The 6 best AI platforms for Australian businesses

Six AI platforms an Australian team can license, scored out of 70 on building, connections, data control, admin, price and Australian availability.

Finlay Ekins
Co-founder · Updated · 23 min read
Share

An AI platform is the product a business licenses per seat so its team can build shared assistants on company files. AI agents, by contrast, act in other apps on their own. On a 70-point test of building, connections, data control, admin, price and Australian availability, ChatGPT Business scores highest at 70, ahead of Microsoft 365 Copilot on 68.

The best AI platforms for Australian businesses, ranked

How each one scores

Points by test, scored 1 October 2026
Points for 6 products on 6 tests, with the total out of 70.
ChatGPT BusinessMicrosoft 365 CopilotGemini in Google WorkspaceClaude TeamPerplexity Enterprise ProGrok Business
Builds and runs AI20 points
20 of 2020 of 2020 of 2020 of 2020 of 2020 of 20
Connects to your tools10 points
10 of 1010 of 106 of 1010 of 1010 of 108 of 10
Data control10 points
10 of 108 of 1010 of 107 of 106 of 106 of 10
Admin and oversight10 points
10 of 1010 of 1010 of 1010 of 1010 of 107 of 10
Price for a small team10 points
10 of 1010 of 1010 of 1010 of 107 of 1010 of 10
Australia10 points
10 of 1010 of 106 of 103 of 100 of 100 of 10
Total scoreout of 70
70 of 701st68 of 702nd62 of 703rd60 of 704th53 of 705th51 of 706th
Each test is scored out of 10 and counts for the points shown beside it, so builds and runs AI counts double. The best score on each line is in bold, and a tie is bold for everyone who shares it. The reason and source for every score are on the cards below.

1. ChatGPT Business

Best for
Teams that already use ChatGPT and want one shared workspace that answers from Slack, SharePoint and Google Drive
Builds and runs AI20/20
Connects to your tools10/10
Data control10/10
Admin and oversight10/10
Price for a small team10/10
Australia10/10
Total score70/70

ChatGPT Business is a self-serve plan for a shared team workspace, and OpenAI states it does not train on a Business workspace's data. With company knowledge, ChatGPT looks across connected apps for one answer and respects each person's existing permissions. Work can run on a schedule or a trigger, and connected apps can create or update records. The ChatGPT app directory lists HubSpot and Intuit QuickBooks.

OpenAI prices ChatGPT Business by country, and from Australia its pricing page shows A$28 a standard seat a month billed annually, or A$35 monthly. OpenAI opened its first Australian office, in Sydney, in December 2025. Its chief strategy officer Jason Kwon told B&T at the launch that the team would work directly with Australian businesses. Australian data storage is offered to eligible Enterprise and Edu customers, not Business. OpenAI is planning to retire custom GPTs, its shareable assistants, in favour of plugins, starting with Enterprise workspaces on 11 December 2026.

  • Beats the field on: no single test outright, but no other entry scores full marks on all six. Data control at 10/10 is level with Gemini in Google Workspace and two points above Microsoft 365 Copilot.
  • Loses on: no test. Admin scores full marks, but the Compliance API audit log is for Enterprise and Edu workspaces. The Australian storage that earns its hosting points is not on the Business plan either.

Free 30-minute call

Not sure which platform fits the job?

Book a time and tell us the job you want AI to do. On the call we check whether one of these six platforms already does it. If none does, we tell you what we would build to run inside your own systems, and what it would cost.

For Australian companies of 10 to 200 people comparing AI platforms.

Book a 30-minute call

2. Microsoft 365 Copilot

Rank 2
Best for
Businesses already on Microsoft 365 that want AI inside Outlook, Teams, Word and SharePoint
Builds and runs AI20/20
Connects to your tools10/10
Data control8/10
Admin and oversight10/10
Price for a small team10/10
Australia10/10
Total score68/70

Microsoft 365 Copilot works inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. Staff build agents with Agent Builder, and an admin can publish an agent to the org catalog so the whole company finds it. Copilot searches Microsoft 365 and key business apps through more than 100 connectors, and Copilot Cowork can schedule tasks to recur.

