On this episode of the podcast, we discuss buying a franchise in the age of ChatGPT.
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More franchise candidates now begin their search in a chatbot rather than a search engine, while franchisors are using AI to find, qualify, and market to those same people. Steve Buors, CEO and co-founder of Reshift Media, joins Allison to explain what that shift means if you’re thinking about buying a franchise. He covers where AI helps most (narrowing sectors, summarizing a dense FDD, surfacing franchisee sentiment) and where it misleads, including confident wrong answers and mixed-up brands with similar names. He also lays out the questions to ask a franchisor about its AI plans, why showing up in AI answers matters as much as ranking on Google, and one easy habit to build this month. If you’re researching a franchise, it’s a practical guide to using AI with your eyes open, and to knowing when to put the chatbot down and call a real franchisee.
Show notes
Guest: Steve Buors, CEO and co-founder of Reshift Media, a digital marketing company that works with franchisors and franchisees.
What you’ll learn
- How candidates are using AI at every stage of the search, often without realizing it (Google’s AI Overviews and Gemini)
- Why AI answers can be confidently wrong, and how to verify them with a second tool, cited sources, and the franchisor’s website
- How to use an LLM on an FDD, including turning it into a podcast or a bulleted summary
- Why Steve is wary of franchisors using chatbots to pre-qualify candidates
- Questions to ask a brand about its AI strategy and local search presence
- How to try different AI tools and write better prompts
Key takeaways
- AI is a strong research starting point, but double-check specifics like costs and earnings with another tool or the franchisor’s own materials.
- Ask the AI to cite its sources, then follow them.
- Upload the FDD to an LLM to flag anything worth a closer look.
- An LLM doesn’t replace calling current franchisees.
- Local and AI search are blurring together, so ask how a brand makes sure it shows up in AI answers. Steve says a franchisor that can’t answer is a red flag.
- Steve says franchising interest has been higher in 2026 than ever.
- This month: try a few different AI tools, give them detailed prompts about your budget, background, and goals, or use your voice.
Resources
- Read: The Five Most Important Questions to Ask Before Buying a Franchise
- Listen: Five Marketing Questions to Ask Before Buying a Franchise
- Read: What Do You Need To Do To Start a Franchise? Your Due Diligence Checklist
- Read: Using AI for Franchise Research
Transcript
Allison Dudas (00:02)
Welcome back to the podcast. I’m Allison Dudas from Franchise Business Review. Today’s franchise candidates are researching in a very different way than they were even two years ago, with many starting their search in a chatbot rather than a search engine. At the same time, franchisers are using AI to find, qualify, and market to those same candidates and to support the franchisees that they already have. To help us sort out what that means for anyone considering an investment.
I’m joined today by Steve Buors, CEO and co founder of Reshift Media. Steve, thanks for coming.
Steve Buors (00:39)
So happy to be here. Thanks for having me, Allison.
Allison Dudas (00:41)
So let’s just dive right into it. let’s talk about your vantage point, kind of where you’re coming from. What does reshift media do? And what are you seeing from the franchiser side of candidate marketing?
Steve Buors (00:53)
Yeah, so we’re a digital marketing company. We specialize in franchise organizations. So we work with franchise oars and franchisees in twenty-two different countries, I think we’re up to now.
Allison Dudas (01:05)
Wow.
Steve Buors (01:05)
200 different brands. And we do everything from social media to search to website development to apps to franchise development in terms of helping franchise oars find new franchisees and everything in between that’s digital.
Allison Dudas (01:19)
So so all of it, all of it. And as a fellow marketing person, I I I relate heavily. Okay, so in general, this just like a a quick question before we delve into the details, what do you think is the biggest change you’ve noticed in how candidates find and evaluate brands in this new age?
Steve Buors (01:36)
Well,
there’s no question AI is a game changer. I’ve been doing so many talks to franchisors lately, just in the fact that, you know, it’s totally different how people are finding franchise brands that they’re interested in investing in. Cause it’s a huge deal. People are deciding to, you know, change their whole life. They’re deciding to become entrepreneurs and they’re trying to pick the right brand. So it’s only natural they’re gonna do more due diligence. And with AI, you know.
information is right at your fingertips now. You don’t have to try and go go through 400 different websites. You don’t have to go read the Reddit forums and all that stuff. With a very simple query you can get a lot of information on franchise brands very, very quickly.
