One project per client: how to set it up
Give each client its own AI project, so nobody has to explain the client twice.
Most agencies use AI the same way: one long chat, the client’s name typed at the top, and the same background pasted in again next week. It works until it doesn’t. The voice drifts, a rule gets forgotten, and the person who knew the client best is on holiday.
A project per client fixes that. Claude and ChatGPT both keep a client’s file and instructions inside a project, so every chat in it starts out knowing who the client is and what is off limits.
What goes in the project
Three things. The agency file says who you are and how you use AI. The client file says who the client is, how they sound, which words and claims are off limits, and their rules for AI. The project instructions tell the AI to read both before every job and to say so in its first line.
Keep the originals in your agency’s shared folder, not in the AI tool. The project holds copies. When something changes, change the original and replace the copy.
One long chat
The client is explained again every week
The rules live in one person’s memory
Each person gets a different answer
Nothing to hand to a new hire
A project per client
The AI reads the client file before every job
The rules are written down, with a review date
Everyone works from the same file
A new hire opens the project and starts
If the client file is not in the project, the AI is guessing.
Claude and ChatGPT, side by side
In ChatGPT, projects work on every plan, the free one included, and can be shared with the team on every plan. Choose project-only memory when you create the project, paste the instructions into the project settings and add the files as sources. The free plan allows five files per project and three uploads a day: enough for one new client a day.
In Claude, projects work on every plan too, with up to five on the free plan. Add the instructions, upload the files to the project and turn off account memory for it. Sharing a project with the team needs the Team plan.
Keeping it true
A client file goes stale quietly. Give each one an owner and a review date, every three months unless the client moves faster. When a job teaches you something new about the client, add it to the original, then replace the copy in the project.
Ask the AI to start every reply by naming the client file it used. That one line is your check that it read the file, and the first thing to look at when an answer feels off.
Three things to do this week
01
Write the client file
Use the Client File on the Bench, or let the setup assistant in your kit read the client’s website and ask you the rest.
02
Make the project
Name it after the client, add the instructions and both files, and keep its memory to the project.
03
Test it with a real request
Ask for three captions. The reply should start by naming the client file. If it does not, check the files and the instructions.
Project instructions, short version
This project is for [client]. Before every job, read the agency file and the [client] file. Start every reply with one line: Using the [client] file. Follow the client’s rules for AI: if a request breaks one, name the rule and offer an alternative. End with anything new we learned about the client, for the client file.
Conclusion
01
One client, one project, with the client’s file and rules inside.
02
Write the client file once, keep the original in a shared folder and review it every three months.
03
Ask for client work in the client’s project, never in a general chat.
Go to next