I am Charlie Riske. I help owner run businesses across the Chicago suburbs find the few changes that give their team hours back, in plain English and with no vendor ties.
AIMention is a one person AI consulting practice based in Bartlett, Illinois. I work with small businesses across the Chicago suburbs, and with clients anywhere by video. It starts with a free 30 minute call, then a written assessment showing where AI saves your team the most time.
Most owners I meet have heard plenty about AI and still can’t say what it would do for their business. They don’t need another tool pitched at them. They need someone to look at how the week actually goes, find what keeps eating it, and tell them straight whether AI is the answer.
Sometimes it is not. Some of my clients needed a real schedule or a basic CRM before anything else, and I told them so. I spent more than 20 years in agency marketing and media before starting AIMention, and I have no software to resell, so my only job is finding what will actually help.
I am based in Bartlett and I meet owners throughout the west and northwest suburbs. Most work happens by phone and video, and I come out in person when seeing the work helps. I also take clients anywhere in the country by video.
The problem: The owner’s phone rang more than 20 times a day with crew questions about pricing and how to handle a job.
What I built: A private AI workspace loaded with the company’s pricing rules, parts list, job procedures, and a guide for when to call the owner. It answers in simple English, or in Spanish if a tech writes in Spanish.
What changed: Crew calls went from “what should I charge?” to “the system says X, is that OK?” The assessment mapped about 9 hours a week the owner can get back.
The problem: The operations manager spent 45 to 90 minutes every night on scheduling calls. The schedule, the routes, and decades of hand drawn sprinkler plans lived on paper and in one person’s head.
What I built: An assessment, demo prep, and a decision deck for moving to scheduling software, plus a plan for AI to read the paper plans and file them by address.
What changed: A clear plan worth about 8 hours a week in peak season.
The problem: The owner wanted more new system installs. Google Ads and direct mail had not paid off.
What I built: I worked through three years of job records, 1,470 jobs and about 490 customers, ranked them by buying signals like unclosed quotes and repeat repairs, then wrote a personal text and email for each of the top 25.
What changed: A ready to send list of 25 likely buyers with no ad spend, plus a sheet to track replies and booked jobs.
The problem: Pool, darts, and bags tournaments ran every week but were almost invisible. The details lived inside pictures that Google and AI tools can’t read.
What I built: A visibility review with free fixes, plus a weekly form. The manager fills in the lineup in about 5 minutes and an AI tool writes website text, a Google post, a rewards email, social captions, and a TV slide.
What changed: One weekly input turns into five pieces of content instead of someone rewriting the same lineup five times.
Client names are left out to protect their privacy. Time savings are estimates from each client’s assessment, not measured results.
The full details are on my AI consulting page. Want a rough number first? Try the AI hours saved calculator.
I also give a free session called AI for Your Business to chambers of commerce and business groups. It covers what AI does and doesn’t do, four places it fits, and a live demo using a problem the room picks. Email charlie@aimention.co to book one.
I find the one or two things eating your week, then figure out whether AI fits them. Usually that means repeat questions, quotes, follow up, or paperwork. Sometimes the honest answer is that you need a simpler fix first, and I will tell you that.
No. I am based in Bartlett and work with owners across the suburbs and in Chicago, and I work with clients anywhere in the country by video. Local clients simply have the option of me coming by when seeing the work helps.
Mostly owner run businesses with a small team: home services and other trades, professional firms, and local shops. My recent projects include plumbing and irrigation, HVAC, and a neighborhood sports bar.
The intro call is free. The AI Tools Assessment is a flat fee that I quote on that call, once I know what you need. Setup and ongoing help are optional and priced separately.
Thirty minutes, free. You will leave with a direct read on where AI could help your business.
Book a free 30 minute callNo deck and no pressure. If nothing is worth doing, I will say so.