Allison Dudas (02:19)
Yeah, it’s definitely a shortcut. And I think it’s important. I think that the people out there who who are resistant to AI, I certainly understand their misgivings, and I think we have a lot of reason to be to be wary. And also this is happening, right? So if you are looking to invest in a franchise, you should be versed enough
to use these tools to benefit your search. And then of course, if you decide to invest in a franchise to benefit your business ownership. All right, so let’s talk about the candidates. Where are candidates turning to AI today? And what are they getting right when they do that?
Steve Buors (02:59)
That’s a great question. So it’s interesting how AI has just sort of worked its way into
people finding things. So there are, of course, those who go straight to Chat GPT or Claude or Perplexity, and they they’ve chosen you know their AI of choice. But even if you haven’t, even if you’re still going to trust the old Google, Google has injected those AI overviews and Gemini so assertively into the search results that it’s so natural now. If if you do a search on almost anything, never mind franchise opportunity.
You’re gonna gravitate towards that amazing consolidated answer that’s in AI overviews. And then if you ask a follow-up in that handy dandy little box they have there, boom, you’re
Allison Dudas (03:42)
Back up.
Steve Buors (03:44)
in Gemini. Right. So you’re not even really trying to use AI, but just through the very nature of how it’s been integrated, you are. And it’s from a franchise development perspective, it’s it’s a huge help because it can help you at every stage of your decision-making process, right?
When I’m trying to decide even what sector do I want to be in. Or maybe I just know I want to be an entrepreneur and I haven’t figured out what that looks like. Maybe I hadn’t even thought of franchising. Maybe I I think I’m gonna start my own small business. And next thing you know, it’s like, well, franchising is a natural opportunity. So I find that AI is operating at every level of the decision-making journey for prospective franchise owners at this point.
Allison Dudas (04:29)
Hm. Yeah, I think that’s a good point. And and what do you feel like where are the ways that AI searches for candidates are falling short? Obviously i you explained it very well how it’s supporting, but where where is it falling short? Where does it not cut it?
Steve Buors (04:43)
Well, sometimes it’s wrong. So we’ve all heard about AI hallucinating and it
Allison Dudas (04:47)
Yes, yes.
Steve Buors (04:50)
happens more than you like or more than you expect, and
Allison Dudas (04:53)
Yes.
Steve Buors (04:53)
it presents it in a very factual way.
And even when you try and challenge the AI sometimes and you’re well, are you sure? They’re Yes, of course I’m sure. So the thing I would caution anyone who’s using AI to make such a massive decision in their life is double check it, right? So use another platform. So as an example, if you’re on you know Google Gemini and it’s saying certain things, pop over
Allison Dudas (05:16)
Mm.
Steve Buors (05:16)
to Chat GPT and just vet it.
Allison Dudas (05:18)
Right.
Steve Buors (05:19)
or go to the franchise or website, which should have a lot of this information and check that out. So using AI.
Allison Dudas (05:26)
Point.
Steve Buors (05:26)
sort of shape your journey and give you general information is really good. But when you’re getting down to brass tacks and you’re looking at real specifics, like, you know, what do I think I can make from this franchise system or how much does this franchise system cost for me to buy into, double check
Allison Dudas (05:40)
It’s
Steve Buors (05:42)
the facts because sometimes it’ll it’ll even mix up different franchise systems if the names are similar, right? It’ll pull in data from the wrong brand. And you know, you just don’t want to be going down a rabbit hole if if the information isn’t correct. So that’s that’s my
My
biggest knock on AI is it’s kinda like a trusted friend that that sometimes has had a few drinks and isn’t quite right, you know? So you just gotta make sure.
Allison Dudas (06:06)
That’s
a great comparison. I one of the things that I insist on doing when I use AI for research is I always ask it to cite its sources. And then it makes it easier for me to double check. And then you know if it’s claiming that franchisees in a certain brand are are making X amount of dollars a a year, you can click on that and say, well, where is that information coming from? Is that actually something that’s being reported in the FDD, or is that just some random claim that somebody made?