It scores full marks on the Australian test, level with ChatGPT Business. Microsoft lists Australia as a local region for Microsoft 365 Copilot data, publishes prices in Australian dollars and has an Australia Regional Office. Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot costs AU$35.20 a user a month, paid yearly. The Copilot Business add-on costs AU$26.91 a user a month until 31 December 2026 and needs a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan.

  • Beats the field on: none outright. It is one of two entries with full marks on the Australian test, and it ties the top mark on building and running AI, connections, admin and price.
  • Loses on: data control, 8, the one test that separates it from ChatGPT Business. Microsoft's SOC 2 scope page names Office 365 and Copilot Studio, and no Microsoft page read names SOC 2 Type II for Microsoft 365 Copilot itself.

3. Gemini in Google Workspace

Best for
Businesses on Google Workspace that want AI in Gmail, Docs and Drive from A$9.90 a user a month
Builds and runs AI20/20
Connects to your tools6/10
Data control10/10
Admin and oversight10/10
Price for a small team10/10
Australia6/10
Total score62/70

Gemini is built into Gmail, Docs, Meet and the other Workspace apps. Anyone signed in to the organisation can open a shared Gem, Google's name for a custom assistant. It finds information across Gmail, Docs and Drive. Workspace Studio, on all Business plans, builds automations such as a daily summary of unread emails.

Since 15 September 2026, Gemini in Workspace on Business Standard and Plus connects to HubSpot, Salesforce and Intuit QuickBooks, among other apps. Admins choose which of those connectors are switched on. Workspace prices are published in Australian dollars, from A$9.90 a user a month for Business Starter with basic Gemini access. Google has an office in Pyrmont, Sydney.

  • Beats the field on: none outright, though it ties the top mark on data control, admin and price.
  • Loses on: connections, 6. No Microsoft 365 connector appears on the pages read, and its new connectors are Google's own, not servers a business adds itself. On the Australian test, 6, Workspace data regions are the United States or the European Union.

4. Claude Team

Rank 4
Claude Team
Anthropic
Best for
Teams that want shared projects on company knowledge, with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Xero and QuickBooks connectors on the team plan
Builds and runs AI20/20
Connects to your tools10/10
Data control7/10
Admin and oversight10/10
Price for a small team10/10
Australia3/10
Total score60/70

Claude Projects hold their own chat history and knowledge base, and a project can be made visible to the whole organisation. On Team, enterprise search looks across Slack, Microsoft 365 and other sources in one place, and scheduled tasks run on all paid plans. The Microsoft 365 connector and the Google Workspace connectors are on every plan, and Anthropic's directory lists connectors for Xero and Intuit QuickBooks.

The Team plan includes SSO, admin controls for connectors and no model training on team content by default. A standard seat costs US$20 a month billed annually, for teams of 2 to 150.

  • Beats the field on: none outright, with four tests at full marks: building and running AI, connections, admin and price.
  • Loses on: the Australian test, 3. Anthropic has opened a Sydney office, but its prices are in USD and data is stored in the US. On data control, 7, there is no choice of storage region. Admin scores full marks, but audit logs are on Enterprise, not Team.

5. Perplexity Enterprise Pro

Best for
Teams whose work starts with research across the web and their own files
Builds and runs AI20/20
Connects to your tools10/10
Data control6/10
Admin and oversight10/10
Price for a small team7/10
Australia0/10
Total score53/70

Enterprise Pro searches across the web, files and apps, with connectors for Google Drive, Microsoft 365 and HubSpot. Projects keep searches, files, instructions and connected tools in one place, and Enterprise plans can share a project across the organisation. Computer for Enterprise comes with Enterprise Pro and Max. It runs multi-step workflows in the background, on a schedule or on a trigger, with apps such as Gmail, Outlook, Slack and Salesforce. Perplexity Computer lists a QuickBooks connector for cash flow, profit and loss and unpaid-invoice reports. Intuit launched it at the end of August 2026, for users in the US.

Perplexity guarantees no training on Enterprise data and is SOC 2 Type 2 certified. Perplexity's customer page credits Ramp with a 47% average productivity increase.

