Create a customer feedback survey
A practical way to use AI for this job in a small business, with a prompt you can copy.
You'd love to know what customers really think, but surveys feel like a big job and you're not sure what to ask. So you just guess.
The prompt
Write a 5-question customer feedback survey for [business]. Mix 2 rating questions and 3 open questions. Keep it under 2 minutes to complete. Include a short intro message.
Replace everything in [square brackets] with your own details. Don't paste in anything you wouldn't want stored by the AI provider.
Steps
- Run the prompt.
- Build it in Google Forms or Microsoft Forms.
- Send to recent customers.
- Paste the answers back into AI and ask for themes.
A worked example
A Hobart yoga studio asks ChatGPT for a five-question survey for members who've been coming for three months. The prompt asks for a mix of rating and open questions, under three minutes to complete. The result covers class times, favourite classes, what would make them come more often, and one open 'anything else?'.
She builds it in Google Forms in 15 minutes and sends it to 80 members. Thirty-four respond. The clear theme: people want an earlier weekday class. She adds a 6am class and it fills within a fortnight.
Where it goes wrong
AI writes leading questions like 'How much did you love our service?'. Rewrite them to be neutral. It also tends to make surveys too long. Cut ruthlessly. And don't ask questions you won't act on; it wastes everyone's time.
Time saved
Designing a decent survey takes an hour or two of fiddling. With AI it's about 30 minutes, including building the form. These are my estimates for a typical small business, not measured results.
What it costs (AUD)
Google Forms and Microsoft Forms are free or included in your existing plan.
The free plans of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini handle this fine. If you end up using AI every day, the paid plans are roughly: ChatGPT Plus approx. A$30 a month, Claude Pro approx. A$29 a month billed monthly (US$20, or about A$24 a month if you pay yearly), and Google AI Pro approx. A$33 a month through the App Store. Prices approx., October 2026. Some are billed in US dollars, so your bank may add a foreign transaction fee. Check the vendor's pricing page before you buy.
Australian notes
Only ask for personal information you actually need. If you collect names or emails, tell people how you'll use them; that's good practice under the Privacy Act even if you're under the $3 million threshold. If you offer a prize for completing the survey, check trade promotion rules in your state.
Privacy: the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) cover most businesses turning over more than $3 million, plus some smaller ones such as health providers. Even if you're under the threshold, treat customer details with care: strip names, phone numbers and addresses before you paste anything into an AI tool.
My verdict
Easy, and the 'find the themes' step is where AI shines.
Common questions
How many questions should a survey have?
Five to eight. More than that and people drop off.
Should it be anonymous?
Anonymous surveys get more honest answers. Make names optional.
Can AI analyse the results?
Yes. Export the responses (without names) and ask for themes.
Do this today
Write down the one thing you most want to know from customers. Ask AI for a five-question survey built around it, and send it this week.
More customer service use cases
Next: Explain your profit and loss in plain English · All customer service · Want a bot to do this automatically? See bot setup guides.