{ "business": "Ownbox HQ", "updated": "2026-11-11T16:05:44+00:00", "answers": [ { "question": "What is Ownbox?", "answer": "Ownbox is one central system a company owns, where its AI agents and its team do real work together. It is the Shared AI Brain: the team and its AI agents work from one company brain.\n\nEveryone is building AI agents right now, and almost no one has built them a place to work. Ownbox is that place.", "source": { "title": "What Ownbox is", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/what-ownbox-is-3bc9e6473b.md" } }, { "question": "What comes with every Ownbox?", "answer": "Every Ownbox comes with seven things running from day one:\n\n- **The Shared AI Brain.** One place for the company's files and knowledge, which the team and every AI agent work from. See \"The Shared AI Brain\".\n- **A Business Agent.** The documents you approve into your Public folder become answers that ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and any AI agent can read. See \"The Business Agent\".\n- **Your own AI.** Ownbox runs on the Claude or ChatGPT plan you already pay for, or on a free OpenRouter account that uses free AI models. Because you own the Ownbox, the sign-in is yours, and there is no second AI bill on top.\n- **Two-way connections for AI agents.** The AI you already use, like ChatGPT or Claude, can work inside your Ownbox on your own business records. Your Ownbox also reaches out to the other apps you already use, so your agents can read from them too.\n- **One dashboard for your whole team.** Everyone signs in with their own login, and you decide who can use what.\n- **A mobile app.** It is the same machine in your pocket, so the work is waiting for you wherever you are.\n- **The Morning Review.** Every morning, one clean report shows the most important people to get back to that day, what your machines did overnight, and what needs your attention.", "source": { "title": "What Ownbox is", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/what-ownbox-is-3bc9e6473b.md" } }, { "question": "Which machines can I add?", "answer": "- **The Unified Inbox** brings every email and DM into one place and drafts each reply. A person approves it before anything goes out.\n- **The SEO Machine** turns the questions your customers ask into answers on your own website, so AI assistants like ChatGPT find you and send you business.", "source": { "title": "What Ownbox is", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/what-ownbox-is-3bc9e6473b.md" } }, { "question": "Who is Ownbox for?", "answer": "- Owners and teams who are tired of being the glue that holds their tools and AI chats together.\n- Companies already using AI who can feel the mess: too many tools, too many logins, and no single place where the work comes together.\n- Leaders who want AI doing real work in their business, and want to stay in control of what it sees, what it sends and what it spends.\n- Builders and developers who want to skip the groundwork and start on the part that is unique to their business.", "source": { "title": "What Ownbox is", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/what-ownbox-is-3bc9e6473b.md" } }, { "question": "What makes Ownbox different?", "answer": "- **Ownership.** The system, the code and the data belong to your company. No platform can change the rules on you, charge you per seat, or switch you off.\n- **Containment.** AI agents on an Ownbox work inside it, on your records, behind a locked door. They can read and draft, but a person decides what goes out.\n- **One central business database.** Everything your business knows lives in one place, on your own server. Your team and your agents work from the same information, so nobody explains the business twice and nothing gets lost in a handoff.\n- **Efficiency.** One brain, one memory, and one AI bill with a ceiling, instead of a dozen tools that do not talk to each other.\n- **No more silos, and no more being the glue.** You do not need another subscription. Ownbox ends the copying and pasting between chat windows, inboxes and apps that your team does today just to keep things running.", "source": { "title": "What Ownbox is", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/what-ownbox-is-3bc9e6473b.md" } }, { "question": "What does Ownbox believe?", "answer": "The future of work is people and AI agents side by side, in one shared place. Ownbox was built to be that place, and every company should own theirs.", "source": { "title": "What Ownbox is", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/what-ownbox-is-3bc9e6473b.md" } }, { "question": "Who built Ownbox, and where is it based?", "answer": "Ownbox was built by Brian MacDonald, its Founder and CEO, and is based in Newport Beach, California. Brian's page: https://www.ownbox.io/brian-macdonald", "source": { "title": "What Ownbox is", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/what-ownbox-is-3bc9e6473b.md" } }, { "question": "Where can I learn more?", "answer": "- The website: https://www.ownbox.io\n- The Shared AI Brain: https://www.ownbox.io/company-brain\n- The Business Agent: https://www.ownbox.io/business-agent\n- The machines: https://www.ownbox.io/machines\n- Prices: https://www.ownbox.io/#pricing", "source": { "title": "What Ownbox is", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/what-ownbox-is-3bc9e6473b.md" } }, { "question": "What is a Business Agent?", "answer": "A Business Agent is an AI that answers questions about one business, for that business, from what the business itself says. People and AI apps ask it about services, prices, hours and policies. It answers from the business's own documents instead of guessing from the open web.", "source": { "title": "The Business Agent", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-business-agent-6976519a85.md" } }, { "question": "Does Ownbox come with a Business Agent?", "answer": "Yes. Every Ownbox ships with one, at no extra cost. The documents a business approves into the Public folder of its Shared Company Brain become its Business Agent.", "source": { "title": "The Business Agent", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-business-agent-6976519a85.md" } }, { "question": "Who can it answer?", "answer": "ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and any AI agent. The Ownbox serves what the business approved in the ways AI apps read:\n\n- an index AI apps look for (llms.txt)\n- answers in question-and-answer form\n- a read-only connector (MCP) any AI agent can search", "source": { "title": "The Business Agent", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-business-agent-6976519a85.md" } }, { "question": "What can it say?", "answer": "Only what is in the documents the business approved. A new or changed document waits for the owner's yes before any AI can read it. Nothing else on the Ownbox is exposed.", "source": { "title": "The Business Agent", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-business-agent-6976519a85.md" } }, { "question": "Does it chat with customers on my website?", "answer": "Not today. It answers AI apps and AI agents, which is where customers are asking about businesses.", "source": { "title": "The Business Agent", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-business-agent-6976519a85.md" } }, { "question": "How is it different from ChatGPT's Business Agent?", "answer": "On November 10, 2026, OpenAI opened Businesses in ChatGPT, in beta. There, some US online businesses can build a Business Agent that answers people inside ChatGPT, on OpenAI's servers. The Business Agent in an Ownbox lives on the business's own server and answers every AI app, ChatGPT included. A business can have both. Fill ChatGPT's from the Shared Company Brain, so ChatGPT gets a copy and the business keeps the original.", "source": { "title": "The Business Agent", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-business-agent-6976519a85.md" } }, { "question": "How do I connect it to my website?", "answer": "Make two small changes on the website: a \"For AI agents\" link in the footer, and an llms.txt file. See \"Connect your Ownbox to your website\", or https://www.ownbox.io/connect-your-website.", "source": { "title": "The Business Agent", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-business-agent-6976519a85.md" } }, { "question": "Can I see one working?", "answer": "Yes. Ownbox's own Business Agent is at https://bmacbuilds.ownbox.app/kb/llms.txt. Every answer in this document comes from it.", "source": { "title": "The Business Agent", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-business-agent-6976519a85.md" } }, { "question": "How do I get it?", "answer": "It ships with every Ownbox.\n\n- How it works: https://www.ownbox.io/business-agent\n- The Shared Company Brain it answers from: https://www.ownbox.io/company-brain\n- Plans and prices: https://www.ownbox.io/#pricing\n- The website: https://www.ownbox.io", "source": { "title": "The Business Agent", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-business-agent-6976519a85.md" } }, { "question": "Where do my Ownbox's public answers live?", "answer": "On your Ownbox's own address, under /kb. The documents you approve into your AI Brain's Public folder are served there, for example at https://acme-dental.ownbox.app/kb/llms.txt. Your Ownbox lets AI apps and search engines read those answers and nothing else on it.", "source": { "title": "Connect your Ownbox to your website", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/connect-your-ownbox-to-your-website-0aa1066dae.md" } }, { "question": "Why do I need to link them from my website?", "answer": "Because until your website points to it, your Ownbox's address looks like a different website to an AI app or a search engine. A link from the website your customers already know is what tells them these answers are yours.", "source": { "title": "Connect your Ownbox to your website", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/connect-your-ownbox-to-your-website-0aa1066dae.md" } }, { "question": "What are the two changes on my website?", "answer": "1. **A link in your footer.** Add a link labeled \"For AI agents\" to your Ownbox's /kb/llms.txt. The footer of ownbox.io does exactly this.\n2. **An llms.txt file next to your homepage.** Put a plain text file named llms.txt in the same folder as your website's homepage file (often index.html), so it opens at https://your-website.com/llms.txt. It names your business and links to your Ownbox's answers.\n\nMost businesses ask their web developer, or whoever manages their website, to make these two changes. A website builder that lets you add a footer link and upload a file works too.", "source": { "title": "Connect your Ownbox to your website", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/connect-your-ownbox-to-your-website-0aa1066dae.md" } }, { "question": "Is there a page I can send my web developer?", "answer": "Yes: https://ownbox.io/connect-your-website. It has both changes, the footer link and the llms.txt file to copy, on one page.", "source": { "title": "Connect your Ownbox to your website", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/connect-your-ownbox-to-your-website-0aa1066dae.md" } }, { "question": "What goes in the llms.txt file?", "answer": "Copy this, then put in your business's name, one sentence about it, and your own Ownbox's address:\n\n```", "source": { "title": "Connect your Ownbox to your website", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/connect-your-ownbox-to-your-website-0aa1066dae.md" } }, { "question": "Do I need to do anything after that?", "answer": "No. When you approve a new document into Public, your Ownbox's answers change on their own, and the links on your website keep pointing to them.", "source": { "title": "Connect your Ownbox to your website", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/connect-your-ownbox-to-your-website-0aa1066dae.md" } }, { "question": "What about my SEO Machine articles?", "answer": "They already publish on your own website, under your own name, so they need no extra link.", "source": { "title": "Connect your Ownbox to your website", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/connect-your-ownbox-to-your-website-0aa1066dae.md" } }, { "question": "Is llms.txt something every AI app reads?", "answer": "No. llms.txt is a proposed convention (https://llmstxt.org) that some AI apps read, and Google says its AI features need no special file. The footer link is the one every crawler follows, so make both changes.", "source": { "title": "Connect your Ownbox to your website", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/connect-your-ownbox-to-your-website-0aa1066dae.md" } }, { "question": "Will this make ChatGPT recommend my business?", "answer": "Nobody can promise that. These two changes make the answers you approved easy to find, and clearly yours, when people research businesses like yours.", "source": { "title": "Connect your Ownbox to your website", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/connect-your-ownbox-to-your-website-0aa1066dae.md" } }, { "question": "Is Ownbox open source?", "answer": "Who owns what on an Ownbox, where the code is, and what you can build on it. Updated 2026-11-10. The full Ownbox Software License is at https://www.ownbox.io/license.", "source": { "title": "Is Ownbox open source", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/is-ownbox-open-source-5544816c53.md" } }, { "question": "Is Ownbox open source?", "answer": "No. The Ownbox software is licensed to the business that buys it. It is not open source, and it is not sold. AIBM Inc., the company behind Ownbox, keeps the rights in the software and its source code.", "source": { "title": "Is Ownbox open source", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/is-ownbox-open-source-5544816c53.md" } }, { "question": "Is Ownbox's code on GitHub?", "answer": "No. There is no public Ownbox repository on GitHub, and the license does not let anyone publish the software or its source code.", "source": { "title": "Is Ownbox open source", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/is-ownbox-open-source-5544816c53.md" } }, { "question": "What do I own, then?", "answer": "- **Your Ownbox.** You own your Ownbox: the server it runs on, once it is in your own hosting account.\n- **Your data.