Or is it a complete hallucination? And I think having having the AI tool cited sources is such a it’s such a helpful thing for me to do, I know.
Steve Buors (06:47)
I I completely agree. that that is a great tip. and even having it double check. So once it’s given you, right, and it’s got its sources, you’re like, I want you to find another source or I want you to double check that, or even just straight up challenging it. Or like I said, go to a different AI bot and try it there. So I
Allison Dudas (07:05)
Yeah.
Steve Buors (07:05)
think those are great tips for sure.
Allison Dudas (07:07)
Yeah, get some comparison. So obviously just in general, research candidates can use an LLM, but once they have selected one or two franchise brands that they’re doing their due diligence on, what are some good tips for that due diligence? When we talk about due diligence, just for people listening, like really digging into a a specific brand. so you’re sort of settled on the healthcare sector or you’re sort of settled on the senior care sector and you you’ve honed in on a couple brands.
what what are s what are some things that candidates should do once they hone in on specific brands?
Steve Buors (07:43)
Well, you want to really make sure it fits your lifestyle. You want to make sure that they’re a good franchise or to work with. So what’s nice is the AI aggregates information from not just the franchise or website. So Reddit, Quora, other forums often give more qualitative information about a franchise system. So are they, you know, a franchise or that’s good to work with? Do they have high turnover?
Allison Dudas (08:10)
Yeah.
Steve Buors (08:11)
you know, do do people
Find once they get in there that there’s an easy setup, or does it take a lot longer to do a build-out? and you know, trying to verify some of those financials as well. So I’ll tell you, this is something I’ve been talking with on the franchise or side a lot about. Franchise ORs are very private with obviously a lot of their friend financial information. And they obviously can’t
Allison Dudas (08:33)
Mm.
Steve Buors (08:33)
make promises, right? For legal reasons. They can’t
Allison Dudas (08:35)
Sure. For legal reasons.
Steve Buors (08:37)
Yep, they can’t promise results. but in this age where information is so easy to find, my advice to franchisors is be more open with that and make it easier for people to make decisions. So hopefully as we go forward, you’re gonna be able to access more of that through an AI-based system. So you can now really make sure that it fits your lifestyle, fits your expectations, and that it’s a type of brand that, you know, matches your value system.
Allison Dudas (09:03)
I
think that’s a great point. And I have to do a plug for franchise business review because that’s the company that obviously I work for. a lot of our surveys are are being pulled into LLMs because we we yearly survey franchisees across many franchise brands. And when we’re
getting that data. That’s the kind of stuff that LLMs love to pull in. Cause they’re gonna say, you know, it says 91% of franchise Z would recommend this brand to others. Or, you know, 86% say that the training and support that they receive is is exceptional, whatever it is. so I I love that point. Reddit’s great. It’s a lot of people’s r opinions being pulled in, right?
Steve Buors (09:44)
Opinions.
Allison Dudas (09:47)
But a market research company like Franchise Business Review is really going to be kind of the top tier of what you’re going to see pulled in. I also love the tip. Tony Harris Taylor was on the podcast last season and she’s a franchise broker, and she talked about once you receive a franchise brand’s FDD, actually uploading it into an LLM and having it.
comb help you comb through it, flag anything, because obviously the FDD is kind of an overwhelming document. and I thought that that was such a great tip. What do you think about that?
Steve Buors (10:20)
I think it’s a great idea. because yeah, a lot of times there’s a lot of nuance to how things are positioned in an FDD. a fun thing that I find I do, I end up driving a fair amount. So I’ll actually s if I have a big document like that, I’ll have the AI spin it off into a podcast so I can listen to it. so it’s an interesting way to consume the information. Yeah.
Allison Dudas (10:43)
That’s a great idea. That’s a great
idea. And you know, so I used to teach high school and one of the things as a teacher that I studied a lot of is how different people learn differently. And if you’re a if you excel at auditory processing, that’s such a good cheat code. Have it put it in a podcast for you. I love that. Or have it break it down into bullets if you’re somebody that needs things sort of synthesized.
what a great tip. I love, love, love that. I didn’t mean to cut you cut you off. Keep going. Bring on the bring
Steve Buors (11:12)
No no, it’s good.