  • Beats the field on: none outright. Building and running AI, connections and admin reach full marks here.
  • Loses on: the Australian test, 0. No Australian hosting, AUD prices or Australian office appears on the pages read. On price, 7, Enterprise Pro costs $34 a seat a month billed annually, above the USD 30 line. Admin scores full marks, but audit logs come with Enterprise Max or a custom contract.

6. Grok Business

Rank 6
Grok Business
SpaceXAI (formerly xAI)
Best for
Small teams that want Grok's models in a shared workspace with Salesforce, HubSpot, Google Drive and Microsoft 365 connections
Builds and runs AI20/20
Connects to your tools8/10
Data control6/10
Admin and oversight7/10
Price for a small team10/10
Australia0/10
Total score51/70

Grok Business is the self-serve plan for small and medium teams, at $30 a user a month, and SpaceXAI states it never trains on business data. Team Bots, in public beta, give a shared bot the files, apps and instructions a role needs. SpaceXAI's own account bots review Gong calls, Notion docs and Slack threads every night. The Business plan lists connectors for Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack and Notion, plus built-in OneDrive, Outlook and SharePoint connectors that a team admin provisions before staff get them. It also lists a bring-your-own MCP server, role-based access control and SOC 2 Type II compliance. In SpaceXAI's Team Bots post, Harper, an insurer for small businesses, says it built a Team Bot in 24 hours that saved its customers over $120,000.

  • Beats the field on: none outright, though it ties the top mark on building and running AI and on price.
  • Loses on: the Australian test, 0. No Australian hosting, AUD prices or Australian office appears here either, and SpaceXAI lists offices in Palo Alto, Seattle, Memphis and London. On admin, 7, custom SSO is a Grok Enterprise feature, not Business.

How they compare

All six platforms build assistants a team can share and answer from the company's connected apps. Five offer SSO on the team plan, and three keep an admin audit log on it. The grid answers the questions to ask before you put one platform on every desk, from each vendor's own pages. The cost table shows what each one charges.

6 products, side by side

Checked 1 October 2026
QuestionChatGPT BusinessMicrosoft 365 CopilotGemini in Google WorkspaceClaude TeamPerplexity Enterprise ProGrok Business
Builds assistants your team can share?A custom assistant with instructions and files, shareable across the workspaceChatGPT Business: Yes.Microsoft 365 Copilot: Yes.Gemini in Google Workspace: Yes.Claude Team: Yes.Perplexity Enterprise Pro: Yes.Grok Business: Yes.
Answers from your company's apps?Searches files in connected apps, several at onceChatGPT Business: Yes.Microsoft 365 Copilot: Yes.Gemini in Google Workspace: Yes.Claude Team: Yes.Perplexity Enterprise Pro: Yes.Grok Business: Yes.
Works with both Google Workspace and Microsoft 365?A named connector or built-in app for eachChatGPT Business: Yes.Microsoft 365 Copilot: Yes.Gemini in Google Workspace: No.Claude Team: Yes.Perplexity Enterprise Pro: Yes.Grok Business: Yes.
Keeps your data out of model training?Says in writing, by default, on the cheapest business planChatGPT Business: Yes.Microsoft 365 Copilot: Yes.Gemini in Google Workspace: Yes.Claude Team: Yes.Perplexity Enterprise Pro: Yes.Grok Business: Yes.
Keeps your data out of model training? Each product's answer, from its own pages.
ProductAnswer
ChatGPT BusinessYes. OpenAI does not train on a Business workspace's data.
Microsoft 365 CopilotYes. Prompts, responses and Microsoft Graph data are not used to train foundation models.
Gemini in Google WorkspaceYes. Gemini app chats and files are not used for training without permission.
Claude TeamYes. No model training on Team content by default.
Perplexity Enterprise ProYes. Enterprise Pro guarantees no training on your data.
Grok BusinessYes. No training on Grok Business data.
SSO on the team plan?Single sign-on on a plan below EnterpriseChatGPT Business: Yes.Microsoft 365 Copilot: Yes.Gemini in Google Workspace: Yes.Claude Team: Yes.Perplexity Enterprise Pro: Yes.Grok Business: No.
SSO on the team plan? Each product's answer, from its own pages.
ProductAnswer
ChatGPT BusinessYes. A Business workspace sets up SSO in its own identity settings.
Microsoft 365 CopilotYes. Business plans list single sign-on for apps and services.
Gemini in Google WorkspaceYes. Workspace supports SSO from third-party identity providers.
Claude TeamYes. Team includes SSO.
Perplexity Enterprise ProYes. Enterprise Pro integrates with SSO.
Grok BusinessNo. Custom SSO is Grok Enterprise only.
Admin audit log on the team plan?A log of user activity on the cheapest business planChatGPT Business: No.Microsoft 365 Copilot: Yes.Gemini in Google Workspace: Yes.Claude Team: No.Perplexity Enterprise Pro: No.Grok Business: Yes.
Admin audit log on the team plan? Each product's answer, from its own pages.
ProductAnswer
ChatGPT BusinessNo. The Compliance API log is Enterprise and Edu only.
Microsoft 365 CopilotYes. Purview Audit (Standard) on every business plan logs Copilot activity.
Gemini in Google WorkspaceYes. Admins get audit logs of Gemini activity.
Claude TeamNo. Audit logs are Enterprise only.
Perplexity Enterprise ProNo. Audit logs come with Enterprise Max.
Grok BusinessYes. The Business plan lists advanced audit and security controls.
Yes answersOut of 6 questions5 yes for ChatGPT Business6 yes for Microsoft 365 Copilot5 yes for Gemini in Google Workspace5 yes for Claude Team5 yes for Perplexity Enterprise Pro5 yes for Grok Business
Open a question to read each answer in full, with a link to the page it came from. A dash means the product's own pages do not say, or the question is not a yes or no for it.