** Everything your business puts into your Ownbox or makes with it is yours: your AI Brain, conversations, contacts, files and settings. Ownbox claims no ownership of it.\n- **A license that does not run out.** On payment you receive a perpetual license to run the software on your one Ownbox, for your own business. A server that takes its place still counts: a restore from its backup, or the copy made when you move it to your own hosting account.", "source": { "title": "Is Ownbox open source", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/is-ownbox-open-source-5544816c53.md" } }, { "question": "What can't I do with the software?", "answer": "Without written permission from AIBM Inc., you may not:\n\n- resell it, rent it, lend it or give it away;\n- copy it anywhere but your one Ownbox and its backups;\n- run it for another business, or host it as a service for anyone else;\n- publish or distribute it, its source code included;\n- use it to build a product or service that competes with Ownbox.\n\nOne purchase is one Ownbox.", "source": { "title": "Is Ownbox open source", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/is-ownbox-open-source-5544816c53.md" } }, { "question": "Does Ownbox use open-source software?", "answer": "Yes. The open-source libraries, fonts and other components that come with the software keep their own licenses, which ship beside them.", "source": { "title": "Is Ownbox open source", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/is-ownbox-open-source-5544816c53.md" } }, { "question": "Can I build on Ownbox without its source code?", "answer": "Yes, in either of two ways:\n\n1. **Describe it in plain words.** On an Ownbox, you describe the machine you want. Your Ownbox builds it and tests it on your real data without sending anything. It installs only when you approve.\n2. **Build it as a developer.** A developer starts free on their own computer, with no sign-up and no card. The guide is at https://www.ownbox.io/sdk.", "source": { "title": "Is Ownbox open source", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/is-ownbox-open-source-5544816c53.md" } }, { "question": "Do I keep getting updates?", "answer": "The license says updates come with Ownbox Managed, and that an Ownbox outside Managed keeps running as it is.", "source": { "title": "Is Ownbox open source", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/is-ownbox-open-source-5544816c53.md" } }, { "question": "Is there an open-source or self-hosted unified inbox?", "answer": "That question has its own article: https://www.ownbox.io/articles/is-there-a-self-hosted-or-open-source-unified-inbox", "source": { "title": "Is Ownbox open source", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/is-ownbox-open-source-5544816c53.md" } }, { "question": "Do I still need ChatGPT or Claude if I have Ownbox?", "answer": "Yes. Ownbox runs on the Claude or ChatGPT plan you already pay for, so there is no second AI bill on top. Every way to sign in an AI is listed in \"How Ownbox works\".", "source": { "title": "Ownbox and the AI you already use", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-and-the-ai-you-already-use-35118ad3ef.md" } }, { "question": "Why not just use ChatGPT or Claude on their own?", "answer": "Because a chat window starts over every time, and an Ownbox gives your AI a place to work.\n\n- **One memory for the business.** Every AI agent reads the same Shared AI Brain, so nobody explains the business twice.\n- **The real work, in one place.** With the Unified Inbox and the SEO Machine, your email, your DMs and your website's articles are on your Ownbox too, where your AI can work on them.\n- **Your team.** Everyone signs in with their own login, and you decide who can use what.\n- **A person decides.** Anything an AI agent wants to do waits for a person's OK, and every action is logged.\n- **Work that comes to you.** Every morning, the Morning Review shows who to answer first and what happened overnight.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox and the AI you already use", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-and-the-ai-you-already-use-35118ad3ef.md" } }, { "question": "Can I use my Ownbox from inside ChatGPT or Claude?", "answer": "Yes. Every Ownbox has its own MCP server, locked with a token only the owner holds, so Claude, Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and any agent that speaks MCP can read it and use its tools. Using your Ownbox from inside the ChatGPT app needs a ChatGPT Business account. Anything they want to change waits for your OK on Approvals.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox and the AI you already use", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-and-the-ai-you-already-use-35118ad3ef.md" } }, { "question": "Does my business information go to Ownbox?", "answer": "No. AI calls go to your own AI account, not to Ownbox. See \"Ownbox security and privacy\".", "source": { "title": "Ownbox and the AI you already use", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-and-the-ai-you-already-use-35118ad3ef.md" } }, { "question": "Can I switch AI providers later?", "answer": "Yes. The Shared AI Brain stays: connect the new provider, and it works from the same files.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox and the AI you already use", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-and-the-ai-you-already-use-35118ad3ef.md" } }, { "question": "Who makes Ownbox?", "answer": "Ownbox is made and sold by AIBM Inc., a company in Newport Beach, California, and ownbox.io is its only home. It was built by Brian MacDonald, its Founder and CEO: https://www.ownbox.io/brian-macdonald", "source": { "title": "The company behind Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-company-behind-ownbox-33f06139f2.md" } }, { "question": "Is Ownbox related to other products named OwnBox?", "answer": "No. AIBM Inc. is not affiliated with other companies, apps or products named OwnBox. The Ownbox described here is the Shared AI Brain sold at https://www.ownbox.io", "source": { "title": "The company behind Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-company-behind-ownbox-33f06139f2.md" } }, { "question": "Is Ownbox a physical box?", "answer": "No. Ownbox is software deployed on its own cloud server. You use it through a web dashboard and a phone app. No physical hardware ships.", "source": { "title": "The company behind Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-company-behind-ownbox-33f06139f2.md" } }, { "question": "What happens to my Ownbox if the company stops operating?", "answer": "Your Ownbox keeps running. It runs on its own server, with no license check that could switch it off. Moved to your own DigitalOcean account, it keeps running with your business information on it. What comes from Ownbox would stop: software updates, the Search Console connection and the ownbox.app web address.", "source": { "title": "The company behind Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-company-behind-ownbox-33f06139f2.md" } }, { "question": "How do I reach Ownbox?", "answer": "Send a message at https://www.ownbox.io/contact, and Ownbox replies within one business day. To talk first, book a call with Brian: see \"Getting started with Ownbox\".", "source": { "title": "The company behind Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-company-behind-ownbox-33f06139f2.md" } }, { "question": "Where can I read more about the company?", "answer": "https://www.ownbox.io/about", "source": { "title": "The company behind Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-company-behind-ownbox-33f06139f2.md" } }, { "question": "What is the Unified Inbox?", "answer": "The Unified Inbox is an add-on machine for Ownbox. It pulls every email and direct message a business gets into one queue and drafts a reply to each one. It runs on the business's own Ownbox, the Shared AI Brain it owns. It was called the Inbox Machine until October 2026.", "source": { "title": "The Unified Inbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-unified-inbox-67011c1072.md" } }, { "question": "Which channels does it cover?", "answer": "Gmail and other IMAP email, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, all in one queue. WhatsApp needs a WhatsApp Business account.", "source": { "title": "The Unified Inbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-unified-inbox-67011c1072.md" } }, { "question": "Does it work with Outlook or Microsoft 365?", "answer": "No. Outlook and Microsoft 365 aren't supported.", "source": { "title": "The Unified Inbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-unified-inbox-67011c1072.md" } }, { "question": "Does it answer phone calls or text messages?", "answer": "No. Phone calls and SMS aren't part of the Unified Inbox.", "source": { "title": "The Unified Inbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-unified-inbox-67011c1072.md" } }, { "question": "How does it write replies?", "answer": "For each message it reads the whole thread and drafts a reply on the owner's own AI account, Claude or ChatGPT. The replies are written in the business's own voice.", "source": { "title": "The Unified Inbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-unified-inbox-67011c1072.md" } }, { "question": "Does it send anything on its own?", "answer": "Only if the owner allows it.\n\n- **Every draft waits by default.** The owner approves it, edits it or skips it, from the dashboard or the phone.\n- **Auto-replies can be switched on for Instagram and Messenger.** They are off by default, and the owner can switch them off again at any time.\n- **Email always waits** for a person.", "source": { "title": "The Unified Inbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-unified-inbox-67011c1072.md" } }, { "question": "What else does it do?", "answer": "- **Search:** it searches every conversation.\n- **Overnight messages:** it puts them in the Morning Review, so the owner knows who to answer first.\n- **Access for AI agents:** it has its own tools on the Ownbox MCP server, so AI agents can read the inbox.\n- **Phone alerts:** a reply waiting shows up on the phone's lock screen.", "source": { "title": "The Unified Inbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-unified-inbox-67011c1072.md" } }, { "question": "Who is it for?", "answer": "Businesses whose customers write by email, Instagram and Messenger, such as marketing agencies, med spas, gyms, dental groups, restaurants, wellness clinics and e-commerce brands.", "source": { "title": "The Unified Inbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-unified-inbox-67011c1072.md" } }, { "question": "How do I get it?", "answer": "For a limited time, Ownbox Core comes with the Unified Inbox or the SEO Machine free, and Ownbox Pro includes both. Plans and prices: https://www.ownbox.io/#pricing. More: https://www.ownbox.io/unified-inbox", "source": { "title": "The Unified Inbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-unified-inbox-67011c1072.md" } }, { "question": "What is an AI coworker?", "answer": "An AI coworker is an AI agent with a job in your business that works on a schedule inside your Ownbox and always reports back. A chatbot answers questions in a window. An AI coworker does its job without being asked each time, on your own records, and nothing goes out that you haven't allowed.", "source": { "title": "AI coworkers on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-coworkers-on-ownbox-200cd3b2c9.md" } }, { "question": "Which plan has AI coworkers?", "answer": "Ownbox Pro. Plans and prices: https://www.ownbox.io/#pricing", "source": { "title": "AI coworkers on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-coworkers-on-ownbox-200cd3b2c9.md" } }, { "question": "How do I give one a job?", "answer": "You write its job in plain words, pick the days and the time it starts, and choose what it may read, such as the inbox, the website's numbers and the Morning Review. An AI you connect to your Ownbox can also suggest a coworker for you. It waits on Approvals until you say yes.", "source": { "title": "AI coworkers on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-coworkers-on-ownbox-200cd3b2c9.md" } }, { "question": "What does it do on a shift?", "answer": "It reads what its job needs, does the work and reports what it found. When it wants something done, such as a reply sent or an article written, it puts the request on Approvals for a person to say yes or no.", "source": { "title": "AI coworkers on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-coworkers-on-ownbox-200cd3b2c9.md" } }, { "question": "Can an AI coworker act on its own?", "answer": "No. Anything an AI agent wants to do on an Ownbox waits for a person's OK, and every action is logged. Agents can't delete your files.", "source": { "title": "AI coworkers on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-coworkers-on-ownbox-200cd3b2c9.md" } }, { "question": "Which AI does an AI coworker need?", "answer": "A Claude or ChatGPT account, such as a Claude Pro or Max plan or ChatGPT Plus, Pro or Business. For Claude, an Anthropic API key works too.\n\nA free OpenRouter account runs the rest of an Ownbox, but not its coworkers. OpenRouter does not work with agents and routines. Agents need an engine that can do a long piece of work on its own: read your data, call your Ownbox's tools, check the results and keep going for many steps.", "source": { "title": "AI coworkers on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-coworkers-on-ownbox-200cd3b2c9.md" } }, { "question": "Where can I learn more?", "answer": "- AI employees on ownbox.io: https://www.ownbox.io/ai-employees\n- Everything else an Ownbox includes: see \"How Ownbox works\".", "source": { "title": "AI coworkers on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-coworkers-on-ownbox-200cd3b2c9.md" } }, { "question": "What is a Shared AI Brain?", "answer": "A Shared AI Brain is a company brain: one place that holds what a company knows. The team and every AI agent work from the same facts there, instead of starting over in each new AI chat. On an Ownbox, it is the business's own files, read and searched by Claude, ChatGPT and other AI agents.", "source": { "title": "The Shared AI Brain", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-shared-ai-brain-f73d431670.md" } }, { "question": "What does the diagram show?", "answer": "The Shared AI Brain sits in the middle and holds the business's knowledge, files and records. Four connections are built in around it, together making up the Ownbox Foundation.