AI tools small businesses use: real examples by tool

Pick a tool to see the real small businesses using it, what it does for them and where the story comes from. Counts are worked out from the 142 use cases on this site and update every time we add one. A use case that uses more than one tool, like n8n with OpenAI, is counted under each.

Tools with two or more examples (19)

Upfirst (22): Clinics & dental, Contractors & home services and Law firms

Claude (18): Online stores, Retail shops and Restaurants & cafés

n8n (12): Real estate, Restaurants & cafés and Salons & spas

Grok Bot (11): Contractors & home services, Schools & training and Cleaning services

ChatGPT and OpenAI (9): Real estate, Retail shops and Restaurants & cafés

BookingBee.ai (5): Salons & spas

Smith.ai (5): Clinics & dental, Law firms and Accountants & bookkeepers

VoiceBit (5): Restaurants & cafés

CallPad (4): Salons & spas

Loman AI (4): Restaurants & cafés

Maple (4): Restaurants & cafés

Mindbody Messenger[ai] (4): Gyms & fitness and Salons & spas

Twilio (4): Salons & spas, Contractors & home services and Cleaning services

Benian (2): Clinics & dental and Contractors & home services

Gemini (2): Real estate and Restaurants & cafés

Gorgias AI Agent (2): Online stores

Retell AI (2): Contractors & home services and Law firms

Slang.ai (2): Restaurants & cafés

Zapier (2): Cleaning services and Clinics & dental

Other tools (one example each)

• AgentZap: Answer barbershop calls and book appointments with an AI receptionist
• Arini: Turn a dental office's missed calls into booked visits
• AutoGenie AI: Book auto repair appointments and follow up on declined work with AI calls and chat
• Certus AI: Replace five busy pizzeria phone lines with one AI that takes every order
• CloudTalk: Call every new gym lead within seconds and book their free trial with AI
• Cyberstaff: Let an AI receptionist take plumbing job details while you stay on the tools
• delight.ai: Book HVAC repairs end to end during a heat wave
• ElevenLabs: Answer tenant maintenance calls and create work orders with a voice agent
• Eve: Answer law firm intake calls and pass hot cases to staff
• FrontDeskReply: Answer calls and website chats while the owner teaches classes
• Hatch AI: Replace HVAC voicemail with an AI that books after-hours calls
• Invenix: Book auto repairs by phone and text, with reminders that cut no-shows
• Law Practice AI: Let a solo injury lawyer's AI handle intake and score leads 24/7
• Make: Stop missing plumbing calls with an AI receptionist tied to ServiceTitan
• OpenClaw: Run supplier orders, payroll and shipment tracking for a tea shop
• Playmaker: Book HVAC and pest control jobs after 5 PM with an AI phone agent
• Reviewly AI: Get more Google reviews with automatic text requests and AI replies
• Salon Agent AI: Book and cancel salon appointments after hours with an AI receptionist linked to Phorest
• Savvy Agents: Cover two dental offices' phones with one AI receptionist
• ServiceTitan AI Virtual Agent: Book HVAC and plumbing jobs after hours, in English and Spanish, with an AI agent
• Sonant: Stop constant phone interruptions at a small insurance agency
• Telnyx: Follow up with motivated-seller leads by text and hand off hot replies
• Vapi: Take pizzeria phone orders during the dinner rush
• VoiceController: Answer the auto shop phone when advisors are busy and book repairs
• Zoom Virtual Agent: Let a one-person practice book new clients at night with an AI receptionist
• Zuper: Keep a roofing company answering the phone through a storm surge

Custom-built or unnamed tools

The source doesn't name a product, or the business built its own.

• AI voice agent: Answer plumbing calls 24/7 and book jobs into the calendar
• AI agent workflows: Send a follow-up and review request after every finished job
• 6-agent AI receptionist: Answer every cleaning-business call and book jobs while owners are on site
• AI call and text assistant: Let an AI assistant answer a chiro clinic's phones and book visits
• AI voice receptionist + booking automation (built by Veltra AI): Quote, book and follow up on pest control jobs while you're on site
• AI agent (invoice and contract audit): Catch shipping overcharges by having an AI agent check every invoice against your contract
• Custom AI receptionist (built by Speed Wraith): Answer every call at a martial arts gym and flag cancellations
• Custom AI booking agent (built by Enorness) in Meta messaging: Reply to gym leads in Instagram and Facebook messages
• Haniya, an AI host the owner built (works with the restaurant's POS): Replace a missing server with an AI host for table, phone and after-hours orders
• AI agents the founder set up (tool not named): Build AI 'chief of staff, CMO and CFO' helpers to cut weekly admin
• Kat, an AI phone attendant the owners built (now sold as Noodl): Let an AI phone attendant handle takeout, reservation and job calls
• AI tools (not named): Write staff training manuals and SOPs with AI to make onboarding easier
• AI tools (not named): Use AI to plan how much stock to bring to each event and automate invoices