What an AI platform costs

List prices, USD unless marked AU$
What an AI platform costs, by product: Free plan, Cheapest business plan, Next plan up.
ProductFree planCheapest business planNext plan up
ChatGPT BusinessYesFree ChatGPT, not a business workspaceAU$28 a user a monthBusiness standard seat as shown to Australian visitors, billed annually, or AU$35 monthly, 2 seats minimumAU$140 a user a monthBusiness premium seat as shown to Australian visitors, billed annually, or AU$175 monthly
Microsoft 365 CopilotTrial onlyOne month free, then converts to paidAU$35.20 a user a monthMicrosoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot, paid yearlyAU$47.90 a user a monthMicrosoft 365 Business Premium with Copilot, paid yearly
Gemini in Google WorkspaceTrial only14 days of Google WorkspaceAU$9.90 a user a monthBusiness Starter, basic Gemini app accessAU$19.80 a user a monthBusiness Standard, expanded Gemini access
Claude TeamYesClaude Free, not a team planUS$20 a seat a monthTeam standard seat, billed annually, or US$25 monthly, 2 to 150 seatsUS$100 a seat a monthTeam premium seat, billed annually, or US$125 monthly
Perplexity Enterprise ProNot publishedNot stated on the enterprise pages read$34 a seat a monthEnterprise Pro, billed annually$271 a seat a monthEnterprise Max, billed annually
Grok BusinessNot publishedNot stated on the business pages read$30 a user a monthGrok BusinessNot publishedGrok Enterprise, contact sales
List prices as each vendor publishes them, read on 30 September and 1 October 2026, before tax. Microsoft and Google publish Australian prices in AUD (AU$), excluding GST. OpenAI prices ChatGPT Business by country: read from Australia, its pricing page showed AUD, while its help centre lists US$20 a user a month billed annually for most countries. Anthropic publishes USD. Perplexity and SpaceXAI show a bare $ with no currency label. Prices are shown as published, not converted.

When another platform is the better pick

your business already runs on Outlook, Teams and SharePoint and you want AI inside those apps rather than beside them. It also keeps an admin audit log on every business plan and lists Australia as a local data region.

your business runs on Gmail and Drive and seat price matters most.

your team splits its day between Microsoft 365 and Google tools and keeps its books in Xero or QuickBooks.

most of the work begins with research on the web and in your own files.

you want Grok's models and your customer records live in Salesforce or HubSpot.