Allison Dudas (11:13)
on these tips, Steve, Steve.
Steve Buors (11:16)
No, I I like that one because yeah, I I I do find I I absorb it differently. but I I absolutely agree that you know a that’s where AI excels is when it has a fixed information set and you’re querying that. it’s
Allison Dudas (11:31)
Yeah.
Steve Buors (11:31)
actually quite good at that. so I fully recommend anyone who’s looking to buy into a franchise, absolutely throw your FTD in there and make sure that you’re you’re going through it in some detail.
Allison Dudas (11:43)
Yeah. Yeah. And I will put in a plug because this is something that so many guests on the podcast say an LLM is not going to replace talking to franchisees. so you know, when you when you get that FDD and you get the information of franchisees that you can call and reach out to. Don’t skip that step. definitely don’t skip that step. Talking to real people is always going to be better than talking to AI. I feel
like that
Steve Buors (12:12)
I I completely agree.
Allison Dudas (12:14)
I feel like that’s like a life lesson there too. Like talk to real people, not fake people.
Steve Buors (12:20)
I completely agree. I think that’s a great tip.
Allison Dudas (12:23)
Well, let’s let’s shift gears a little bit. We’ve talked a lot about candidates using AI to do their due diligence and just in general to research franchise opportunities. But you work with a lot of franchisors, and how are franchisors using AI to to seek out candidates?
Steve Buors (12:45)
a number of ways. So obviously AI is excellent at data mining. So you can now identify
who your optimal candidates are by looking at you know who has been a successful franchisee. So you can start to determine, you know, is it certain background, right? If something has a business background or maybe a background in the area of the sector, you can start to look at you know, age, gender, even sorts of profiling. Even just from an advertising perspective, having a sense of who it is that’s gonna be most successful allows you to now
Tailor your marketing to the people who A are most likely to be interested in your brand and B are most likely to be successful once they become a franchisee. one thing which franchisers are starting to do, which I I keep telling them they shouldn’t, is the use of AI chatbots to pre-qualify franchisees. I think that’s a huge mistake. I really do, because that’s the most important part is when that franchisee is first starting to interact with you.
you know, establishing the brand, establishing a rapport, establishing a personality. so I do see it happening, although I’m a little dismayed by it
Allison Dudas (14:04)
so you’re sort of dismayed by the fact that some franchise brands are using AI chatbots to pre-qualify candidates. And I think you bring up a great point because one of the questions that Franchise Business Review asks in our in our surveys out to franchisees is do you trust your franchise or? And
Steve Buors (14:25)
Yeah.
Allison Dudas (14:26)
I think it’s an interesting preview into seeing how a how a
corporate how corporate franchisor, right, treats their franchisees. And is there a personal touch or is there that AI chat bot almost as like a buffer between? Do you think that those two things are correlated? Do you think that some of the brands that you’re seeing use those AI chat bots might have an issue with trust?
Steve Buors (14:57)
That’s a tough one because I think a lot of the franchisers are motivated more by efficiency when they’re trying to use a chatbot. And and it seems cool, right? It’s wow, I’m using a chatbot to pre-qualify. So that way I’m only talking to the best prospects. My feedback to them is always the same, which is, well, maybe some of those people would have been your best prospect if you didn’t put them through an AI chatbot. Right? So
Allison Dudas (15:19)
Yeah. Yeah. Some people are
really put off by that. Yeah.
Steve Buors (15:23)
Well, absolutely. Like, you know, think of yourself when you’re you’re trying to do business with any company. Like, I just want to talk to a person. Now, I got a little more gray hair and I’m a little more old school, but I do think, you know, if you’re looking for someone to invest their hard earned money in your brand.
and you know, you’re serious about getting the right people into your company, I think you take the time to have the conversation. That’s that’s just my two cents, but you know, there is it there is lots good about using AI from the franchise or perspective in terms of data mining, et cetera. I just think the human touch is really still very important.
Allison Dudas (15:57)
It really is, because it it really is people’s hard earned money and it’s a it’s a risk for them and they just wanna know that when they invest that money that they can trust the people they’re putting that money into ’cause it at the end of the day, business is about people. Business is people. yeah.
