADY DO
Do this instead: paste one section of a document into the free chat and ask for a tidy-up. If you're doing that daily by Friday, the sidebar's worth a month.
03 · MONDAY FIX · 20 MINUTES
List the questions customers really ask
UK adults now spend 51 minutes a day on YouTube, Ofcom says. Before you film anything, you need the list. Take 10 recent enquiry emails, delete names and contact details, and paste them into ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot with this:
I run a [type of business] in [town]. Below are [number] recent
enquiries from customers, with personal details removed.
List the questions they're really asking, grouped and ranked by how
often they come up. For each one, write a plain-English answer of
under 100 words that I could say out loud in a short video or put on
my website. Use UK English. If an answer depends on prices, law or
tax, say so and leave a gap for me to fill in rather than guessing.
[paste the enquiries here]Check every answer is true for your business, prices and timescales especially. AI fills gaps with confident guesses.
04 · QUICK BITS
Prices are climbing again. Inflation hit 3.5% in September, up from 3.1%, with motor fuel up 29.8% on a year ago (ONS).
Budget on Wednesday. The Chancellor delivers it on 28 October (Which?).
Your customers, your problem. From Friday 30 October you can be held liable if a customer or client harasses your staff, unless you took reasonable steps to stop it (Acas).
ONE-CLICK POLL
Where do new customers usually ask you questions before they buy?
And hit reply with the question customers ask you most before they buy. I read every one.
Read the small print. See you next Monday.
P.S. Look at the comments under your last 10 posts and count the questions, not the likes. If a robot wrote it and a robot liked it, it didn't happen.