  • Pick an AI agent instead of a platform if the goal is to hand off a whole operational job rather than give every person an assistant.
  • Pick an AI automation agency instead if you want someone else to build and run the system, not hand every person a seat to learn.
  • Pick a coding tool if you are a developer. Cursor, Replit and Lovable were not scored here, because this list covers the platform a whole team uses every day.

For most Australian teams, one of these six is the place to start. Some businesses ask about hosting a model inside their own company, so data never leaves the building. Hourglass AI estimates that doing it properly runs upwards of $1.6 million just to begin. A thirty dollar subscription is the easier choice for now.

A lower rank can still be the right fit. Hourglass AI plugs a client team's Claude accounts into the company brain it builds, and Claude Team still comes fourth here. The tests score what an Australian business gets on the team plan, and Claude Team stores data in the US and prices in US dollars.

AI is new enough that anyone willing to put in the effort can become an expert. At one company Hourglass AI works with, almost the whole team now uses Claude Cowork with shared company workflows. People with no coding knowledge are making their own dashboards and tools. Another client went from 2 people using AI to 28, with 1,360 real skill calls in 30 days. The aim is a team that makes AI tools itself and does not depend on a supplier for every setup.

Where an off-the-shelf platform stops

Every platform on this list answers from the files and apps a business connects to it. Each one stops short at company context, your own systems and ongoing maintenance, and the gap shows up after rollout rather than in a trial.

All six score full marks on building and running AI, so the model isn't what separates them. What matters now is everything around the model: getting it the company's context, wiring it into the tools the business uses, and putting it in a form people actually use. A platform gives every person a strong model and the tools around it. It doesn't give the model the company's own context. An individual can get at least ten times more done with AI than without, but it is less clear how that gain spreads through a whole company. These are the three places it gets stuck.

Company context: what isn't in any app

A platform knows what sits in the drives, inboxes and records connected to it. Some knowledge lives only in people's heads: how a job is priced, who signs off a refund, how the business answers an unhappy customer. None of it is in those apps until someone writes it down. Shared assistants on every platform here start from the same connected sources.

AI is only as good as what it knows about a business, and in most businesses that knowledge lives in seven people's heads and a thousand Google Docs. Hourglass AI kept struggling to get enough information about a client to start building, so it switched to AI audits, spending days in person interviewing the team. The most important thing it builds is the Company AI Brain, one place where everything the company knows lives. That covers how the business works, its clients, its offers, and the decisions it has made and why. The largest so far holds 71,000 files for one client and gets sharper every week from real use.

Your own systems: check the niche one first

The connections test asks whether a platform reaches the systems a business already pays for. That means HubSpot or Salesforce for customer records, and Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks for accounting. Five of the six connect to Xero or QuickBooks, and none names MYOB. Perplexity Enterprise Pro's QuickBooks connector launched for US users. A system without a listed connector needs a custom connection, and Gemini in Google Workspace does not accept a server the business adds itself.

Many assumed the big general tools would die first. It is the other way round. Businesses will keep using Salesforce, Outlook and Excel, and what gets replaced is the niche software built for one industry. A workflow built for one business beats a tool built for businesses like it. These platforms connect well to the big names, so check the niche system your business runs on before you pick one. AI cannot simply be tacked onto a business. It has to become part of the core processes. What Hourglass AI builds runs on a client's own servers and accounts, and if Hourglass AI disappeared tomorrow it would all keep running.

Ongoing maintenance: platforms change within months

What a business gets from each platform changes within months. Gemini in Google Workspace gained third-party connectors on 15 September 2026. Intuit added QuickBooks to Perplexity Computer at the end of August. OpenAI is moving custom GPTs to plugins, with retirement planned for Enterprise workspaces on 11 December 2026. Prompts, assistants and connections built on a platform need checking each time the vendor changes it.

The models underneath change too. In June 2026, US export controls led Anthropic to suspend its newest Claude models for all users, three days after release. Frontier intelligence can be switched off by one government, overnight, for the whole world. The likely next step is that a business won't choose a model at all. Something in the background will pick the cheapest model that's good enough for each job. The brain Hourglass AI builds is model-agnostic, so what a company knows doesn't live inside one vendor's assistant. It works with every AI model: Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot or whatever comes next.