\n\n**For the business's people:**\n\n- **The Business Dashboard,** to see work and approvals.\n- **The Mobile App,** to keep work moving from anywhere.\n\n**For its AI agents:**\n\n- **The AI Connection,** which runs on the business's own Claude or ChatGPT account, or a free OpenRouter account.\n- **The Dedicated MCP Server,** for any compatible AI agent to connect to.\n\n![The Shared AI Brain, phone view](https://www.ownbox.io/images/ownbox/ownbox-shared-ai-business-brain-mobile.svg)", "source": { "title": "The Shared AI Brain", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-shared-ai-brain-f73d431670.md" } }, { "question": "What goes in it?", "answer": "- **Price lists and procedures:** how the business works, written down once.\n- **Contracts and proposals,** as PDFs and Word documents. The text inside them is read too.\n- **Spreadsheets:** Excel files, read sheet by sheet.\n- **What the agents learn,** saved as new documents, each one with the owner's OK.", "source": { "title": "The Shared AI Brain", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-shared-ai-brain-f73d431670.md" } }, { "question": "How does it work?", "answer": "1. **The team fills it.** People add files and folders from the dashboard or their phone, the way they use a drive.\n2. **Every AI agent reads the same files.** Claude, ChatGPT and other compatible agents connect through the Ownbox's Dedicated MCP Server. They read inside PDFs, Word documents and Excel spreadsheets, not just the file names.\n3. **Search finds the passage.** One search returns the exact passage, across the files, the inbox and the published articles.\n4. **Agents add what they learn, with a person's OK.** An agent can save what it learns as a new document. Each one waits on Approvals until a person says yes.\n5. **A Public folder is there when you want one.** Documents approved into it become answers that AI assistants and search engines can read. Nothing else on the Ownbox is exposed.", "source": { "title": "The Shared AI Brain", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-shared-ai-brain-f73d431670.md" } }, { "question": "Can an AI agent delete or change my files?", "answer": "No. No agent can delete, move or rename a file. Agents read and search, and anything an agent saves waits for a person's OK. A file a person deletes waits 30 days before it is gone.", "source": { "title": "The Shared AI Brain", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-shared-ai-brain-f73d431670.md" } }, { "question": "How is it different from a shared drive or a company wiki?", "answer": "A drive or a wiki is built for people to open and read. The Shared AI Brain is built for both: the team uses it like a drive, and AI agents connect to it directly, read inside the files and find the passage they need.", "source": { "title": "The Shared AI Brain", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-shared-ai-brain-f73d431670.md" } }, { "question": "Do I have to move out of Google Drive, Dropbox, my CRM or accounting software?", "answer": "No. Keep those tools and their files or records in place. The Shared AI Brain is for selected current knowledge: your direction, priorities, decisions and important updates, the things people and connected AI agents need to work together. It is not a replacement for file storage or a full operational archive.", "source": { "title": "The Shared AI Brain", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-shared-ai-brain-f73d431670.md" } }, { "question": "Who owns it?", "answer": "The business does. The Shared AI Brain lives on the business's own Ownbox, a server of its own that no other company shares.\n\n- **Export:** everything on it exports in full, any day.\n- **Moving:** the whole Ownbox can move to the owner's own account, after a short setup call.\n- **Switching AI providers:** the brain stays. Connect the new provider, and it works from the same files.", "source": { "title": "The Shared AI Brain", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-shared-ai-brain-f73d431670.md" } }, { "question": "Is it real?", "answer": "Yes. Ownbox's own business runs on one. Brian MacDonald, who built Ownbox, keeps:\n\n- his business plan in his own Shared AI Brain\n- these public documents in its Public folder\n\nAI agents read them from there. See \"Ownbox runs on Ownbox\".", "source": { "title": "The Shared AI Brain", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-shared-ai-brain-f73d431670.md" } }, { "question": "What does it cost?", "answer": "It comes with every Ownbox. Prices: https://www.ownbox.io/#pricing", "source": { "title": "The Shared AI Brain", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-shared-ai-brain-f73d431670.md" } }, { "question": "Where can I learn more?", "answer": "- **The Shared AI Brain on ownbox.io:** https://www.ownbox.io/company-brain\n- **How to build a shared business brain for your employees and AI agents,** by Brian MacDonald: https://brian-macdonald.com/guides/how-to-build-a-shared-business-brain", "source": { "title": "The Shared AI Brain", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-shared-ai-brain-f73d431670.md" } }, { "question": "Who is Brian MacDonald?", "answer": "Brian MacDonald is an engineer in Orange County, California, who builds AI systems that businesses own. His title is Founder & CEO of Ownbox. He built Ownbox, a machine a company owns where its team and its AI agents work together from one shared set of records.", "source": { "title": "Brian MacDonald, engineer in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/brian-macdonald-engineer-in-orange-county-20ab5f7f51.md" } }, { "question": "What is BmacBuilds?", "answer": "BmacBuilds is the name Brian MacDonald uses on Instagram, X, TikTok and GitHub. It's where he shares the AI systems he builds.", "source": { "title": "Brian MacDonald, engineer in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/brian-macdonald-engineer-in-orange-county-20ab5f7f51.md" } }, { "question": "What does Brian MacDonald do?", "answer": "He builds AI systems that do real work inside a business, and he installs them for companies.\n\n- **Ownbox** gives a company one machine it owns. Its people and its AI agents work from one Shared AI Brain there.\n- **The agents stay contained,** and nothing goes out that the owner hasn't allowed.\n- **For a company that hires him,** he installs an Ownbox and builds machines on it for the jobs that company needs done. See \"Working with Brian MacDonald\".", "source": { "title": "Brian MacDonald, engineer in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/brian-macdonald-engineer-in-orange-county-20ab5f7f51.md" } }, { "question": "What is Brian MacDonald's background?", "answer": "He has been in tech for over 20 years: 8 years selling it and 12 years building it.\n\n- **2026 to now: Ownbox.** He is its Founder and CEO, and he builds it.\n- **2012 to 2024: Marketing Director, Scale Ventures.** At this venture studio he helped more than 100 founding teams with go-to-market strategy, lead generation and raising money. That included e-commerce ventures that grew revenue by millions.\n- **2003 to 2012: Business Development Manager, American Express.** He sold expense reporting software to mid-market companies, closing more than $120 million in annual volume at his peak.\n- **2001 to 2003: professional beach volleyball player** on the AVP tour.\n- **Education:**\n - B.A., UC Santa Barbara, where he played NCAA Division 1 volleyball\n - M.B.A. in Marketing, Concordia University Irvine", "source": { "title": "Brian MacDonald, engineer in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/brian-macdonald-engineer-in-orange-county-20ab5f7f51.md" } }, { "question": "What does Brian MacDonald know?", "answer": "- AI agents, multi-agent systems and MCP servers\n- Claude Code\n- Marketing automation and marketing operations\n- Lead generation and speed to lead\n- SEO, and AEO (getting found by AI assistants)\n- E-commerce growth\n- Full stack web development in Python and TypeScript", "source": { "title": "Brian MacDonald, engineer in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/brian-macdonald-engineer-in-orange-county-20ab5f7f51.md" } }, { "question": "Where is Brian MacDonald based?", "answer": "Orange County, California. He works remotely, or on site anywhere in Southern California.", "source": { "title": "Brian MacDonald, engineer in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/brian-macdonald-engineer-in-orange-county-20ab5f7f51.md" } }, { "question": "How do I know this is the right Brian MacDonald?", "answer": "This Brian MacDonald:\n\n- is the Founder and CEO of Ownbox, and the engineer behind it\n- lives in Orange County, California\n- goes by BmacBuilds\n- surfs\n- is a former AVP pro beach volleyball player\n\nHis own profiles are listed below.", "source": { "title": "Brian MacDonald, engineer in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/brian-macdonald-engineer-in-orange-county-20ab5f7f51.md" } }, { "question": "Where can I find Brian MacDonald online?", "answer": "- https://brian-macdonald.com\n- https://www.ownbox.io/brian-macdonald\n- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianmacdonald\n- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bmacbuilds\n- X: https://x.com/bmacbuilds\n- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bmacbuilds\n- GitHub: https://github.com/bmacbuilds\n- A short video introduction: https://brian-macdonald.com/intro", "source": { "title": "Brian MacDonald, engineer in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/brian-macdonald-engineer-in-orange-county-20ab5f7f51.md" } }, { "question": "How do I contact Brian MacDonald?", "answer": "You can do either:\n\n- Book a 20-minute call at https://cal.com/brianmacdonald/20min\n- Message him on LinkedIn", "source": { "title": "Brian MacDonald, engineer in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/brian-macdonald-engineer-in-orange-county-20ab5f7f51.md" } }, { "question": "What is AI For Business OC?", "answer": "AI For Business OC is a free meetup Brian MacDonald started. Local business owners come to put AI to work on their own businesses.\n\n- **The first meetup** is on Thursday, November 5, 2026, in Orange County.\n- **Invitations:** ask Brian for one. The location goes to people who are invited.", "source": { "title": "Brian MacDonald, engineer in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/brian-macdonald-engineer-in-orange-county-20ab5f7f51.md" } }, { "question": "What is an AI agent?", "answer": "An AI agent is AI that does a job on its own, instead of only answering questions.\n\n- **A chatbot** answers a question.\n- **An AI assistant** helps you while you work.\n- **An AI agent** (some call it an AI employee) does a job on its own time, on your business's records, and hands you the result.\n\nThe difference is the job.", "source": { "title": "AI agents and AI business systems", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-agents-and-ai-business-systems-89186ed631.md" } }, { "question": "What is an AI business system?", "answer": "An AI business system is the place where a company's AI agents and its people do the work together. It holds:\n\n- one set of business records\n- a sign-in for each person\n- permissions for each agent\n- a log of every action\n- rules about what goes out\n\nOwnbox calls it the Shared AI Brain, on one machine the company owns.", "source": { "title": "AI agents and AI business systems", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-agents-and-ai-business-systems-89186ed631.md" } }, { "question": "What's the difference between an AI agent and an AI business system?", "answer": "The agent does the job. The system is where it works.\n\nAgents get better every month, so the agent is rarely what holds a business back. What holds it back is where the agent works:\n\n- it needs to know the business\n- it needs to know what everyone else already did\n- someone has to decide what goes out the door", "source": { "title": "AI agents and AI business systems", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-agents-and-ai-business-systems-89186ed631.md" } }, { "question": "Why does an AI agent need one place to work?", "answer": "An AI agent that runs on whatever computer is nearby ends up with access to everything on it. Give it one place to work instead:\n\n- a machine with the business's records\n- a sign-in for each person\n- permission levels for each agent\n- a log of every action", "source": { "title": "AI agents and AI business systems", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-agents-and-ai-business-systems-89186ed631.md" } }, { "question": "How do I use AI agents in my business without losing control?", "answer": "- **Keep them in one machine.** Agents work there on your own records, not across every computer in the office.\n- **Give each agent only the access it needs.**\n- **People approve what goes out.** On an Ownbox, a reply waits for your tap unless you let a channel answer on its own, and email always waits. The SEO Machine publishes articles on its own schedule, with a hard check before anything goes live, and any article can be taken down.\n- **Record every action.**\n- **Put a hard ceiling on AI spend,** checked before every request.", "source": { "title": "AI agents and AI business systems", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-agents-and-ai-business-systems-89186ed631.md" } }, { "question": "What can AI agents do in a small business today?", "answer": "- **Answer every message.** The Unified Inbox puts Gmail, Instagram and Messenger in one queue and drafts a reply to each one.\n- **Write what your customers search for.** The SEO Machine writes articles that answer your customers' questions and publishes them to your website.\n- **Report every morning.** The Morning Review says what each machine did overnight and what is waiting for you.\n- **Work shifts.