Are you tired of repeating the same prompts to ChatGPT over and over again? I know I was. I found myself typing long instructions every single time I wanted a familiar format or a specific style of response. So instead of changing my workflow every week, I decided to change how I use ChatGPT. In this article, I’m going to show you exactly how I build custom GPTs that remember my preferences, follow my instructions, and save me a ton of time.
Why I Stopped Repeating Myself to ChatGPT
If you use ChatGPT on a regular basis, you probably have a few tasks that you repeat all the time.
Maybe you:
- Write a weekly email newsletter
- Draft social media posts in a specific voice
- Create similar reports for clients
- Or format information the same way every time
For me, one of my biggest time-wasters was my weekly email newsletter. Every week, I would tell ChatGPT almost the exact same thing:
- “Give me 3 title ideas.”
- “Give me 7 subject lines.”
- “Format the newsletter in this style.”
- “Include a spot for the sponsor at the end.”
It worked, but it was repetitive and annoying. I kept thinking, “Why can’t ChatGPT just remember what I like?”
That’s where custom GPTs come in. They let you build a version of ChatGPT that is trained on your instructions, your examples, and your preferred output. So instead of rewriting all those details, you can type one short prompt and get exactly what you need.
What a Custom GPT Actually Is
A custom GPT is like your own personal assistant built inside ChatGPT.
Instead of giving it instructions every single time, you define those instructions once and save them. Then, any time you open that custom GPT, it already knows:
- Who you are
- What you want
- How you like things formatted
- What style and tone you prefer
- What steps it should follow before answering
In my case, I created a custom GPT for my weekly newsletter. All I have to do is type something like:
“This week’s video is about five Kanban tips every small business user should know.”
That’s it. That’s the entire input. And in seconds, my custom GPT gives me:
- Three title ideas
- Seven subject line ideas
- The full newsletter copy
- A placeholder link to the video
- A section at the end for my weekly sponsor
Why does it work so well? Because I already told it once, in its instructions, exactly how I want that newsletter to look.
Where to Start: Exploring and Creating Your GPT
Inside my ChatGPT account, I start on the left-hand menu. You’ll see a section where your different GPTs live. That’s where your standard ChatGPT chats are, but it’s also where your custom GPTs will appear once you create them.
To get started, I click on Explore.
This is where you can browse publicly available GPTs that other people have created. You might see tools for writing, coding, teaching, and more. But we’re not here just to use someone else’s GPT. We want to create our own.
So in the top-right corner, I select Create.
This opens a split-screen view:
- On the left side, I see the builder – this is where I configure and set up my custom GPT.
- On the right side, I see a preview chat – this is where I can test my GPT while I build it.
I really like this layout because I can change something on the left and immediately see how it behaves on the right. It makes the whole process much more interactive and less confusing.
The Two Ways to Build: Create vs Configure
When you open the GPT builder, you’ll notice there are two main tabs:
- Create
- Configure
The Create tab is more conversational. If you are brand new to custom GPTs, this can be a nice way to start. You can simply type something like, “Help me build a GPT that writes my weekly newsletter,” and ChatGPT will ask you questions. It will walk you through what you want, what style you prefer, and what tasks this GPT should handle.
But most of the time, I prefer the Configure tab.
The Configure tab gives you a more direct, structured way to set up your GPT. You can:
- Give it a name
- Write a description
- Add detailed instructions
- Upload files
- Choose capabilities like web search and image generation
For the rest of this article, I’m going to focus on the Configure approach, because I find it more efficient and easier to refine over time.
Naming and Describing Your Custom GPT
The first thing I do is choose a name. I want something short and descriptive.
For example, one of my GPTs is called “Competitor Analysis.” With this GPT, I can paste in a website URL, maybe a blog article or a social media channel, and it will give me a detailed breakdown of that company:
- What they do
- Who their audience is
- What their key products are
- And a full SWOT analysis at the end
I like names that tell me exactly what the GPT is for. Keep in mind that the left-side menu in ChatGPT can cut off long names, so shorter is usually better.
Next, I fill out the Description field. This description is mostly for me and my team. I might write something like, “Analyze competitors based on their website and social links and produce a summary plus SWOT analysis.”
If you share your GPT with others on your team, the description helps them understand what it’s for and when to use it.
Writing Killer Instructions (The Most Important Part)
Now we get to the most important field: Instructions.
This is the heart of your custom GPT. This is where you tell it:
- Who it should act as
- What it should produce
- How the output should be structured
- What style and length you prefer
I like to keep my instructions clear, specific, and often in a bullet-style format. That way, it’s easier to come back later and tweak one part without rewriting the whole thing.
