Custom Instructions vs Business Information: What's The Difference?

Last Updated 23/05/2025

When setting up your AI Assistant in Neexa, you’ll come across two powerful tools: Custom Instructions and Business Information. While both are designed to help your AI sound smarter and more aligned with your brand, they serve very different purposes.

Let’s break it down.

Custom Instructions: How Your AI Behaves

Think of Custom Instructions as the personality and behavior settings of your AI.

This is where you tell your AI how to act, what tone to use, how to greet customers, and even what not to say. These instructions shape the AI’s style, making it feel more human, more on-brand, and more relevant for your business.

Use Custom Instructions when:

• You want the AI to sound a certain way (formal, fun, simple, etc.).
• You need to control how it starts and ends conversations.
• You want to define what the AI should or shouldn’t talk about.
• You’re setting boundaries for safety, compliance, or tone.

It’s not about what the AI knows, it’s about how it responds.

Read More in Adding Custom Instructions: Custom Instructions vs Business Information: What's The Difference?

Business Information: What Your AI Knows

This is the Knowledge Base of your AI. It contains everything your assistant needs to actually answer customer questions.

You feed it information about what you do, what you offer, how your services work, your pricing, policies, anything your customers might ask about.

You can add this information by:

• Typing in text entries
• Uploading brochures, FAQs, or service docs
• Letting Neexa fetch it directly from your website

Use Business Information when:

• You want your AI to explain your services accurately.
• You need it to answer product or pricing questions.
• You want to upload existing content like PDFs or guides.
• You need to ensure responses reflect your actual business operations.

Read More in Training Your AI: Custom Instructions vs Business Information: What's The Difference?

How They Work Together

• Custom Instructions define how your AI talks.
• Business Information defines what your AI says.

For example, Business Info might include:

“We offer free shipping for orders over $50.”
And your Custom Instructions could ensure your AI says it like:
“Awesome news! 🎉 Shipping’s on us if you spend over $50!”

Together, they create a powerful, on-brand AI that knows what it’s talking about and sounds just like your team.

⚠️ Important: Instructions Always Come First

If there’s ever a conflict between Custom Instructions and Business Information, the AI will always prioritize Custom Instructions. This makes Custom Instructions your go-to tool for control, tone, and restrictions, especially when you want the AI to ignore or override certain facts.

Final Tip: Use Both for Best Results

Don’t pick one over the other. These two features are meant to work hand-in-hand. Custom Instructions help your AI behave the way you want, while Business Information gives it the right facts to work with.

Set both up correctly, and your AI Assistant will feel less like a bot, and more like your smartest, most reliable team member.