Which AI Is Best for Real Business Tasks? We Ran an Experiment!

AI is everywhere, we know this and its overwhelming! The question is often which tools actually deliver when it comes to real business challenges?

To find out, we ran a side-by-side experiment with six of today’s leading AI platforms:

✅ ChatGPT ✅ Claude ✅ Gemini ✅ Copilot ✅ Perplexity ✅ Google AI

Our goal: Put them through real-world business scenarios — the kind of work business leaders and marketing teams face every day.

We recorded the whole thing in one screen-shared video, capturing each prompt, each response, and our live reactions. The video isn’t sexy and my commentary could use some editing, but I was more interested in getting this to you quickly! And in all honesty, its already dated because ChatGPT5 came out after I recorded this. It was still a fun and interesting experiment.

Why We Did This

With AI tools everywhere, it’s easy to be overwhelmed. Our clients (and team) want to know:

• Which tools are actually helpful for business use cases?
• Do they offer more than just clever wordplay?
• Which one delivers the most usable output with the least editing?

This experiment was designed to be practical, not academic, using prompts that reflect daily business tasks in different industries.

The Experiment

We chose three unique prompts, each tied to a specific industry and business function:

Each prompt was submitted as-is to all 6 tools, with no follow-ups, tweaks, or clarifications to simulate real-time, one-shot usage.

We evaluated the responses using a 30-point scoring rubric across six categories, rating each item on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the best:

• Clarity & Structure – Is the response logically organized? Easy to read or follow?
• Relevance to Prompt – Does it fully answer the prompt? Any major gaps or misunderstandings?
• Tone & Voice – Is the tone appropriate for the scenario (e.g. warm, professional, empathetic)?
• Industry Awareness – Does it reflect realistic knowledge of the industry or business function?
• Originality / Insight – Any creative phrasing, thoughtful touches, or helpful nuance beyond the obvious?
• Immediate Usability – Could you use or lightly tweak this as-is for your business or client?

Prompt 1: LinkedIn Post

Write a LinkedIn post celebrating an asphalt and paving company’s 50th anniversary. Keep it professional yet warm, mention the company’s Midwest roots, long-standing commitment to quality, and appreciation for employees and clients. End with a forward-looking note.

Winner: ChatGPT ChatGPT delivered a heartfelt, cleanly structured post that felt ready to publish. Copilot and Claude also shined — Claude was longer, more reflective, while Copilot was pragmatic and branded.

Weakest: Google AI stitched together fragments like a search snippet. Perplexity was mid-tier but bland.

Prompt 2: Process Documentation

Create a 5-step onboarding checklist for a new Business Development Rep joining a residential drywall company. The checklist should help them understand the company’s services, CRM workflow, outreach responsibilities, and weekly meeting cadence.

Winner: Claude Claude turned in a document you’d proudly hand to HR: clearly formatted, timestamped, and filled with practical checklists.

ChatGPT’s version was slightly simpler but highly usable. Gemini was comprehensive, Copilot was lean and focused, and Google AI felt like a generic HR template.

Weakest: Perplexity came out serviceable but barebones.

Prompt 3: Problem Solving

Our metal stamping company lost access to our Facebook business page after the marketing manager left the company. We don’t have full admin rights anymore. List the steps we can take to recover access or regain control of the page, assuming the former employee is unresponsive.

Winners: Gemini & ChatGPT (Tie) Both gave step-by-step solutions, official URLs, escalation paths, and prevention advice. Copilot also performed well here.

Weakest: Perplexity delivered an incomplete response, not helpful in a real crisis.

Takeaways…

1. Not all AI is created equal. Some tools shine at creative writing, others at process documentation, and a few fall short when stakes are high.
2. Prompt quality matters as does platform intelligence.
3. AI can be a strategic business assistant — especially for writing SOPs, troubleshooting fast issues, and drafting content..

But you still need human oversight and the right tool for the job.

What experiment should we run next? What are your AI questions that we can answer for you?