Steve Buors (16:18)
I completely agree. Well, and and
and think about these people are making a massive life decision. I say this to the franchise all the time. Is like this isn’t just, you know, people clicking ads on the other side of this. These are real people making decisions about their life. Like they’re talking with their husband, they’re talking with their wife, they’re looking at their bank account. Can I do this? Am I willing to take the risk? Like it’s a massive decision, and rightfully so.
Allison Dudas (16:43)
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah, that’s a really interesting point. So once a candidate decides to invest in a franchise, I think it’s interesting to talk about how these brands are actually using AI to support their current franchisees. And also just from a candidate’s perspective, like what what they should be looking for in some of these brands.
‘Cause
we’ve got all we’ve got all sides here. We’ve got some brands that aren’t touching AI with a ten foot pole. We’ve got some brands that are all in. what what do you think candidates should be looking at? What do you think they should be paying attention to with regards to how a brand is using AI?
Steve Buors (17:24)
I love this question so much. So
If if I’m looking to buy into a franchise system, I want to know that they’re looking at the future and they’re looking at how that future is impacting local franchisees. And there’s no question AI is changing everything. It changes how search works, it changes how advertising works, it changes how people find things. and it’s only accelerating. It’s only going to be a matter of months, not years, before the whole idea of even typing into a chatbot’s long gone, right? You’re everyone’s gonna
Allison Dudas (17:56)
Right.
Steve Buors (17:56)
talk, right?
Like even for myself, when I’m using my
Allison Dudas (17:58)
Right.
Steve Buors (18:00)
my chatbot, I don’t type anymore. I my wife makes fun of me because she can hear me yakking in here all day to the chatbot.
Allison Dudas (18:05)
Ha ha ha ha.
Steve Buors (18:07)
r running scenarios and mining data and it like I I can write a whole program just using my voice. And that’s that’s powerful and when you start to apply that to general consumers. So if I’m a franchisee walking in to talk to a franchise system, you know what one of my first questions is, you know, what’s your plan for the future? Like how do you see AI being integrated into your marketing plan? How are you making sure that consumers can find your franchisees via AI?
How you thinking about local search from an AI perspective? What marketing tools are you using from an AI perspective?
Operationally, how’s AI making your franchisees’ life easier? Right? How can they use it in their day-to-day in an effort to eliminate mundane tasks, you know, make them more efficient, but without just layering it on there as something to say you’ve got it? Right? That’s that’s the thing that worries me with some brands is they just want to say, yeah, yeah, we’re using AI. Okay, but how are you using it? Where are you using it? Where do you see it going? These are questions I’d be asking.
Allison Dudas (19:10)
Hmm. Can you talk a little bit more about local search results? Because I think specifically for I mean, for brick and mortar, but I’m thinking like home services franchises, how important that is.
Steve Buors (19:22)
it’s so critical. And we’re in this weird space where it’s all kind of blurring. So when you used to look at Google search results, it’s pretty clear the top was the ads, then they had the
Allison Dudas (19:32)
Yeah. Yep.
Steve Buors (19:33)
little map, right? Okay, that’s the local results, and then below the map is is the list. And when you think back, it’s actually kind of comical how people would use that page. And I’m saying look back, this is like two years ago, but it
Allison Dudas (19:45)
Yeah, this was like
a second ago. Right, but
Steve Buors (19:47)
Yeah,
right. But you click the blue link. no, that’s not what I want. Go back. Click the second blue link. it’s not what I want either. Click the third blue link. Hey, there it is. Whereas now with AI, all of that’s mashed into one. So they’re constantly interpreting what I want based on what they know about me, or what they know
Allison Dudas (20:05)
Mm.
Steve Buors (20:06)
about people like me, or what they know about people who search that particular query, people in my neighborhood because they know my IP address. Like there are so many different data points that are
working behind the scenes when you do any query, whether it’s ChatGPT or or Google or wherever. And so the whole idea of search and local search almost being almost two things is is dissolving so rapidly because all of those data points are being applied when I do any kind of a search, right? If I do something as benign as how do you change oil on in how do I change oil on my car?