** On Ownbox Pro, AI coworkers work on a schedule and always report back.", "source": { "title": "AI agents and AI business systems", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-agents-and-ai-business-systems-89186ed631.md" } }, { "question": "What is a shared brain for AI agents?", "answer": "A shared brain, or company brain, is one set of folders and files that the team and every agent work from and add to. Nobody explains the business twice, and no agent starts from zero. On an Ownbox it is called the Shared AI Brain. See \"The Shared AI Brain\".", "source": { "title": "AI agents and AI business systems", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-agents-and-ai-business-systems-89186ed631.md" } }, { "question": "What is MCP, and why does it matter for a business?", "answer": "MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard that lets AI agents use business tools.\n\n- **Every Ownbox has a built-in MCP server.** Agents that speak MCP, like Claude Code, Codex and Cursor, can plug in and work on the business's records.\n- **Reads come straight from your Ownbox.** Anything that acts waits for your OK.", "source": { "title": "AI agents and AI business systems", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-agents-and-ai-business-systems-89186ed631.md" } }, { "question": "Which AI do the agents run on?", "answer": "On an Ownbox, the agents run on the Claude or ChatGPT plan the business already pays for. An Ownbox can also think on a free OpenRouter account that uses free AI models. Gemini and Grok are planned.", "source": { "title": "AI agents and AI business systems", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-agents-and-ai-business-systems-89186ed631.md" } }, { "question": "Where can I learn more?", "answer": "- **AI employees for small business:** https://www.ownbox.io/ai-employees\n- **Why AI employees need a place to work:** https://www.ownbox.io/articles/why-do-ai-employees-need-a-place-to-work\n- **Self-hosted AI:** see \"Self-hosted AI for small businesses\"", "source": { "title": "AI agents and AI business systems", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-agents-and-ai-business-systems-89186ed631.md" } }, { "question": "Who can set up AI for my business in Orange County?", "answer": "Brian MacDonald does. He is the Founder and CEO of Ownbox, an engineer in Orange County, California, and he sets up AI systems for local businesses.\n\n- **What he built:** Ownbox, the Shared AI Brain you own.\n- **What he does for you:** he installs it for a company and builds machines on it for the jobs that company needs done.\n- **Where he works:** on site anywhere in Southern California, or remotely.", "source": { "title": "AI help for businesses in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-help-for-businesses-in-orange-county-4e234c6c5c.md" } }, { "question": "What can AI do for a local business today?", "answer": "- **Answer every message.** The Unified Inbox puts Gmail, Instagram and Messenger in one queue and drafts a reply to each one.\n- **Get the business found by AI.** The SEO Machine writes articles that answer customers' questions and publishes them on the business's own website, so ChatGPT and other AI assistants can find it.\n- **Say who to answer first.** The Morning Review lists who to answer first and what happened overnight.\n- **Keep everyone working from the same information.** The team and every AI agent share one set of files: the Shared AI Brain.\n\nThe local businesses it suits include marketing agencies, med spas, gyms, dental groups, restaurants, wellness clinics and other businesses whose customers write by email and DM.", "source": { "title": "AI help for businesses in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-help-for-businesses-in-orange-county-4e234c6c5c.md" } }, { "question": "What does an AI setup involve?", "answer": "1. **An Ownbox goes live** on a server of its own, about five minutes after checkout.\n2. **It signs in to your AI,** the Claude or ChatGPT plan you already pay for, or a free OpenRouter account that uses free AI models.\n3. **You connect your channels and your website.**\n4. **Your team gets their logins.** Each person has their own.\n5. **You approve what goes out.** A drafted reply waits for your tap unless you let a channel answer on its own, and email always waits.\n\nFor the first day in detail, see \"Getting started with Ownbox\".", "source": { "title": "AI help for businesses in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-help-for-businesses-in-orange-county-4e234c6c5c.md" } }, { "question": "How much does it cost?", "answer": "Ownbox's current prices are at https://www.ownbox.io/#pricing. For a custom install by Brian, book a call.", "source": { "title": "AI help for businesses in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-help-for-businesses-in-orange-county-4e234c6c5c.md" } }, { "question": "Where do Orange County business owners learn about AI?", "answer": "At AI For Business OC, a free meetup Brian MacDonald started. Local business owners come to put AI to work on their own businesses.\n\n- **The first meetup** is on Thursday, November 5, 2026, in Orange County.\n- **Invitations:** ask Brian for one. The location goes to people who are invited.", "source": { "title": "AI help for businesses in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-help-for-businesses-in-orange-county-4e234c6c5c.md" } }, { "question": "How do I get started?", "answer": "- **To talk it through,** book a 20-minute call with Brian at https://cal.com/brianmacdonald/20min\n- **To buy an Ownbox,** go to https://www.ownbox.io", "source": { "title": "AI help for businesses in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-help-for-businesses-in-orange-county-4e234c6c5c.md" } }, { "question": "What is self-hosted AI?", "answer": "Self-hosted AI means the software your AI works in runs on a server you control, not on a vendor's servers. Your records, your AI agents' work and the code stay on that server.", "source": { "title": "Self-hosted AI for small businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/self-hosted-ai-for-small-businesses-36c632267f.md" } }, { "question": "How is self-hosted AI different from SaaS?", "answer": "Most business software is rented: it runs on the vendor's servers, holds your data there, and stops when you stop paying. Self-hosted turns that around:\n\n- **Your data** lives on a server of your own.\n- **The vendor** can't switch it off.\n- **If the vendor goes away,** the software keeps running for you.", "source": { "title": "Self-hosted AI for small businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/self-hosted-ai-for-small-businesses-36c632267f.md" } }, { "question": "Is self-hosted AI right for a small business?", "answer": "It is a good fit for:\n\n- **Data in one place you control.** You want your customers, conversations and records there, not spread across apps.\n- **Fewer subscriptions.** You're tired of adding one, and one more silo of data, for every new AI tool.\n- **AI agents doing real work.** You want them working on your own records, with people approving what goes out.\n- **People who are the glue.** Your team spends time copying what one tool knows into the next.\n\nIt is more than you need if all you want is help writing the occasional email. A chat app does that.", "source": { "title": "Self-hosted AI for small businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/self-hosted-ai-for-small-businesses-36c632267f.md" } }, { "question": "Does my data leave my server?", "answer": "Your records stay on it.\n\n- **When the AI drafts something,** the text it needs goes to your own Claude or ChatGPT account, under your own terms with that provider.\n- **On a free OpenRouter account,** the free models may keep and learn from what they are sent, so customer conversations belong on Claude or ChatGPT.\n- **For data that must never leave,** the AI model can run on your own hardware. On Ownbox that is the Enterprise plan, with a dedicated GPU server.", "source": { "title": "Self-hosted AI for small businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/self-hosted-ai-for-small-businesses-36c632267f.md" } }, { "question": "Do I need an IT person to run self-hosted AI?", "answer": "Not with an Ownbox.\n\n- **It's set up for you.** It is delivered running on its own server about five minutes after checkout, and you never open a terminal.\n- **Updates and backups are handled.** Managed Support installs every update and keeps daily backups.", "source": { "title": "Self-hosted AI for small businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/self-hosted-ai-for-small-businesses-36c632267f.md" } }, { "question": "What does self-hosted AI cost?", "answer": "There are two parts: the machine and the AI.\n\n- **The AI:** on an Ownbox it runs on the Claude or ChatGPT plan you already pay for, or on a free OpenRouter account, so there is no second AI bill.\n- **The machine:** Ownbox's current prices are at https://www.ownbox.io/#pricing", "source": { "title": "Self-hosted AI for small businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/self-hosted-ai-for-small-businesses-36c632267f.md" } }, { "question": "What happens if the vendor goes out of business?", "answer": "With Ownbox, your code and data were never the vendor's to lose.\n\n- **Everything exports in full.**\n- **You can take it home.** After a short setup call with Ownbox, it moves to your own DigitalOcean account, where it runs without Ownbox.\n- **Cancelling while Ownbox hosts it** gives you 30 days to move it home, starting with a short setup call.", "source": { "title": "Self-hosted AI for small businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/self-hosted-ai-for-small-businesses-36c632267f.md" } }, { "question": "What is Ownbox?", "answer": "Ownbox is self-hosted AI for small and midsize businesses, and it calls itself the Shared AI Brain you own. A company gets one machine, and its team and its AI agents work from one company brain on it. Brian MacDonald built it in Orange County, California. See \"What Ownbox is\".", "source": { "title": "Self-hosted AI for small businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/self-hosted-ai-for-small-businesses-36c632267f.md" } }, { "question": "Where can I learn more?", "answer": "- **Self-hosted AI on an Ownbox:** https://www.ownbox.io/self-hosted-ai\n- **What happens to self-hosted software if the vendor goes out of business:** https://www.ownbox.io/articles/what-happens-to-self-hosted-software-if-the-vendor-goes-out-of-business\n- **Prices:** https://www.ownbox.io/#pricing", "source": { "title": "Self-hosted AI for small businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/self-hosted-ai-for-small-businesses-36c632267f.md" } }, { "question": "Can a business with several locations, like a group of med spas, share one Ownbox?", "answer": "Yes. One Ownbox and one Shared AI Brain can cover every location. What is the same everywhere, like policies and treatment descriptions, is written once. What differs by location, like prices and treatment packages, goes in that location's own folder.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox for med spas and multi-location businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-for-med-spas-and-multi-location-businesse-137b5b925b.md" } }, { "question": "How do we organize the Shared Brain so the AI uses the right prices for each location?", "answer": "- **One folder per location,** such as Locations/Irvine, with that location's price list and packages.\n- **One shared folder** for what is the same at every location.\n- **Every document names its location,** in its name and its first line, such as \"Irvine prices\". The AI searches the Shared Brain and reads the passage it needs, so a question that names a location finds that location's document.\n- **Prices customers may see go in the Public folder.** The Unified Inbox drafts replies from the documents the owner has approved as public, and from the prices on the business's own website.\n- **A person checks before anything goes out.** Every reply the Unified Inbox drafts waits for a person's OK, unless the owner lets a channel answer on its own.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox for med spas and multi-location businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-for-med-spas-and-multi-location-businesse-137b5b925b.md" } }, { "question": "Do all the locations' teams get their own logins?", "answer": "Yes. Everyone signs in with their own login, and everyone on the team works from the same Shared Brain. Ownbox Core includes up to 3 people. Ownbox Pro has unlimited people. Roles and permissions you define are planned for Pro.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox for med spas and multi-location businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-for-med-spas-and-multi-location-businesse-137b5b925b.md" } }, { "question": "Can Ownbox find the questions customers keep asking and turn them into articles that ChatGPT finds?", "answer": "Yes. The SEO Machine keeps a list of the questions a business's customers ask, how often each was asked, and whether an article answers it yet. It writes articles that answer them and publishes them on the business's own website, each opening with the short, direct answer that ChatGPT and other AI assistants quote.\n\n- **Where the questions come from:** the website's own surveys, and the Google searches the website shows up for.\n- **Questions in emails and DMs:** a connected AI agent, such as Claude or ChatGPT, can read the Unified Inbox, spot the questions that keep coming up, and suggest each one as an article topic. Each suggestion waits for the owner's OK.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox for med spas and multi-location businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-for-med-spas-and-multi-location-businesse-137b5b925b.md" } }, { "question": "Does that put customers' personal details in the articles?", "answer": "No.\n\n- **Only the question is kept, never who asked it.** A survey answer with an email address, a long number or a link in it is not kept at all.\n- **An article starts from the question and the business's own approved facts,** not from anyone's message.\n- **A hard check runs before anything publishes.** It blocks words the business never uses, competitor names and any number that isn't in the business's facts, its own words or a source the article links.