What are Large Language Models and What do They Actually Do

I get asked this all the time by business owners: “What do large language models actually do and why should I care?”

If you're running a small or mid-sized company, it’s not enough to know what AI is. You need to know how it helps your team work faster, communicate better, and stay ahead of the curve, without hiring an army of specialists or spending six figures on tools that don’t fit your workflow.

So let’s break this down without the jargon.

What is a Large Language Model?

A large language model (LLM) is an AI tool trained to understand and generate human-like text. It’s been fed billions of words from books, articles, forums, emails, help docs, and everything in between.

That doesn’t mean it’s smart in a human sense. What it can do is recognize patterns in how we speak and write, then generate new content that fits those patterns.

It can write a press release, summarize a legal doc, answer a customer question, or generate product ideas within seconds. That’s the real power of generative AI for small businesses: it works at the speed of thought, on-demand, without waiting on an expert.

What is an Example of a LLM?

The most popular example is ChatGPT, which is powered by a large language model called GPT‑4, built by OpenAI. Other well-known LLMs include Claude (by Anthropic), Gemini (by Google), and Mistral (open-source).

But here’s the part most businesses miss: These models become way more valuable when they’re trained on your content.

Imagine ChatGPT but trained on your SOPs, customer emails, product docs, and sales playbooks. Now it doesn’t just answer questions generically, it answers like someone on your team would.

That’s the kind of AI for small business that actually drives results.

Where SMBs Are Using LLMs Right Now

You don’t need to be a tech company to make use of this. We’ve helped small and mid-sized teams across Canada and the U.S. in practical, measurable ways.

Marketing Teams

Use AI to create first drafts of newsletters, social media posts, ad copy, or blog intros so nothing starts from a blank page.

Customer Service

AI agents handle common questions instantly by referencing help center content or past tickets. The human team steps in only when it matters.

Sales Teams

Reps speed up personalized outreach with AI that references the customer’s industry, previous interaction, or buying stage.

Internal Operations

Set up a private chatbot trained on your company processes, so any employee can ask “How do I do X?” and get a consistent, instant answer. For ex., Imagine being able to ask a chatbot how to process a refund and it answers using your own company’s process, not something generic. That’s what internal AI agents are doing right now for businesses with even just 15–20 employees.

Customer Service

LLMs can read your help center articles and answer common questions instantly. Your support team handles the hard stuff, and AI takes the repetitive load.

Industry-specific automation

If you're in travel, prof services or consulting, LLMs can be customized to write quotes, proposals, or reports. We’ve built low-code AI agents that do exactly that trained on company-specific info, ready to use by non-technical teams.

Why This Works for SMBs (Not Just Tech Giants)

Large companies have entire teams to handle documentation, messaging, onboarding, and support. You probably don’t and that’s exactly why LLMs can help.

They give your team a way to:

• Draft faster (emails, FAQs, reports, internal guides)

• Communicate more consistently

• Scale without burning out

• Rely less on tribal knowledge

• Spend less time rewording and formatting

You still need humans to guide, edit, and approve but you don’t need them doing the repetitive mental heavy lifting anymore.

And the cost? It's often cheaper than adding headcount or outsourcing to agencies.

Don’t Just Use ChatGPT. Train It on Your Business

Generic tools like ChatGPT are a good start. But where AI for small business really shines is when it's trained on your files, your team’s knowledge, and your workflows.

That’s where custom AI agents come in.

Think:

• A chatbot trained on your SOPs

• A proposal writer that knows your pricing model

• An assistant that remembers every past conversation with a client

This isn’t science fiction, it’s already happening inside businesses your size. We build and deploy these every week.

Want to Try This in Your Business?

Start small.

Pick one part of your company that runs on written communication sales, onboarding, support, documentation and test a use case with AI.

And if you want help figuring out how to train a custom AI agent or deploy low-code tools for your team, we are happy to show you what’s possible.

📩 Ready to see what AI can actually do for your business? Reach out to start your pilot. AI consulting for small businesses, ai consultants in canada for smbs