So pick the platform that fits your team, and teach the team to use it. Where a platform falls short, Hourglass AI builds assistants that know the company and work inside the systems the business runs on, with data the business controls.

How this list is ranked

How the scores work
  • Builds and runs AI, 20 points. Points for a custom assistant with its own instructions and files, sharing it with the whole workspace, answering from company files in a connected app, searching several connected apps in one answer, taking actions in other apps, starting on its own on a schedule or an event, and a developer API on the same models.
  • Connects to your tools, 10 points. Points for Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, a CRM such as HubSpot or Salesforce, Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks, and MCP or custom connectors the business adds itself.
  • Data control, 10 points. Points for a written no-training statement on the cheapest business plan, a choice of region for stored data, SOC 2 Type II, and ISO/IEC 42001.
  • Admin and oversight, 10 points. Points for SSO on a plan below Enterprise, admin control over which apps staff can use, an audit log or compliance API, and a public status page or uptime SLA.
  • Price for a small team, 10 points. Points for a published list price, a business plan a team can buy without a sales call, and a cheapest business plan at USD 30 or AUD 45 a user a month or less.
  • Australia, 10 points. Points for data that can be hosted in Australia, prices in AUD, and an Australian office.

Total score out of 70. Scored 1 October 2026.

Builds and runs AI counts twice and the other five tests once each. Each test is scored 0 to 10 from the product's own pages, docs, help centre and pricing page, plus press and partner announcements about the product, read on 30 September and 1 October 2026. Scores are floors: a feature on a page that was not read does not count. Ties break on building and running AI, then data control, then admin.

Each entry is the plan a team buys, not the vendor's agent product. Microsoft 365 Copilot is scored on Copilot Business, ChatGPT on Business, Claude on Team, Gemini as it comes with Google Workspace Business plans, Perplexity on Enterprise Pro and Grok on Business. Microsoft Copilot Studio and Gemini Enterprise are scored on the best AI agents list.

Builds and runs AI scores 2 for a custom assistant with its own instructions and files, and 1 for sharing it with the whole workspace. Answers from company files in a connected app earn 2, searching several connected apps in one answer earns 1, and taking actions in other apps earns 1. The rest is 1 for starting on its own on a schedule or an event, and 2 for a developer API on the same models. All six score full marks on this test, even after the coarse items were split, so the order is decided on the other 50 points.

Connections scores 2 each for Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, a CRM such as HubSpot or Salesforce, Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks, and MCP or custom connectors the business adds itself. Data control scores 4 for a written statement that business data is not used for training by default on the cheapest business plan. It scores 3 for a choice of region for stored data, 2 for SOC 2 Type II and 1 for ISO/IEC 42001, the AI management system standard.

Admin scores 3 for SSO on a plan below Enterprise and 2 for admin control over which apps, connectors or agents staff can use. An audit log or compliance API for admins on any plan earns 3, and a public status page or uptime SLA earns 2.

On price, a published list price for a business plan earns 4, and a business plan a team can buy without a sales call earns 3. A cheapest business plan at USD 30 or AUD 45 a user a month or less earns 3, compared as each vendor publishes it, never converted. The Australian test gives 4 for data that can be hosted in Australia on any plan, 3 for prices in AUD and 3 for an Australian office. Storage region matters under Australian law, not just for convenience. Once a business discloses information to an overseas platform, the cross-border disclosure rule under the Privacy Act still holds that business responsible for what happens to it.

The buyer is an Australian business of roughly 10 to 200 staff choosing one AI platform for the whole team. Coding tools, AI features inside a single app such as Notion AI and Canva, automation and agent builders, creative tools and consumer assistants with no business plan were not scored.

Without the Australian test, ChatGPT Business would be first on 60, then Microsoft 365 Copilot on 58 and Claude Team on 57. With building and running AI counted once, the order would not change, with ChatGPT Business on 60 and Microsoft 365 Copilot on 58. ChatGPT Business leads by 2 points, and its whole lead comes from data control, where it scores 10 against 8. That gap is one item: no Microsoft page read names SOC 2 Type II for Microsoft 365 Copilot, and if one did, the two would be level on 70. Read with the audit log and Australian hosting counted only on the plan a team buys, Microsoft 365 Copilot would be first on 68 and ChatGPT Business on 63.