For my competitor analysis GPT, my instructions include things like:
- Take the URLs and social media links I paste in.
- Analyze what the company does and who their audience is.
- Identify one or two key products or services.
- At the end, include a SWOT analysis: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
- Make the SWOT section about 1,000 characters in total.
I don’t worry about making everything perfect the first time. The key is to get a solid first version, then improve it after I test it.
If you need more space to write, there’s even an option to expand the Instructions box, so you can see everything at once without scrolling as much.
Adding Icons, Files, and Examples
A small but helpful feature is the icon. You can upload a custom image to act as the icon for your GPT.
This might sound minor, but once you have several custom GPTs, those icons make it much easier to spot the one you want. In my case, I have icons for:
- My YouTube custom GPT
- My newsletter GPT
- My YouTube post GPT
- My competitor analysis GPT
You don’t have to add an icon, but it’s a nice way to visually organize your tools.
Next, there’s a section for uploading files. This is where custom GPTs become really powerful.
Let’s say you:
- Have a document that explains your brand voice
- Use a specific marketing framework
- Have a folder of your best-performing social media posts
You can upload those files so your GPT can reference them every time it responds.
For example, if I had a set of newsletters I really liked, I could upload them and tell the GPT, “Use these as style and structure references.” Then my GPT doesn’t just follow my instructions; it also learns from real examples of my work.
Choosing Capabilities: Web, Canvas, and Images
Toward the bottom of the Configure area, you’ll see Capabilities. These options usually include things like:
- Web search
- Canvas
- Image generation
Most of the time, I leave web search turned on. That way, when I paste in a website or social media link, my GPT can actually visit that page and pull in more details. For a competitor analysis GPT, web access is essential.
However, there may be times when you want to turn web search off. For example, if you only want the GPT to rely on your internal documents, or if you’re working with sensitive content, disabling web search can keep it focused only on what you provide.
Image generation and canvas might be useful if your GPT is helping you brainstorm visuals or design layouts, but it really depends on your use case. The good news is that you can turn these capabilities on or off with a simple click.
Testing and Refining Your Custom GPT
One of my favorite parts of this builder is that there’s no “Save” button you have to worry about. As you make changes, they’re applied right away in the preview window on the right.
To test my competitor analysis GPT, I pasted in:
- The URL of a company called Keap
- Their X (formerly Twitter) social handle
Then I typed a simple instruction like “Run it” and waited to see what happened.
In just a few moments, my GPT returned:
- A company overview
- A clear target audience description
- Key products and services
- A full SWOT analysis at the end
From there, I went back and refined the instructions. For example:
- I changed the SWOT analysis from bullet points to short paragraphs.
- I adjusted the length of the target audience section.
- I told it to format certain parts in a more concise style.
This back-and-forth is normal. In fact, I expect to refine a custom GPT several times before I’m happy with it. The more specific I get, the better and more predictable the results become.
Saving, Sharing, and Managing Access
Once I’m satisfied with how my GPT behaves, I move to the top-right corner and click Create (or Save, depending on the interface at the time).
Now I have an important choice to make: Who gets access?
I usually see three main options:
- Only me – This keeps the GPT private. It’s just for my own use.
- Anyone with the link – Great for sharing with your team or clients without publishing it publicly.
- GPT Store – This makes your GPT available to the broader world.
For my competitor analysis GPT, I chose Only me, because it’s tailored to the way I like to work.
Once I save it, I go back to my main ChatGPT menu. On the left-hand side, I now see my new GPT listed with the name and icon I chose. Whenever I click it, I’m dropped into that GPT and can start pasting links or giving it a short prompt.
If I ever need to tweak something, I just open that GPT, click the dropdown at the top, and select Edit GPT. That brings me right back into the builder, where I can adjust the instructions, upload new files, or change capabilities.
What You Can Build Next
Once you understand how easy it is to create one custom GPT, it’s hard not to think of more ideas.
Here are a few you might consider:
- A newsletter GPT that takes a video topic and gives you titles, subject lines, and full email copy.
- A social media GPT that writes posts in your brand voice, based on a single topic sentence.
- A client report GPT that takes notes or URLs and turns them into a summary plus recommendations.
- A content repurposing GPT that turns one piece of content into multiple formats.
Remember, you don’t have to get it perfect the first time. Start with a simple version, test it on a small task, and then keep refining. Every tweak you make will save you time in the long run.
Now that you know how I create my own custom GPTs, what will you build next? And if you have questions, you can always reach out or leave a comment on my videos.
Being productive does not need to be difficult. In fact, it can be very simple—especially when you have a custom GPT working for you in the background.