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox for med spas and multi-location businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-for-med-spas-and-multi-location-businesse-137b5b925b.md" } }, { "question": "When we change a price or a policy, how do the AI's answers stay current?", "answer": "Change it where the AI reads it, and the AI works from the new version.\n\n- **The Shared Brain:** update that location's document. AI agents read the current version the next time they look. A changed document in the Public folder is shown to AI assistants and used in inbox drafts once the owner approves the new version.\n- **The website:** inbox drafts quote prices from the business's own website, so change them there too.\n- **The SEO Machine's facts:** the owner updates the facts the SEO Machine may state, numbers included, and every new article uses them.\n- **Articles already published** keep their words until they are rewritten. A rewrite is written again from today's facts, passes the same check, and goes back at the same address. An AI agent can suggest a rewrite, and it waits for the owner's OK. The owner can also take any article down.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox for med spas and multi-location businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-for-med-spas-and-multi-location-businesse-137b5b925b.md" } }, { "question": "Who reviews and approves those changes?", "answer": "- **The owner.** Anything an AI agent suggests, such as a new document, new facts, an article topic or a rewrite, waits on Approvals until the owner says yes.\n- **The team** adds and updates documents from the dashboard or their phones, each with their own login. A new or changed document in the Public folder waits for the owner's yes before AI assistants can read it.\n- **Roles and permissions you define,** for choosing who else approves, are planned for Pro.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox for med spas and multi-location businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-for-med-spas-and-multi-location-businesse-137b5b925b.md" } }, { "question": "Where can I learn more?", "answer": "- \"The Shared AI Brain\", \"How Ownbox works\" and \"The SEO Machine\", in this knowledge base\n- The SEO Machine on ownbox.io: https://www.ownbox.io/seo-machine\n- Plans and prices: https://www.ownbox.io/#pricing", "source": { "title": "Ownbox for med spas and multi-location businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-for-med-spas-and-multi-location-businesse-137b5b925b.md" } }, { "question": "How do I buy an Ownbox? Is there a subscription?", "answer": "Ownbox Core and Ownbox Pro are each bought once. There is no software subscription, no seat fees and no per-request pricing. For prices, see https://www.ownbox.io/#pricing.", "source": { "title": "How Ownbox works", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/how-ownbox-works-aef3934d88.md" } }, { "question": "What do Ownbox Core, Pro and Enterprise include?", "answer": "- **Ownbox Core**: the Shared AI Brain, the Morning Review, and the web dashboard and phone app for up to 3 people, each with their own login.\n- **The current offer** (at the time of writing, 2026-10-18): for a limited time, Ownbox Core comes with one add-on machine free, the SEO Machine or the Unified Inbox.\n- **Pro** adds:\n - both add-on machines;\n - AI coworkers that work shifts on a schedule and report back;\n - unlimited people;\n - 15 GB in the Shared AI Brain (Core has 5 GB);\n - twice the server memory;\n - priority support.\n- **Planned for Pro**: single sign-on, roles and permissions you define, and an audit log.\n- **Upgrading**: Ownbox Core can be upgraded to Pro from inside the Ownbox, for the difference.\n- **Enterprise** adds a dedicated GPU server running an AI model locally, so the business's data never leaves its own hardware.", "source": { "title": "How Ownbox works", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/how-ownbox-works-aef3934d88.md" } }, { "question": "What is Managed Support, and can I cancel it?", "answer": "Managed Support covers:\n- hosting;\n- every update, installed;\n- monitoring;\n- daily backups;\n- help from the people who built Ownbox.\n\nEvery checkout comes with the first three months free.\n\nManaged Support can be cancelled anytime, in one click, from the Ownbox's dashboard. After it ends, the Ownbox keeps running for 30 days. In that time Ownbox can move it to the owner's own DigitalOcean account with them, starting with a short setup call. Otherwise Ownbox powers it off and keeps a copy safe until the owner claims it or asks for it to be deleted.", "source": { "title": "How Ownbox works", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/how-ownbox-works-aef3934d88.md" } }, { "question": "How long does setup take? Do I need to be technical?", "answer": "After checkout, each Ownbox is built on its own DigitalOcean server, and the owner gets a login by email in about five minutes. There is no server to set up and no terminal.", "source": { "title": "How Ownbox works", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/how-ownbox-works-aef3934d88.md" } }, { "question": "What happens if it does not work?", "answer": "If an Ownbox is not up and running within a day of paying, Ownbox refunds the purchase in full.", "source": { "title": "How Ownbox works", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/how-ownbox-works-aef3934d88.md" } }, { "question": "Which AI does Ownbox use? Do I pay for AI twice?", "answer": "- An Ownbox thinks on the Claude or ChatGPT plan the owner already pays for, or on a free OpenRouter account that uses free AI models, signed in from its settings. An API key works too. Gemini and Grok are planned.\n- AI calls go to the owner's own AI account, not to Ownbox. Ownbox never bills for AI.\n- A cost guard holds a hard monthly ceiling on anything billed per use, such as an API key.", "source": { "title": "How Ownbox works", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/how-ownbox-works-aef3934d88.md" } }, { "question": "Who owns my data, and can I leave?", "answer": "- The owner's AI runs on the owner's account, and the data and the code are the owner's.\n- Everything an Ownbox knows lives in one database file on its own server, and everything on it exports in full.\n- An Ownbox can move to the owner's own DigitalOcean account, after a short setup call, and it runs there without Ownbox.", "source": { "title": "How Ownbox works", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/how-ownbox-works-aef3934d88.md" } }, { "question": "How do people and permissions work?", "answer": "- Everyone signs in with their own login.\n- The owner invites people, decides what each can use, and revokes access. A revoked person is out on their next click.\n- Every setting shows who changed it.", "source": { "title": "How Ownbox works", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/how-ownbox-works-aef3934d88.md" } }, { "question": "Is it safe to let AI agents work in my business?", "answer": "- Anything an AI agent wants to do on an Ownbox waits for a person's OK, and every action is logged.\n- Nothing the Unified Inbox writes goes out unless the owner has allowed it. A draft waits to be approved, edited or skipped, from the dashboard or the phone.\n- An owner can let a channel, such as DMs, answer on its own, and switch that off again at any time.", "source": { "title": "How Ownbox works", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/how-ownbox-works-aef3934d88.md" } }, { "question": "How do AI agents connect to an Ownbox?", "answer": "- Every Ownbox has its own MCP server, locked with a token only the owner holds. Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and any agent that speaks MCP can read it and use its tools.\n- MCP works both ways: an Ownbox connects to the business's other apps, added under Data Sources, so its AI agents can read from them too.", "source": { "title": "How Ownbox works", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/how-ownbox-works-aef3934d88.md" } }, { "question": "What is the Shared AI Brain?", "answer": "The Shared AI Brain (the Shared Brain for short) is one set of folders and files on the Ownbox that every AI agent reads, so all of them share the same business context. Saves wait for a person's OK. See \"The Shared AI Brain\".", "source": { "title": "How Ownbox works", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/how-ownbox-works-aef3934d88.md" } }, { "question": "What is the Morning Review?", "answer": "The Morning Review shows who to answer first and what happened overnight.", "source": { "title": "How Ownbox works", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/how-ownbox-works-aef3934d88.md" } }, { "question": "What are the machines?", "answer": "- **The groundwork**: every machine starts with 200+ hours of groundwork already done: logins and roles, a phone app, the owner's own AI, an MCP server, security and updates.\n- **Adding machines**: a new machine plugs into the Ownbox foundation and gets a dashboard page, a place in the queue and its own tools on the MCP server. One Ownbox runs as many machines as the owner wants.\n- **The Unified Inbox**:\n - It pulls every email and direct message a business gets into one queue: Gmail, Instagram and Messenger.\n - For each message, it reads the whole thread and drafts a reply on the owner's own AI account.\n - It searches every conversation, puts overnight messages in the Morning Review, and has its own tools on the MCP server so AI employees can read the inbox.\n- **The SEO Machine**:\n - It writes articles that answer customers' questions and publishes them to the business's own website on its own.\n - Each article opens with a short, direct answer, the kind search engines and AI assistants quote, and is marked up for both.\n - Before an article publishes, a hard check blocks words the business never uses, competitor names, and any number that isn't in the business's facts, its own words or a source the article links.\n - It connects Google Search Console with one button.\n- **What is coming**: the AI Voice Agent is in development. The Lead Machine, GTM Machine, Reel Machine and YouTube Machine are ideas, not products you can buy.", "source": { "title": "How Ownbox works", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/how-ownbox-works-aef3934d88.md" } }, { "question": "Is there a phone app?", "answer": "Yes. It installs on iPhone and Android from the browser, with notifications on the lock screen and no App Store.", "source": { "title": "How Ownbox works", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/how-ownbox-works-aef3934d88.md" } }, { "question": "Which questions has Ownbox already answered in public?", "answer": "These articles are live on ownbox.io:\n- AI Business Machine: https://ownbox.io/articles/ai-business-machine\n- What are the best unified inbox apps for a business? https://www.ownbox.io/articles/what-are-the-best-unified-inbox-apps\n- How can I get more leads from ChatGPT? https://www.ownbox.io/articles/how-can-i-get-more-leads-from-chatgpt\n- Can AI answer my Instagram DMs without sending something I didn't approve? https://www.ownbox.io/articles/can-ai-answer-my-instagram-dms-without-sending-something-i-didn-t-approve\n- How much does an AI employee cost a small business? https://www.ownbox.io/articles/how-much-does-an-ai-employee-cost-a-small-business\n- Is there a self-hosted AI email assistant a non-developer can run? https://www.ownbox.io/articles/is-there-a-self-hosted-ai-email-assistant-a-non-developer-can-run\n- Is there a self-hosted or open-source unified inbox? https://www.ownbox.io/articles/is-there-a-self-hosted-or-open-source-unified-inbox\n- What is an MCP server and why would a business owner need one? https://www.ownbox.io/articles/what-is-an-mcp-server-and-why-would-a-business-owner-need-one\n- Can I run business AI on my own server without being a developer? https://www.ownbox.io/articles/can-i-run-business-ai-on-my-own-server-without-being-a-developer", "source": { "title": "How Ownbox works", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/how-ownbox-works-aef3934d88.md" } }, { "question": "Does Ownbox use its own product?", "answer": "Yes. Brian MacDonald runs his business on his own Ownbox:\n\n- **The SEO Machine** publishes articles to ownbox.io.\n- **The Unified Inbox** drafts his replies.\n- **The Morning Review** arrives every morning.\n- **The Shared AI Brain** keeps his agency's documents, the rules his AI agents follow, and these public documents.\n\nHe is building his business as a case study for launching and growing a business on an Ownbox.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox runs on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-runs-on-ownbox-c2766eb7c8.md" } }, { "question": "What has the SEO Machine done for ownbox.io?", "answer": "In the 7 days to October 22, 2026, compared with the 7 days before, Ownbox's own numbers show:\n\n- **AI assistants:** they opened ownbox.io pages 246 times to answer someone's question, up 176%. 239 of those were ChatGPT, and 7 were Claude.\n- **AI search engines:** they read ownbox.io pages 630 times, up 68%.\n- **People:** 49 visited, down 8%.\n- **Articles:** 20 are live.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox runs on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-runs-on-ownbox-c2766eb7c8.md" } }, { "question": "How was Ownbox built?", "answer": "Brian MacDonald built Ownbox the way Ownbox works: one founder directing a team of AI developers, all in one shared place.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox runs on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-runs-on-ownbox-c2766eb7c8.md" } }, { "question": "Is Ownbox a good fit for a marketing agency?", "answer": "Yes. Marketing agencies are who Ownbox is built for first. An agency lives in email and DMs, sells content and search, and runs many clients at once, and Ownbox puts all of that in one machine the agency owns.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox for marketing agencies", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-for-marketing-agencies-22fdca2dfe.md" } }, { "question": "What does Ownbox do for an agency?", "answer": "- **One inbox:** every email and DM from clients and leads lands in the Unified Inbox, with a reply drafted for each. A person approves what goes out.