References

  1. help.openai.com/en/articles/8792828-what-is-chatgpt-business (cited for ChatGPT Business)
  2. openai.com/index/introducing-company-knowledge (cited for ChatGPT Business)
  3. help.openai.com/en/articles/20001275-chatgpt-work-and-codex (cited for ChatGPT Business)
  4. help.openai.com/en/articles/11487775-connectors-in-chatgpt (cited for ChatGPT Business)
  5. chatgpt.com/plugins (cited for ChatGPT Business)
  6. chatgpt.com/pricing (cited for ChatGPT Business)
  7. bandt.com.au/openai-opens-first-australian-office (cited for ChatGPT Business)
  8. openai.com/business-data (cited for ChatGPT Business)
  9. help.openai.com/en/articles/8554407-gpts-faq (cited for ChatGPT Business)
  10. help.openai.com/en/articles/9261474-compliance-api-for-enterprise-customers (cited for ChatGPT Business)
  11. microsoft.com/en-au/microsoft-365/copilot/pricing (cited for Microsoft 365 Copilot)
  12. learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/extensibility/agent-builder (cited for Microsoft 365 Copilot)
  13. learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/extensibility/agent-builder-share-manage-agents (cited for Microsoft 365 Copilot)
  14. microsoft.com/en-au/microsoft-365/copilot/business (cited for Microsoft 365 Copilot)
  15. microsoft.com/en-au/microsoft-365-copilot/cowork (cited for Microsoft 365 Copilot)
  16. learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/m365-dr-overview (cited for Microsoft 365 Copilot)
  17. microsoft.com/en-us/worldwide (cited for Microsoft 365 Copilot)
  18. learn.microsoft.com/en-us/compliance/regulatory/offering-soc-2 (cited for Microsoft 365 Copilot)
  19. workspace.google.com/intl/en_au/pricing (cited for Gemini in Google Workspace)
  20. support.google.com/gemini/answer/16504957 (cited for Gemini in Google Workspace)
  21. support.google.com/gemini/answer/15229592 (cited for Gemini in Google Workspace)
  22. workspace.google.com/intl/en_au/studio (cited for Gemini in Google Workspace)
  23. workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2026/09/connect-to-more-tools-with-gemini-in-Google-Workspace.html (cited for Gemini in Google Workspace)
  24. about.google/company-info/locations (cited for Gemini in Google Workspace)
  25. knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/compliance/choose-a-geographic-location-for-your-data (cited for Gemini in Google Workspace)
  26. support.claude.com/en/articles/9517075-what-are-projects (cited for Claude Team)
  27. support.claude.com/en/articles/12489464-use-enterprise-search (cited for Claude Team)
  28. support.claude.com/en/articles/13854387-schedule-recurring-tasks-in-claude-cowork (cited for Claude Team)
  29. support.claude.com/en/articles/12542951-set-up-the-microsoft-365-connector (cited for Claude Team)
  30. support.claude.com/en/articles/10166901-use-google-workspace-connectors (cited for Claude Team)
  31. claude.com/marketplace/connectors/xero (cited for Claude Team)
  32. claude.com/marketplace/connectors/quickbooks (cited for Claude Team)
  33. claude.com/pricing (cited for Claude Team)
  34. anthropic.com/news/theo-hourmouzis-general-manager-australia-new-zealand (cited for Claude Team)
  35. privacy.claude.com/en/articles/7996890-where-are-your-servers-located-do-you-host-your-models-on-eu-servers (cited for Claude Team)
  36. perplexity.ai/enterprise/pricing (cited for Perplexity Enterprise Pro)
  37. perplexity.ai/help-center/en/collections/18799295-connectors-integrations (cited for Perplexity Enterprise Pro)
  38. perplexity.ai/help-center/en/articles/10352961-what-are-projects (cited for Perplexity Enterprise Pro)
  39. perplexity.ai/help-center/en/articles/13901210-computer-for-enterprise (cited for Perplexity Enterprise Pro)
  40. perplexity.ai/computer/connectors (cited for Perplexity Enterprise Pro)
  41. perplexity.ai/hub/security (cited for Perplexity Enterprise Pro)
  42. perplexity.ai/hub/customers (cited for Perplexity Enterprise Pro)
  43. x.ai/news/grok-business (cited for Grok Business)
  44. x.ai/news/team-bots (cited for Grok Business)
  45. x.ai/grok/business (cited for Grok Business)
  46. docs.x.ai/grok/connectors (cited for Grok Business)
  47. finlayekins.com/writing/a-ferrari-with-no-fuel
  48. finlayekins.com/writing/ending-the-world-or-just-predicting-text
  49. startupdaily.net/topic/artificial-intelligence-machine-learning/startmate-michael-batko-founder-mode-hourglass-ai
  50. finlayekins.com/writing/the-tesla-that-might-actually-fly
  51. hourglassai.beehiiv.com/p/monthly-update-september-2026
  52. finlayekins.com/writing/the-ai-casino
  53. finlayekins.com/writing/the-us-vs-ai
  54. finlay-newsletter.beehiiv.com/p/hourglass-digital-ai-newsletter-4a014f04f575165e
  55. hourglassai.beehiiv.com/p/monthly-update-august-2026
  56. anthropic.com/news/redeploying-fable-5
  57. finlayekins.com/writing/please-don-t-take-my-brain
  58. finlayekins.com/writing/the-right-balance-of-ai
  59. oaic.gov.au/privacy/australian-privacy-principles/australian-privacy-principles-guidelines/chapter-8-app-8-cross-border-disclosure-of-personal-information
  60. oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-guidance-for-organisations-and-government-agencies/guidance-on-privacy-and-the-use-of-commercially-available-ai-products
  61. ai.gov.au/staying-safe-and-responsible/essential-ai-practices/guidance-ai-adoption-implementation-guidance
  62. industry.gov.au/publications/australias-ai-ethics-principles
  63. cyber.gov.au/business-government/secure-design/artificial-intelligence