Right. That’s that’s not a local search per se, except I will guarantee you that Gemini is gonna return. Okay, here’s how you do it. And by the way, here’s three spots in your general neighborhood if you want to do it. So
Understanding that user behavior and understanding that these lines are blurring, brands need to be so on top of how they’re presenting themselves from an AI search perspective and how they’re making sure that they’re providing the right information to the AI. So those super, super, super long-tail queries, their brand is being put forward for them.
Allison Dudas (21:21)
Hmm. Yes, and certainly something you should be aware of if you’re if you’re investigating a brand from an investment standpoint, you should see how are they showing up in Claude, how are they showing showing up in perplexity? Do they have a good presence there? And if they do, it’s just going to bode so much better for you as a future franchise owner because you’re buying into not just brand recognition anymore, not just excuse me, not just name recognition anymore, but also AEO.
what’s coming up and if brands aren’t investing in that, if they’re just relying on the same old tactics, I they’re you’re not you’re not gonna get as much bang for your buck. you’re definitely not.
Steve Buors (22:02)
Entirely. Well,
what I’ve been talking with franchisors about is you know, you might do okay in an environment where you’re in the top three or the top five on a list. Well, how are you gonna do in an environment where I I ask a chat bot verbally, where is the nearest place to get get a great pizza? And I’m getting maybe one or two answers back, you know, in an auditory perspective. How are you doing then?
Allison Dudas (22:27)
Hm.
Steve Buors (22:27)
so it’s it’s really it’s an eye-opener because it’s it’s not about being on page one. There’s not gonna be a page one, right? There isn’t a page one now, quite honestly. There’s an answer one. And so how do you get in an answer? And if you’re talking to a franchise system that can’t tell you definitively what they’re doing about that, you know, that would be a bit of a red flag for me.
Allison Dudas (22:48)
Definitely. And franchisees, they’re paying those monthly fees. And you wanna know that that’s going somewhere. And that would be the benefit here, I think, when we talk about pros and cons of of investing in a franchise versing versus going it alone is you have you have a franchise brand behind you when it comes to getting ahead of AI discoverability. whereas if you’re just going it alone, you have to figure all of that out on your own.
Steve Buors (23:17)
Good
luck.
Allison Dudas (23:18)
So yeah, and good luck.
Exactly. my gosh. Good luck. So I do think that in that regard, franchise ownership versus going it alone, I mean, has never looked more attractive as long as the brand is investing in AI and and what it means for their brand. Yeah.
Steve Buors (23:39)
I completely agree. In fact, I’m just putting together our latest version. we do an analysis every quarter of the amount of demand for people to buy a franchise. So, how much interest is there in franchising? And twenty twenty six has been just just an incredible year in this regard. And I think a lot of it’s because of what you just said, Alison, where people are starting to recognize that, you know, if I put up a mom and pop shop on the corner, I’m not gonna have the same ability to compete that as if I was part of a franchise.
Where I have these resources and I have this knowledge available to me. So franchising in 2026, the interest is higher than it’s ever been.
Allison Dudas (24:17)
Yeah, yeah. And I think we the economy is what it is right now. It’s it feels uncertain, it feels precarious, and owning your own business is always I mean, the United States is such an entrepreneurial country and so we’re still wanting to be business owners. We’re still wanting to be able to determine our own destinies, right? As far as our careers come. And franchising is a a good option and I think it’s just
even with the changing times, it it just clearly is the front runner. but I does it does kind of break my heart for some of these mom and pops that will struggle in the face of this tidal wave of AI. Yeah.
Steve Buors (25:01)
But I totally agree. Well
and it it’s interesting ’cause you know, we work with a lot of franchise systems and when the economy’s tough, which which it clearly is right now, and there’s lot of uncertainty, clearly
and but to your point, people still want to be an entrepreneur. So franchising feels like a safe way to go because you got, you know, organization behind you and you got repeatable model, etc. But what I also find funny is when the economy is doing great, franchising also does great because you got all these new entrepreneurs. So ha ha so fr franchising’s always the answer. It’s always the answer.
Allison Dudas (25:35)
Thank you for coming to the podcast. No.
Steve Buors (25:37)
Yes.