\n- **One Shared AI Brain:** a folder per client, with the client's brief, brand guide, approved copy and reports. The team and every AI agent work from the same files.\n- **AI agents that follow the agency's rules:** any agent that speaks MCP connects to the agency's Ownbox, reads its Shared Brain, and proposes work for a person to approve.\n- **Getting found:** the SEO Machine writes and publishes articles that answer the questions the agency's own buyers ask ChatGPT and other AI assistants.\n- **The Morning Review:** every morning, who to answer first and what happened overnight.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox for marketing agencies", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-for-marketing-agencies-22fdca2dfe.md" } }, { "question": "Can an agency use one Ownbox for its clients' websites?", "answer": "An Ownbox belongs to one business. The agency's Ownbox runs the agency: its inbox, its Shared Brain with a folder per client, and its own website. A client who wants the SEO Machine or the Unified Inbox on their own website and inbox gets an Ownbox of their own.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox for marketing agencies", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-for-marketing-agencies-22fdca2dfe.md" } }, { "question": "Can an agency earn by bringing Ownbox to its clients?", "answer": "Yes, through the partner program. See \"The Ownbox partner program\".", "source": { "title": "Ownbox for marketing agencies", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-for-marketing-agencies-22fdca2dfe.md" } }, { "question": "How can an agency see it first?", "answer": "Book a 20-minute call at https://cal.com/brianmacdonald/20min, or start free on your own computer at https://www.ownbox.io/start. Plans and prices: https://www.ownbox.io/#pricing", "source": { "title": "Ownbox for marketing agencies", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-for-marketing-agencies-22fdca2dfe.md" } }, { "question": "What has been launched?", "answer": "Core/Pro are available for purchase. The Ownbox website describes a Shared Brain, dashboard, mobile web app, dedicated MCP server and currently available Unified Inbox/SEO Machine. Investors should test functionality live and request product documentation. [Product](https://bmacbuilds.ownbox.app/kb/public/raise/product.md).", "source": { "title": "due-diligence", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/due-diligence-1587c4657d.md" } }, { "question": "How much verified revenue exists?", "answer": "This pack does not include verified paid-customer or realized-revenue counts. The financial workbook is a **forecast**. Request dated payment and customer records directly from the issuer; do not infer commercial traction from the three-year spreadsheet. [Evidence register](https://bmacbuilds.ownbox.app/kb/public/raise/traction.md).", "source": { "title": "due-diligence", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/due-diligence-1587c4657d.md" } }, { "question": "What is being raised, and at what valuation?", "answer": "The planned raise is $1M under three proposed YC-style post-money SAFE caps ($11M/$13M/$15M). These are conversion caps, not appraisals. Illustrative combined cap-based ownership is 7.9953% before later dilution. [Terms](https://bmacbuilds.ownbox.app/kb/public/raise/investment-terms.md).", "source": { "title": "due-diligence", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/due-diligence-1587c4657d.md" } }, { "question": "Are the forecasts recognized revenue or ARR?", "answer": "No. The figures are customer cash collections and operating cash flow. Both one-time purchases and monthly service receipts are counted. They are not GAAP revenue or subscription ARR. [Financials](https://bmacbuilds.ownbox.app/kb/public/raise/financials.md).", "source": { "title": "due-diligence", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/due-diligence-1587c4657d.md" } }, { "question": "Which assumptions should I stress test first?", "answer": "New consumer purchases, 70% partner sourcing, 70% Managed conversion, agency productivity, enterprise sales capacity, fixed expense budgets, service labor and refunds. The downside scenario projects an end-of-Year-3 cash deficit even with the assumed SAFE. [Assumptions](https://bmacbuilds.ownbox.app/kb/public/raise/financial-assumptions.md).", "source": { "title": "due-diligence", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/due-diligence-1587c4657d.md" } }, { "question": "Why would companies not just use their existing AI vendor or build internally?", "answer": "That is a genuine competitive risk. Ownbox aims to offer a customer-controlled shared context and action layer across people and agents, but pricing, security, customer preference and switching friction must be validated through real deals. [Market](https://bmacbuilds.ownbox.app/kb/public/raise/market.md).", "source": { "title": "due-diligence", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/due-diligence-1587c4657d.md" } }, { "question": "Why target enterprise contracts in April 2027?", "answer": "It is a planned first-close milestone six months after the November 2026 forecast start, not an awarded purchase order. Sales cycles and deployment cost must be established with paid pilots.", "source": { "title": "due-diligence", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/due-diligence-1587c4657d.md" } }, { "question": "Is the offering open to everyone?", "answer": "The information is public, but securities may be sold only to verified accredited purchasers in a compliant Rule 506(c) offering. Reading this room is not accreditation verification. [Legal notice](https://bmacbuilds.ownbox.app/kb/public/raise/legal.md).", "source": { "title": "due-diligence", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/due-diligence-1587c4657d.md" } }, { "question": "Can AI agents access and act on all company data?", "answer": "No. This investor room exposes only approved public documents. Product MCP tools are permissioned and human approval is part of the documented product workflow. A public `llms.txt` does not grant private database access.", "source": { "title": "due-diligence", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/due-diligence-1587c4657d.md" } }, { "question": "What diligence is still missing?", "answer": "Historical financial statements, customer and cohort metrics, actual operating budgets, signed partner/enterprise contracts, cap table, IP/title reviews, security assessment, corporate formation, outstanding liabilities, privacy/product agreements and the final SAFE and side-letter forms. These should be requested directly; do not infer them from these documents.", "source": { "title": "due-diligence", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/due-diligence-1587c4657d.md" } }, { "question": "Who can join?", "answer": "Anyone with an audience or clients who would use Ownbox: creators, affiliates and marketing agencies.", "source": { "title": "The Ownbox partner program", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-ownbox-partner-program-d3a0afd2fb.md" } }, { "question": "What do partners earn?", "answer": "- **Affiliates and creators:** 20% on qualifying sales and on managed support payments, for the first 12 months.\n- **Approved agencies:** they can apply for the Partner tier, at 40%.\n- **The time limit:** earnings on managed support run for the first 12 months, not for life.", "source": { "title": "The Ownbox partner program", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-ownbox-partner-program-d3a0afd2fb.md" } }, { "question": "How do I join?", "answer": "At https://www.ownbox.io/earn-with-ownbox. The affiliate program is the way in, and approved agencies can then apply for the Partner tier.", "source": { "title": "The Ownbox partner program", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-ownbox-partner-program-d3a0afd2fb.md" } }, { "question": "How are referrals tracked and paid?", "answer": "Each partner gets their own link. The partner page explains how long a click counts, where partners see their referrals and commissions, and when approved commissions are paid.", "source": { "title": "The Ownbox partner program", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-ownbox-partner-program-d3a0afd2fb.md" } }, { "question": "Can a partner try Ownbox before recommending it?", "answer": "Yes. Partners can see Ownbox working on a demo Ownbox. Ask on a call: https://cal.com/brianmacdonald/20min", "source": { "title": "The Ownbox partner program", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-ownbox-partner-program-d3a0afd2fb.md" } }, { "question": "What is the SEO Machine?", "answer": "The SEO Machine finds the questions a business's customers ask AI assistants. It then writes the answers and publishes them on the business's own website, so ChatGPT and other AI assistants find the business and send it customers. AEO stands for answer engine optimization. The SEO Machine was called the AEO Machine until October 2026.", "source": { "title": "The SEO Machine", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-seo-machine-c3464a0a97.md" } }, { "question": "How does it work?", "answer": "1. **It finds the questions.** It works out what buyers are asking ChatGPT and other AI assistants about the business's field.\n2. **It writes the answers.** Each article opens with a short, direct answer, the kind search engines and AI assistants quote. Each one is marked up for both.\n3. **It checks every article.** Before anything publishes, a hard check blocks three things:\n - words the business never uses\n - competitor names\n - any number that isn't in the business's facts, its own words or a source the article links\n4. **It publishes on the business's own website,** on its own schedule. The owner sets how many articles a week.\n5. **It counts the results.** It counts the visits that come from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude, and connects Google Search Console with one button.", "source": { "title": "The SEO Machine", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-seo-machine-c3464a0a97.md" } }, { "question": "Can I stop or take down an article?", "answer": "Yes. Any article can be taken down, and the owner can pause the machine.", "source": { "title": "The SEO Machine", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-seo-machine-c3464a0a97.md" } }, { "question": "What does a business need for it?", "answer": "- a website\n- an Ownbox, which signs in to the Claude or ChatGPT plan the business already pays for", "source": { "title": "The SEO Machine", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-seo-machine-c3464a0a97.md" } }, { "question": "Does it work?", "answer": "Ownbox runs it on its own website, ownbox.io. See \"Ownbox runs on Ownbox\".", "source": { "title": "The SEO Machine", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-seo-machine-c3464a0a97.md" } }, { "question": "How do I get it?", "answer": "For a limited time, Ownbox Core comes with the SEO Machine or the Unified Inbox free, and Ownbox Pro includes both. Plans and prices: https://www.ownbox.io/#pricing. More: https://www.ownbox.io/seo-machine", "source": { "title": "The SEO Machine", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-seo-machine-c3464a0a97.md" } }, { "question": "What do I need before I buy?", "answer": "- **An AI account:** a Claude Pro or Max plan, ChatGPT Plus, Pro or Business, or a free OpenRouter account that uses free AI models. Gemini and Grok are planned.\n- **For the SEO Machine:** a website.\n- **For the Unified Inbox:** your Gmail, Instagram and Messenger accounts.", "source": { "title": "Getting started with Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/getting-started-with-ownbox-0560da0be6.md" } }, { "question": "What happens after I pay?", "answer": "1. **Your Ownbox is built** on a server of its own.\n2. **Your login arrives by email** in about five minutes. There is no server to set up and no terminal.\n3. **You sign in your AI** from the settings, on the account you already have.\n4. **You connect your channels and your website,** and invite your team. Each person gets their own login.\n5. **The next morning** your first Morning Review arrives: who to answer first and what happened overnight.", "source": { "title": "Getting started with Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/getting-started-with-ownbox-0560da0be6.md" } }, { "question": "What if it doesn't work?", "answer": "If an Ownbox isn't up and running within a day of paying, Ownbox refunds the purchase in full.", "source": { "title": "Getting started with Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/getting-started-with-ownbox-0560da0be6.md" } }, { "question": "Can a developer try it for free?", "answer": "Yes. A developer can start free on their own computer: one line, with no sign-up and no card, and they can build their first machine.", "source": { "title": "Getting started with Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/getting-started-with-ownbox-0560da0be6.md" } }, { "question": "Can I talk to someone first?", "answer": "Yes. Book a 20-minute call with Brian MacDonald, Founder and CEO of Ownbox, at https://cal.com/brianmacdonald/20min", "source": { "title": "Getting started with Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/getting-started-with-ownbox-0560da0be6.md" } }, { "question": "Where do I buy it?", "answer": "Plans and prices: https://www.ownbox.io/#pricing", "source": { "title": "Getting started with Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/getting-started-with-ownbox-0560da0be6.md" } }, { "question": "Who is Ownbox for?", "answer": "Small and midsize businesses that don't want more subscriptions and more silos of information, where people end up as the glue that keeps it all running.", "source": { "title": "Who Ownbox is for, by kind of business", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/who-ownbox-is-for-by-kind-of-business-a475e484b8.md" } }, { "question": "How does Ownbox help a marketing agency?", "answer": "- **Messages:** every email and DM from clients and leads lands in the Unified Inbox, with a reply drafted for each.\n- **One shared brain:** a folder per client, and the team and every AI agent work from the same files.\n- **Getting found:** the SEO Machine answers the questions the agency's own buyers ask ChatGPT and other AI assistants.