Common questions

What is the best AI platform currently?

ChatGPT Business is the best AI platform for an Australian business on this list. It ranks 1 of 6, with 70 out of 70 on building and running AI, connections, data control, admin, price and Australian availability. Microsoft 365 Copilot follows at 68, and Gemini in Google Workspace at 62.

Its lead over Microsoft 365 Copilot comes from data control. OpenAI states its business services have had an independent SOC 2 Type II examination, and no Microsoft page read names one for Copilot. Both score full marks on the Australian test, with AUD prices and an Australian office. Microsoft lists Australia as a local region for Copilot data, while OpenAI offers Australian storage to eligible Enterprise and Edu customers, not Business.

What are the 5 major AI platforms?

For an Australian business, the top five on this list are ChatGPT Business (70), Microsoft 365 Copilot (68), Gemini in Google Workspace (62), Claude Team (60) and Perplexity Enterprise Pro (53). Grok Business makes six, on 51.

Each is the plan a business buys, scored out of 70 on the same test from the vendor's own pages and press about the product, not on name recognition.

Which AI is better than ChatGPT?

No platform on this list scores higher. ChatGPT Business ranks first on 70, ahead of Microsoft 365 Copilot on 68. The model is not the difference, because all six score full marks on building and running AI.

A lower score can still be the better fit. Microsoft 365 Copilot is the closest alternative, and the stronger pick for a business already on Microsoft 365. It matches ChatGPT Business on the Australian test and trails only on data control. It also keeps an admin audit log on every business plan, where ChatGPT keeps its log for Enterprise and Edu. Gemini in Google Workspace suits a business on Gmail and Drive, and Perplexity Enterprise Pro suits work that starts with research.

Where to start
$2,500flat, AI Audit
  • Every AI opportunity in your business, mapped in 7 to 14 days
  • Ranked roadmap with a spec and ROI figure for each build
  • Go ahead with the build within 30 days of your report and the full $2,500 comes off it
How the audit works

Turn this into real leverage.

We map where AI pays back in your business and build the agents that get you there.

Book a Discovery Call