Allison Dudas (25:38)
that’s so funny. Well, I do I do want to wrap up, Steve. This has been so interesting. And I guess I wanna put you on the spot here a little bit and and ask you just from a takeaway for a candidate that’s listening, somebody who’s thinking about investing in f in franchising, what’s one thing that they could do this month to get smarter about AI and franchising?
Steve Buors (25:58)
Ooh, that is a tough one.
I would encourage you to
Try a few different AIs. So I think what’s happened is a lot of people have kind of bought into their one. ChatGPT was obviously the front runner early on, and a lot of people jumped on ChatGPT. If you haven’t tried Gemini or particularly Claude, perplexities fallen off a little bit, I would encourage you to try those because what you’ll find is you get a little something different from each of them. And you might find that for specific use cases, you’re gonna enjoy a different one for different uses.
a little better if you like doing images, one’s better if you like doing you know analytics, one’s better if you want to research franchising. So if you want to get smarter about AI in general, my my advice would be try a few different ones and try writing your questions differently. it’s it’s different than just search where you do like one line and you get you know your list of links.
Give it a lot. And and if you want
Allison Dudas (27:04)
Yes.
Steve Buors (27:05)
to try it, turn the microphone on and just say it, because you’ll say a lot of stuff. You’ll find that naturally. and you’ll be surprised at how detailed those those search results really become.
Allison Dudas (27:16)
That’s a good point. Tell tell the LLM exactly what you’re looking for, exactly what your budget is, your investment level, exactly where your
territory is, exactly what kind of lifestyle you want. Tell it everything and then see what it comes up with. yeah, I think that that’s such a such a good point. And I love I love the tip to try different LLMs because I do think we get we get comfortable in one. And the reality is it’s actually kind of not that hard to switch from one to another. They’re fairly user they are very user friendly and
There’s no big shift when switching from one to another. Yeah.
Steve Buors (27:59)
No, they all let you try it for free. You you know, once you do
a certain number of searches or if you want some more powerful, they try and charge you, but they’ll all let you do some stuff for free. So I encourage you to try it. And and I loved your tip, Allison. You know, the example I’ve been using when I talk to people about this is
you know, give it even a bit of your background. I know a lot of people are worried that that the AI is gonna steal all your information and sell on the the black market. It’s really not. Like, you know, as as important as you are, as long as you don’t put your banking information in there, you’re gonna be just fine. So if you say, you know, I I have a background in marketing, I’ve been doing it for 30 years, my passion is this, I have these skills, I’m interested in this sort of a sector, here’s how much I have to spend, you’ll be amazed at just how
detailed that result will be for you.
Allison Dudas (28:45)
Yeah, I that’s a great tip. And ask it to cite its sources. Follow those sources. When you
Steve Buors (28:49)
Yes, yes.
Allison Dudas (28:51)
when you f when you see something or when it tells you something that you’re really interested in, make sure you get that source you so you can follow it.
I wanna do, I wanna do one more plug, Steve. So we we just launched what’s called Franchise Business Reviews Academy. And this is actually an online course that we’ve put together. It’s completely free for people who are thinking about buying a franchise, and they can enlist, enroll in this course, and it takes them through different units that go through like what each sector is, different ways to finance a franchise, what you should be looking for, what questions you should ask a franchise or what questions you should ask.
franchisees of that brand as you’re doing your due diligence and so on. So make sure that you check that out, franchisebusinessreview.com and just go to the academy. It’s right one of the top menus. But you just made me think about all of this because an LLM is gonna help you. It’s gonna really get those juices flowing and you’re gonna really start to do that research. And then also knowing knowing what sources to trust, really knowing like where that information’s coming from is key.
Steve Buors (29:59)
What? I’m gonna check that out myself. It sounds interesting.
Allison Dudas (30:02)
Good. Yeah, you you should. You should. Well, any any last words of wisdom, Steve? Anything else that we should know?
Steve Buors (30:09)
No, I just, you know, I encourage everyone who’s doing any research on owning their own business to absolutely use AI, but use it, as we’ve said, you know, with a little bit of caution. Sometimes it will steer you a little awry, but just like everything else, you know, you have to apply your own intelligence. So good hunting.
Allison Dudas (30:27)
Yeah, wonderful. Thank you so much, Steve. I really, really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. Have a good day, everybody. Happy, happy researching.