\n- **Earning:** an agency can bring Ownbox to its clients through the partner program.\n\nSee \"Ownbox for marketing agencies\".", "source": { "title": "Who Ownbox is for, by kind of business", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/who-ownbox-is-for-by-kind-of-business-a475e484b8.md" } }, { "question": "How does Ownbox help a med spa?", "answer": "- **Messages:** clients ask about treatments by Instagram, Messenger and email. The Unified Inbox drafts a reply to each one in the spa's voice.\n- **Getting found:** the SEO Machine answers the questions clients ask ChatGPT about treatments, on the spa's own website.", "source": { "title": "Who Ownbox is for, by kind of business", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/who-ownbox-is-for-by-kind-of-business-a475e484b8.md" } }, { "question": "How does Ownbox help a gym or fitness studio?", "answer": "- **Messages:** members and leads write by DM and email. The Unified Inbox puts them in one queue with replies drafted.\n- **The morning list:** the Morning Review says who to answer first.", "source": { "title": "Who Ownbox is for, by kind of business", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/who-ownbox-is-for-by-kind-of-business-a475e484b8.md" } }, { "question": "How does Ownbox help an e-commerce brand?", "answer": "- **Customer messages:** they land in one inbox with drafts.\n- **Search and AI answers:** articles that answer buyers' questions bring them in from search and from AI assistants.\n- **One shared brain:** the team and every AI agent work from the same product information.", "source": { "title": "Who Ownbox is for, by kind of business", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/who-ownbox-is-for-by-kind-of-business-a475e484b8.md" } }, { "question": "How does Ownbox help a health and wellness practice?", "answer": "Clinics, physical therapy, chiropractic and therapy practices that publish articles can let the SEO Machine write them. Patient messages land in one inbox, and a person approves what goes out.", "source": { "title": "Who Ownbox is for, by kind of business", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/who-ownbox-is-for-by-kind-of-business-a475e484b8.md" } }, { "question": "How does Ownbox help a company that is hiring for AI?", "answer": "A company can have Brian MacDonald, Founder and CEO of Ownbox, install an Ownbox for it and build machines for the jobs it needs done. See \"Working with Brian MacDonald\".", "source": { "title": "Who Ownbox is for, by kind of business", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/who-ownbox-is-for-by-kind-of-business-a475e484b8.md" } }, { "question": "Who is Ownbox not for?", "answer": "Someone who only needs help writing the occasional email. A chat app does that.", "source": { "title": "Who Ownbox is for, by kind of business", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/who-ownbox-is-for-by-kind-of-business-a475e484b8.md" } }, { "question": "Where does my data live?", "answer": "On the Ownbox's own server. Everything an Ownbox knows lives in one database file there, and everything on it exports in full.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox security and privacy", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-security-and-privacy-b98c398654.md" } }, { "question": "Does my data go to Ownbox?", "answer": "No. AI calls go to the owner's own AI account, Claude, ChatGPT or a free OpenRouter account, not to Ownbox. Ownbox never bills for AI.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox security and privacy", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-security-and-privacy-b98c398654.md" } }, { "question": "What goes to the AI provider?", "answer": "Only the text the AI needs to draft, sent to the owner's own AI account under the owner's own terms with that provider. Before signing in, the owner confirms they have reviewed their AI app's terms.\n\nOn a free OpenRouter account, the free models may keep and learn from what the Ownbox sends them, so customer conversations belong on Claude or ChatGPT. The Ownbox says so, and the owner ticks that they understand, before the key is saved.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox security and privacy", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-security-and-privacy-b98c398654.md" } }, { "question": "Can the AI run on my own hardware?", "answer": "Yes, on Enterprise. It adds a dedicated GPU server running an AI model locally, so the business's data never leaves its own hardware.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox security and privacy", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-security-and-privacy-b98c398654.md" } }, { "question": "Who can get in?", "answer": "- **Logins:** everyone signs in with their own login.\n- **Access:** the owner invites people, decides what each one can use, and revokes access. A revoked person is out on their next click.\n- **AI agents:** they connect through the Ownbox MCP server, locked with a token only the owner holds.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox security and privacy", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-security-and-privacy-b98c398654.md" } }, { "question": "Can an AI agent act without permission?", "answer": "No. Anything an AI agent wants to do on an Ownbox waits for a person's OK, and every action is logged. The owner can let a channel answer on its own and switch that off again.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox security and privacy", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-security-and-privacy-b98c398654.md" } }, { "question": "Is there a spending limit on AI?", "answer": "Yes. A cost guard holds a hard monthly ceiling on anything billed per use, such as an API key.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox security and privacy", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-security-and-privacy-b98c398654.md" } }, { "question": "What about backups and updates?", "answer": "Managed Support installs every update, monitors the Ownbox and keeps daily backups.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox security and privacy", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-security-and-privacy-b98c398654.md" } }, { "question": "Who owns the code and the data?", "answer": "The owner. An Ownbox can be moved to the owner's own DigitalOcean account after a short setup call, and it runs there without Ownbox.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox security and privacy", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-security-and-privacy-b98c398654.md" } }, { "question": "What is the Morning Review?", "answer": "The Morning Review is one clean report, every morning, that shows the most important people to get back to that day, what the machines did overnight, and what needs the owner's attention. It comes with every Ownbox.", "source": { "title": "The Morning Review", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-morning-review-32361cc6d6.md" } }, { "question": "What is in it?", "answer": "- **Who to answer first:** the people waiting on the business, with replies already drafted by the Unified Inbox.\n- **What happened overnight:** messages that came in, and what each machine did, such as articles the SEO Machine published.\n- **What needs attention:** anything waiting on Approvals, and anything that went wrong.", "source": { "title": "The Morning Review", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-morning-review-32361cc6d6.md" } }, { "question": "Where do I read it?", "answer": "On the Ownbox dashboard and the phone app. An AI agent connected to the Ownbox can read it too, including past days and how they compare.", "source": { "title": "The Morning Review", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-morning-review-32361cc6d6.md" } }, { "question": "Does it cost anything extra?", "answer": "No. It is part of every Ownbox. Plans and prices: https://www.ownbox.io/#pricing", "source": { "title": "The Morning Review", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-morning-review-32361cc6d6.md" } }, { "question": "How much does an Ownbox cost?", "answer": "Ownbox Core is $799, paid once. It is the complete Ownbox foundation, for up to three people. For a limited time it comes with one Machine free: the Unified Inbox or the SEO Machine. After the offer ends, each Machine is $299 on its own.\n\nOwnbox Pro is $1,599, paid once. It includes both shipping Machines, scheduled AI coworkers, unlimited people, expanded storage and resources, and priority support.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox pricing", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-pricing-fb90cb4de5.md" } }, { "question": "Is there a monthly fee?", "answer": "Every checkout comes with the first 90 days of Managed Support free: hosting, updates, backups and support. After that it renews at $99 a month for Core or $199 a month for Pro, unless you cancel. Your AI provider may charge separately for your own Claude or ChatGPT plan. If you move your Ownbox to your own cloud account, that hosting provider bills you directly, about $12 a month on DigitalOcean.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox pricing", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-pricing-fb90cb4de5.md" } }, { "question": "Can I upgrade from Core to Pro?", "answer": "Yes, anytime from inside your Ownbox, for the $800 difference. Nothing moves.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox pricing", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-pricing-fb90cb4de5.md" } }, { "question": "Where do I buy it?", "answer": "At www.ownbox.io/#pricing. Your Ownbox is built on its own server after checkout, and you get your login by email.", "source": { "title": "Ownbox pricing", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-pricing-fb90cb4de5.md" } }, { "question": "How do I get my business recommended by ChatGPT?", "answer": "Answer the questions your customers ask, on your own website, in a form AI assistants can quote. AI assistants answer from what they can find and read. A page that opens with a short, direct answer to a real question is easy for them to use.", "source": { "title": "Getting found by ChatGPT and Gemini", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/getting-found-by-chatgpt-and-gemini-e2095b3f43.md" } }, { "question": "What is AEO?", "answer": "AEO stands for answer engine optimization. It means writing your website's content so AI assistants (the answer engines) can find it, trust it and quote it. It is to ChatGPT what SEO is to Google.", "source": { "title": "Getting found by ChatGPT and Gemini", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/getting-found-by-chatgpt-and-gemini-e2095b3f43.md" } }, { "question": "What should each page do?", "answer": "- **Answer one real question** a customer asks.\n- **Open with the answer** in the first sentence or two.\n- **Use the customer's words.**\n- **Use only numbers and facts you can stand behind.**\n- **Carry markup** that tells search engines and AI assistants what the page answers.", "source": { "title": "Getting found by ChatGPT and Gemini", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/getting-found-by-chatgpt-and-gemini-e2095b3f43.md" } }, { "question": "How do I know which questions to answer?", "answer": "Start with what customers already ask you by email, DM and phone, and what they type into Google. Then ask ChatGPT those same questions and see who it recommends.", "source": { "title": "Getting found by ChatGPT and Gemini", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/getting-found-by-chatgpt-and-gemini-e2095b3f43.md" } }, { "question": "How do I know if it is working?", "answer": "Count the visits that come from AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude. Check whether the AI assistants open your pages. Google Search Console shows what people searched to find you.", "source": { "title": "Getting found by ChatGPT and Gemini", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/getting-found-by-chatgpt-and-gemini-e2095b3f43.md" } }, { "question": "Can this be done automatically?", "answer": "Yes. The SEO Machine on an Ownbox does all of it:\n\n- finds the questions\n- writes the answers\n- checks each one against the business's rules\n- publishes it on the business's own website\n- counts the visits from AI assistants\n\nSee \"The SEO Machine\" and \"Ownbox runs on Ownbox\".", "source": { "title": "Getting found by ChatGPT and Gemini", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/getting-found-by-chatgpt-and-gemini-e2095b3f43.md" } }, { "question": "Where can I learn more?", "answer": "- **How can I get more leads from ChatGPT?** https://www.ownbox.io/articles/how-can-i-get-more-leads-from-chatgpt\n- **The SEO Machine:** https://www.ownbox.io/seo-machine", "source": { "title": "Getting found by ChatGPT and Gemini", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/getting-found-by-chatgpt-and-gemini-e2095b3f43.md" } }, { "question": "What is a machine?", "answer": "A machine is a job an Ownbox does every day, like answering messages or publishing articles. Each one plugs into the Ownbox foundation and gets:\n\n- a page on the dashboard\n- a place in the queue\n- its own tools on the MCP server\n\nOne Ownbox runs as many machines as the owner wants.", "source": { "title": "Custom machines on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/custom-machines-on-ownbox-432870f4a9.md" } }, { "question": "Can I build my own machine?", "answer": "Yes, in either of two ways:\n\n1. **Describe it in plain words.** On an Ownbox, you describe the machine you want. Your Ownbox builds it and tests it on your real data without sending anything. It installs only when you approve.\n2. **Build it as a developer.** A developer starts free on their own computer: one line, with no sign-up and no card.", "source": { "title": "Custom machines on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/custom-machines-on-ownbox-432870f4a9.md" } }, { "question": "Why build on Ownbox instead of from scratch?", "answer": "Every machine starts with more than 200 hours of groundwork already done:\n\n- logins and roles\n- a phone app\n- the owner's own AI\n- an MCP server\n- security and updates", "source": { "title": "Custom machines on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/custom-machines-on-ownbox-432870f4a9.md" } }, { "question": "Can someone build a machine for me?", "answer": "Yes. Brian MacDonald, who built Ownbox, builds custom machines for companies. Book a call at https://cal.com/brianmacdonald/20min", "source": { "title": "Custom machines on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/custom-machines-on-ownbox-432870f4a9.md" } }, { "question": "Which machines are coming?", "answer": "- **In development:** an AI voice agent.