Connect ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot to your business systems, safely
ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot can't see your quotes, invoices or pipeline until you connect them. Here's how to do it safely.
For UK firms on Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, with tools like Xero, QuickBooks or HubSpot.
Open the guide
Written by Ben Atkinson, Streamlined Analytics. Steps checked against Claude and ChatGPT's live settings and each provider's help pages, 3 October 2026.
- ✓ Step-by-step set-up for Claude, ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot
- ✓ Which plan you need, and what happens to your data on it
- ✓ What to sort out before you connect anything
- ✓ What ready-made connectors can't do, and how to fill the gaps
Why it matters
of UK employees have used AI tools at work that their employer hadn't approved.
Microsoft / Censuswide, October 2025
higher productivity for UK small businesses that adopted AI than for similar firms that didn't, and as much as 133% in the study's highest estimate.
University of St Andrews, 2025 (about 10,000 UK SMEs)
of UK businesses say AI is too complex or hard to fit in with their existing systems, which holds them back.
DSIT, AI adoption research, 2026
Three things to know first
- Every major assistant can now read your files and systems like Xero or HubSpot, but only once you connect them, and the plan you are on decides how much control you get.
- On business plans your content isn't used for training. On personal plans it can be, unless each person switches it off.
- Ready-made connectors read and report. They don't know what your figures mean, and most can't change data, such as raising an invoice.
What's in the guide
- 01What "connecting" your assistant actually means
- 02Four things to sort out before you connect anything
- 03Step-by-step set-up for Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot
- 04The three assistants compared
- 05Everyday tools you can connect today
- 06What you can ask, and what still trips it up
- 07Five things connectors won't fix for you
- 08What a custom connection adds, and what we build
Common questions
Is it safe to connect ChatGPT to Xero?
It can be, if you do it properly. Use a business plan so your data isn't used for training, connect only official or trusted connectors, and keep anything that changes data behind a person's approval. Xero's official connections for ChatGPT and Claude read and report but can't raise invoices.
What does connecting an AI assistant cost?
Connecting is included in the assistants' plans. Every Claude plan can use connectors, ChatGPT's business plans give you full control of your own connections, and Microsoft 365 Copilot Business is £16.10 per user a month, paid yearly, ex VAT. The guide sets out which plan you need for each.
Which assistant should a small business use?
Usually the one that fits the tools you already run. Copilot suits firms living in Outlook, Teams and SharePoint; Claude is the easiest to connect to other systems; and if your team already uses ChatGPT, move everyone onto a business plan. The bigger decision is what your data looks like, not which assistant reads it.