Use AI for Business and Strategy Consulting

AI Usecase Series

September 30, 2025

LLMs are transforming the way consultants and business leaders think about growth, competition, and risk. With the right prompts, they can act as tireless competitor research assistants, creative marketing and branding strategists, and sharp-eyed risk spotters. As with any usecase, the key to getting useful output lies in structuring your prompts carefully while protecting confidential business information.


AI Business Consulting Assistance

Prompt Formula and Privacy Protection

Role + Task + Instructions + Context

Never paste proprietary strategy documents, client lists, or financials into an AI service without anonymizing first. Use CamoText or a similar tool to replace identifiers like company names, trade secrets, or client data with unique placeholders (e.g., <COMPANY_a84e2f>), which hides the company's identity but allows the AI to differentiate it from other anonymized companies. This provides some obscurity while still giving the AI enough context to provide meaningful insights.

A well-structured prompt helps the AI act more like a specialized, sophisticated consultant than a casual generalist chatbot. Using the formula categories can naturally help structure and specify more detailed information for the LLM:

Role: You are a senior growth consultant specializing in B2B application sales strategy.

Task: Suggest actionable ways to increase inbound sales leads and customer targeting.

Instructions: Provide at least five specific recommendations, ranked by impact and feasibility, and explain why each would work. Avoid generic advice.

Context: The company sells personal automation software in the U.S. market with limited paid advertising budget but strong thought leadership potential. The anonymized user guide and marketing copy is attached.


Prompts for consulting-related usecases can be reused often, to periodically optimize strategy. Below are some categorized basic prompt templates from which to start.

Example Prompts for Consulting Workflows

1. Increasing Inbound Sales & Customers


Template prompt: 

Role: You are a senior growth consultant specializing in B2B SaaS sales strategy.

Task: Recommend actionable strategies to increase inbound sales leads for <COMPANY_a84e2f>, which sells <TRADEMARK_b91ca3>, its flagship custom workflow automation software.

Instructions: Provide at least 7 specific, ranked recommendations with estimated impact vs. required resources. Focus on cost-effective methods (e.g., SEO, content marketing, partnerships, referral systems). Include real-world examples of companies that have successfully used each tactic. For each recommendation, explain potential pitfalls and how to mitigate them. Highlight at least one “quick win” tactic and one long-term investment tactic.

Context: <COMPANY_a84e2f> sells workflow automation software to mid-sized U.S. businesses. The budget for paid advertising is limited, but the company has subject-matter experts who can contribute impactful customizations for high-value customers, as well as thought leadership content. Their existing inbound pipeline is modest but under-optimized.

Before answering, ask any clarifying questions you need (e.g., average deal size, sales cycle length, or content resources available).

AI can provide structured playbooks—like developing industry-specific whitepapers, optimizing lead magnets, or leveraging partner distribution channels.


2. Improving Marketing Strategy & Branding


Template prompt: 

Role: You are a brand strategist advising a mid-market tech company.

Task: Audit and strengthen brand positioning for <COMPANY_a84e2f>

Instructions: Review the anonymized brand messaging attached. Identify whether and where the messaging is generic, confusing, or undifferentiated. Suggest at least 3 revised positioning statements tailored to the target audience to align with premium positioning, differentiate from competitors, and improve customer trust. Recommend 3 new campaign angles and sample taglines and channels.

Context: <COMPANY_a84e2f> is trying to move upmarket and appeal to enterprise clients. Current messaging focuses on “efficiency” but may sound too similar to competitors-- samples are attached. The company has an existing presence on LinkedIn and industry podcasts, and would like to expand its thought leadership related to its unique expertise.

Before answering, ask any clarifying questions you need (e.g., customer personas, competitors’ brand positioning, or budget for creative campaigns).

Use AI to test branding angles before expensive creative investments. It’s also useful for stress-testing whether your current positioning is too generic.


3. Researching Competitors’ Strategy and Offerings


Template prompt: 

Role: You are a competitive intelligence analyst.

Instructions: Based on anonymized competitor profiles attached, summarize each competitor’s key offerings, target market, and go-to-market strategy. Highlight strengths and weaknesses of each competitor, then differentiators, gaps, and where <COMPANY_a84e2> can position itself more effectively, with at least 5 examples. Compare product, price, positioning, and distribution, and flag any blind spots or areas where more research is needed.

Context: <COMPANY_a84e2f> competes in the U.S. workflow automation market. Competitors include <COMPANY_b002ea>, <COMPANY_f3e6ec>, and <COMPANY_d14B55>> -- their anonymized commercial profiles are attached. <COMPANY_a84e2f> has strong customer service but weaker name recognition.

Before answering, ask any clarifying questions you need (e.g., what specific competitor data I can provide, whether to focus on pricing models, or whether to include international competitors).

AI can quickly synthesize scattered public information into a digestible competitor landscape. Always double-check with primary sources to avoid hallucinations.


4. Spotting Regulatory and Legal Risks


Template prompt: 

Role: You are a privacy and consumer protection regulatory risk consultant familiar with U.S. and EU compliance.
                
Task: Identify potential legal and regulatory risks for the anonymized product description provided below in U.S. and EU markets

Instructions: Spot possible risks across data privacy, consumer protection, and industry-specific regulations. Explain why each risk is relevant, provide a risk-level ranking (low, medium, high) with reasoning, and cite the applicable statute or regulatory areas for each with hyperlinks where possible. Suggest practical mitigation steps (policies, disclaimers, or product design changes) to discuss with in-house counsel. Highlight any areas that must be escalated to a specialized external counsel.

Context: <COMPANY_a84e2f> plans to launch a SaaS product that collects customer workflow data and stores it in the cloud. The company operates in both U.S. and EU markets, and its target users are mid-sized enterprises.

Before answering, ask any clarifying questions you need (e.g., what specific data is collected, whether any sensitive categories of data are involved, or whether contracts with third-party vendors are already in place).

This is no substitute for a lawyer, but it can surface potential compliance issues early—helping you prepare better for legal review whether with your in-house or narrowing the billable hours for external counsel.


Review and Refine

As with document drafting, don’t expect a one-and-done output. Iterate, clarify, and sometimes even ask the AI to critique its own suggestions. Run the same prompt more than once each in several different AI models, and compare outputs for richer perspectives. Return to these prompts down the road after some strategies have been implemented for a retrospective and updated gameplan.

Best Practices

  • Privacy first: Anonymize company names, figures, and client data before sharing text with any AI system.
  • Use structured prompts: Detailed and structured Role + Task + Instructions + Context consistently yields better consulting insights.
  • Validate outputs: AI can hallucinate or give outdated examples. Treat it as an assistant, not a final authority, and verify sources.
  • Build a prompt library: Save prompts for specific usecases like sales, marketing, competitor research, and risk analysis for faster reuse.

The goal is to amplify your expertise and creatively brainstorm strategic initiatives with a sophisticated LLM consultant. With anonymization and careful prompt design, AI becomes a brilliant but properly arms-length ally for sharper strategy, faster insights, and stronger decision-making.