\n- **Open for partners to design with Ownbox:** lead, outbound, reels and YouTube machines.", "source": { "title": "Custom machines on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/custom-machines-on-ownbox-432870f4a9.md" } }, { "question": "Is Brian MacDonald available for work?", "answer": "Yes.\n\n- **Kinds of work:** full-time and contract roles, and fractional work for smaller companies.\n- **Where:** remotely, or on site anywhere in Southern California.", "source": { "title": "Working with Brian MacDonald", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/working-with-brian-macdonald-7518a39d33.md" } }, { "question": "What roles is Brian MacDonald a fit for?", "answer": "- **Marketing automation:**\n - marketing automation and marketing operations\n - CRM and lifecycle marketing\n- **E-commerce and growth:**\n - growth and retention marketing\n - digital marketing leadership\n- **Engineering:** full stack engineer and web developer.\n- **Putting AI to work:** AI agents in a company's sales, marketing and operations.\n\nHe wants to work in tech for a company outside the tech industry: a business that needs someone to put AI to work for it.", "source": { "title": "Working with Brian MacDonald", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/working-with-brian-macdonald-7518a39d33.md" } }, { "question": "What does Brian MacDonald bring to a company?", "answer": "He doesn't start from a blank page.\n\n- **The foundation comes with him.** He arrives with an AI business machine already built: about 200 hours of engineering, running on the company's own server on day one.\n- **The budget goes on the real problem,** the one he was hired to solve.\n- **He builds the company's own machines on top of it.** For example:\n - **Sales:** every new lead contacted within minutes, and quiet leads followed up on a schedule.\n - **Marketing:** one piece of content reworked for every channel, and ad spend watched daily for anything odd.\n - **Operations:** forms and emails turned into records, and anything sitting too long surfaced early.\n - **Finance:** unpaid invoices chased on a schedule, and a weekly cash flow one-pager.\n - **People:** candidates screened and interviews booked, and onboarding checklists that actually run.\n- **The company keeps all of it:**\n - the machine and every machine built on it\n - all of its data, which can be exported any day\n - the server and the AI account, both in the company's name", "source": { "title": "Working with Brian MacDonald", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/working-with-brian-macdonald-7518a39d33.md" } }, { "question": "How does Brian MacDonald usually start with a company?", "answer": "With one project. The company sees it working before it commits to more.", "source": { "title": "Working with Brian MacDonald", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/working-with-brian-macdonald-7518a39d33.md" } }, { "question": "How does Brian MacDonald keep AI safe inside a company?", "answer": "- **No agent can send, publish or spend on its own.** People approve anything that matters, and every action is recorded.\n- **AI spend has a hard monthly ceiling,** checked before every request.\n- **Agents work inside the company's own machine,** on the company's own records, using the AI plan the company already pays for.\n- **The company's data and code stay the company's.**", "source": { "title": "Working with Brian MacDonald", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/working-with-brian-macdonald-7518a39d33.md" } }, { "question": "How does Brian MacDonald work with a team?", "answer": "- **Ownbox:** he built it the way Ownbox works, as one founder directing a team of AI developers, all in one shared place. Nothing lands until it passes the test suite.\n- **Before that:** at a venture studio he worked with more than 100 founding teams.", "source": { "title": "Working with Brian MacDonald", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/working-with-brian-macdonald-7518a39d33.md" } }, { "question": "Brian runs Ownbox. Does that get in the way of a job?", "answer": "No. Ownbox is what he brings to the job.\n\n- The work he does inside a company is the work Ownbox was built for: AI agents doing real work on the company's own records, with people approving what goes out.\n- A company that hires him can run that work on an Ownbox of its own.", "source": { "title": "Working with Brian MacDonald", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/working-with-brian-macdonald-7518a39d33.md" } }, { "question": "What tools does Brian MacDonald use?", "answer": "- **AI and agents:**\n - Claude Code and the Anthropic API, and OpenAI\n - custom and multi-agent systems\n - MCP servers\n - retrieval and embeddings\n - real-time voice agents\n- **Marketing automation:**\n - HubSpot, Salesforce and HighLevel\n - Zapier, Make and n8n\n - Google Analytics 4\n - Meta Ads and the Conversions API\n - Apollo, Smartlead and Instantly\n- **Engineering:**\n - Python (FastAPI)\n - TypeScript (Next.js, React)\n - PostgreSQL, SQLite and Redis\n - Linux\n - mobile web apps\n- **Practices:**\n - test-driven development and mutation testing\n - continuous integration and deployment\n - Stripe\n - Playwright", "source": { "title": "Working with Brian MacDonald", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/working-with-brian-macdonald-7518a39d33.md" } }, { "question": "How do I see Brian MacDonald's résumé or reach him?", "answer": "- **Résumé:** https://brian-macdonald.com/downloads/brian-macdonald-resume.pdf\n- **Video introduction:** https://brian-macdonald.com/intro\n- **Book a 20-minute call:** https://cal.com/brianmacdonald/20min\n- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianmacdonald", "source": { "title": "Working with Brian MacDonald", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/working-with-brian-macdonald-7518a39d33.md" } } ], "documents": [ { "title": "What Ownbox is", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/what-ownbox-is-3bc9e6473b.md", "updated": "2026-11-11T16:05:44+00:00" }, { "title": "The Business Agent", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-business-agent-6976519a85.md", "updated": "2026-11-11T16:05:44+00:00" }, { "title": "Connect your Ownbox to your website", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/connect-your-ownbox-to-your-website-0aa1066dae.md", "updated": "2026-11-11T16:05:44+00:00" }, { "title": "Is Ownbox open source", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/is-ownbox-open-source-5544816c53.md", "updated": "2026-11-10T17:55:46+00:00" }, { "title": "Ownbox and the AI you already use", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-and-the-ai-you-already-use-35118ad3ef.md", "updated": "2026-11-09T23:36:57+00:00" }, { "title": "The company behind Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-company-behind-ownbox-33f06139f2.md", "updated": "2026-11-09T23:36:57+00:00" }, { "title": "The Unified Inbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-unified-inbox-67011c1072.md", "updated": "2026-11-09T23:36:57+00:00" }, { "title": "AI coworkers on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-coworkers-on-ownbox-200cd3b2c9.md", "updated": "2026-11-09T23:36:57+00:00" }, { "title": "The Shared AI Brain", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-shared-ai-brain-f73d431670.md", "updated": "2026-11-09T23:36:57+00:00" }, { "title": "changelog", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/changelog-50fc89805e.md", "updated": "2026-11-03T07:11:50+00:00" }, { "title": "legal", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/legal-10aba1aa7c.md", "updated": "2026-11-03T07:11:49+00:00" }, { "title": "investment-terms", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/investment-terms-c3dcd12e77.md", "updated": "2026-11-03T06:43:53+00:00" }, { "title": "Ownbox_Investor_Financial_Summary", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-investor-financial-summary-1abdca6aac.md", "updated": "2026-11-02T16:51:07+00:00" }, { "title": "Ownbox_SAFE_Dilution_Calculator", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-safe-dilution-calculator-fa886c023c.md", "updated": "2026-11-02T16:51:07+00:00" }, { "title": "Brian MacDonald, engineer in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/brian-macdonald-engineer-in-orange-county-20ab5f7f51.md", "updated": "2026-11-01T21:55:34+00:00" }, { "title": "AI agents and AI business systems", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-agents-and-ai-business-systems-89186ed631.md", "updated": "2026-11-01T21:55:34+00:00" }, { "title": "AI help for businesses in Orange County", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ai-help-for-businesses-in-orange-county-4e234c6c5c.md", "updated": "2026-11-01T21:55:34+00:00" }, { "title": "Self-hosted AI for small businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/self-hosted-ai-for-small-businesses-36c632267f.md", "updated": "2026-11-01T21:55:34+00:00" }, { "title": "Ownbox for med spas and multi-location businesses", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-for-med-spas-and-multi-location-businesse-137b5b925b.md", "updated": "2026-11-01T21:55:31+00:00" }, { "title": "How Ownbox works", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/how-ownbox-works-aef3934d88.md", "updated": "2026-11-01T21:55:30+00:00" }, { "title": "Ownbox runs on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-runs-on-ownbox-c2766eb7c8.md", "updated": "2026-11-01T21:55:28+00:00" }, { "title": "Ownbox for marketing agencies", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-for-marketing-agencies-22fdca2dfe.md", "updated": "2026-11-01T21:55:28+00:00" }, { "title": "product", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/product-84c93f2df4.md", "updated": "2026-11-01T21:55:24+00:00" }, { "title": "investor-one-pager", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/investor-one-pager-dae1d5d9e0.md", "updated": "2026-11-01T21:55:24+00:00" }, { "title": "business-model", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/business-model-13847ec1d2.md", "updated": "2026-11-01T21:55:24+00:00" }, { "title": "overview", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/overview-7844c8e93f.md", "updated": "2026-11-01T21:55:24+00:00" }, { "title": "sources", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/sources-4343551af2.md", "updated": "2026-10-30T23:24:40+00:00" }, { "title": "risks", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/risks-b69e86893b.md", "updated": "2026-10-30T23:24:39+00:00" }, { "title": "evaluation-checklist", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/evaluation-checklist-4a9a2ea851.md", "updated": "2026-10-30T23:24:30+00:00" }, { "title": "traction", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/traction-e33f29d18f.md", "updated": "2026-10-30T05:23:31+00:00" }, { "title": "financial-assumptions", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/financial-assumptions-59c95c2ec5.md", "updated": "2026-10-30T05:23:29+00:00" }, { "title": "financials", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/financials-4ee807f6a6.md", "updated": "2026-10-30T05:23:29+00:00" }, { "title": "due-diligence", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/due-diligence-1587c4657d.md", "updated": "2026-10-30T05:23:29+00:00" }, { "title": "scenario-comparison", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/scenario-comparison-6f6f2f0c1b.md", "updated": "2026-10-30T05:23:24+00:00" }, { "title": "safe-tranches", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/safe-tranches-fb05beca10.md", "updated": "2026-10-30T05:23:24+00:00" }, { "title": "annual-projections", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/annual-projections-9108367956.md", "updated": "2026-10-30T05:23:24+00:00" }, { "title": "market", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/market-e779de6f0c.md", "updated": "2026-10-30T04:53:19+00:00" }, { "title": "founder", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/founder-66504519e4.md", "updated": "2026-10-30T04:52:32+00:00" }, { "title": "The Ownbox partner program", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-ownbox-partner-program-d3a0afd2fb.md", "updated": "2026-10-26T07:24:05+00:00" }, { "title": "The SEO Machine", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-seo-machine-c3464a0a97.md", "updated": "2026-10-25T18:35:23+00:00" }, { "title": "Getting started with Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/getting-started-with-ownbox-0560da0be6.md", "updated": "2026-10-25T17:50:20+00:00" }, { "title": "Who Ownbox is for, by kind of business", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/who-ownbox-is-for-by-kind-of-business-a475e484b8.md", "updated": "2026-10-25T17:14:44+00:00" }, { "title": "Ownbox security and privacy", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-security-and-privacy-b98c398654.md", "updated": "2026-10-25T17:14:40+00:00" }, { "title": "The Morning Review", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/the-morning-review-32361cc6d6.md", "updated": "2026-10-24T05:55:38+00:00" }, { "title": "Ownbox pricing", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/ownbox-pricing-fb90cb4de5.md", "updated": "2026-10-24T05:53:40+00:00" }, { "title": "Getting found by ChatGPT and Gemini", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/getting-found-by-chatgpt-and-gemini-e2095b3f43.md", "updated": "2026-10-18T17:07:58+00:00" }, { "title": "Custom machines on Ownbox", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/custom-machines-on-ownbox-432870f4a9.md", "updated": "2026-10-18T17:07:50+00:00" }, { "title": "Working with Brian MacDonald", "url": "https://ownbox.ownbox.app/agent/doc/working-with-brian-macdonald-7518a39d33.md", "updated": "2026-10-16T18:22:12+00:00" } ] }