How to Make Custom GPTs in 4 Steps

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You probably use ChatGPT for the same things over and over again. I know I do!

I am constantly writing blog posts, drafting newsletters, and repurposing content for socials.

You used to have to copy and paste in your extensive prompt every single time you worked with ChatGPT to retrain it on your style, what a good output looks like, and how to deliver that output.

It’s annoying af!

The whole point of using AI is to save time. Let’s get you that time back with a custom GPT.

Custom GPTs are like a fully trained assistant specifically for your business. You can train it once, and not have to deal with normal ChatGPT’s intern amnesia every time you go to write a new email.

I’ve developed dozens for business, and hundreds more for fun. I have one in the GPT store with over 5,000 uses that has gotten me backlinks from amazing publications.

Most importantly, I’ve gotten hours back to work on things that actually matter in my business – and to take time away from my business.

I want you to have the same!

Want to learn more about automating content creation with AI? 👉 Unlock your AI cowriter today with the ChatGPT Blogging Blueprint! ⭐️

Custom GPTs vs. ChatGPT

ChatGPT is like a baby intern, coming to work fresh from high school. It maybe Googled “what is banking” on the way to the office, but it doesn’t actually know what your business is doing.

You have to train it fresh every day – like it gets some sort of weird intern amnesia.

So every time you do repetitive tasks, like creating Google Discover titles or writing a sales page, you need to prompt it again.

That means a bunch of Notes or spreadsheets full of prompts that you need to copy and paste over every time.

Or overriding the memory of your past chat and losing previous content.

It’s less time consuming than writing the content from scratch, but it’s not exactly efficient.

The GPT Builder workspace showing a blank configuration area titled 'New GPT' with fields for naming, describing, and instructing the GPT, along with options for defining conversation starters, symbolizing the initial setup process.

Custom GPTs are an intern 1 year into their work with your business. They know the business style, audience, and goals. They’ve been trained, although they occasionally mess up and need corrections. They’re probably at the stage where you’re considering hiring them full-time.

Custom GPTs are pre-trained on data, so you don’t have to input those base prompts every single time.

However, you need to train them properly, or they’ll be even less efficient than a regular chat in ChatGPT.

They remember all of their training material, so if you train them poorly, you’re basically building childhood trauma into their core memory. Then they’ll start crying in your Tuesday meeting every week and you’ll need to call in HR. (…is that just a Nina experience?)

Once you train the GPT, it can refer back to that data. So that first prompt you usually input, and the priming you need to do? Now it’s as simple as telling it a keyword!

You can use custom GPTs for personal use, share them with your team, or make them publicly usable in the GPT store. At the time of writing this, the GPT store only allows free GPTs, not paid ones. But they have plans to launch a paid version.

There are literally GPTs for everything you can think of in business and personal use cases.

What You Need

To make a custom GPT, you need a paid ChatGPT account.

Currently, custom GPT creation and access to the GPT store are only available to paying users. If you stop paying, you’ll lose access.

I recommend a paid account anyway, as the outputs have always been superior in my tests between GPT 3.5 and GPT 4. I especially love the longer memory so I don’t have to remind it of things again.

That’s really the only essential.

I recommend having a clear idea of your first GPT before you begin creating it. Pick a repetitive task you do with AI already that you want to automate.

For me, it was writing alt text for images.

I knew what a good output looking like and had an idea of how to prompt the AI already to get the output I needed. This will make your first GPT much easier to produce.

How to Create Your Custom GPT: Step by Step

1. Click to Create a GPT

Screenshot of a web interface for creating a custom version of ChatGPT, highlighting the '+ Create' button in the top right corner and the 'She Knows Alt Text' option selected from the sidebar menu, indicating a focus on generating alternative text for images.

Go to the GPT Store. Click “Explore GPTs” in the sidebar of ChatGPT.

Click “+Create” in the upper righthand corner of the screen to create a GPT.

This will take you to the GPT builder, where you can start creating your GPT.

2. Train Your GPT

You have 2 options to build your custom GPT: Create or Configure.

Create

The Create function allows you to chat with the builder, just like you would chat with ChatGPT. It is pre-trained to ask specific questions to help you build your GPT.

It will ask you:

What specific tasks or roles the GPT should fulfill (i.e. writing, programming, giving advice, generating an image)
How the GPT should interact with the user to get information (i.e. specific questions it needs to ask)
What tone the GPT should use (i.e. formal versus informal)
Are there any special requirements or guidelines for the production of the content (i.e. what makes a “good” Instagram caption in your mind)
What knowledge the GPT needs to create this output (i.e. brand style guide or academic papers for background information)

The GPT builder has been trained to take you along a linear creation, starting from naming the GPT to finalizing its knowledge base.

Every time you answer the GPT’s prompt, it changes the information in the “Configure” window to reflect the new information.

But I find it often overrides past instructions if you’re giving it too much information one at a time.

This way to create a GPT is best if you’re creating something simple, like a GPT that creates a table out of the information you pasted in.

Steps:

Tell the GPT builder what you would like the GPT to do
Select the name (it will suggest one)
Select the profile picture, or upload one manually
Give the GPT additional information, such as the prompt it should base the output on, how the user will input information (such as providing a link to a website), or correcting something it’s doing wrong

Configure

Screen capture showing the configuration options for 'She Knows Facebook Posts', a tool for generating Facebook posts from blog entries, with editable fields for name, description, instructions, and conversation starters.

The Configure builder is much more robust than the Create one. Here you can customize everything without the GPT builder rewriting your information, or simplifying your prompts.

I almost exclusively build custom GPTs with the Configure builder.

Name the GPT
Give the GPT a description (if you plan to make this public, make this descriptive and explanatory if the name is not)
Add an image (click on the image icon. You can upload a photo or Dall-E will generate one based on the information inputted so far)
Instruct the GPT on what you’re creating, who it’s for, what a “good” output is, any questions to ask the user to achieve the output, and any specific restrictions it should have (8,000 characters max)
Add conversation starters to prompt users to engage with the GPT properly
Upload Knowledge files to add to the GPT’s background knowledge (you can upload 10 files, but they can be 100 pages each)
Set the capabilities so the GPT knows if it can access the web, creating AI images, and interpret code. Turn off what you don’t need

People often get confused about the instructions vs. the knowledge base.

Think of the knowledgebase like the information you learn at university or over the course of time working in a business. It’s background information you have stored over time, and may not even be consciously including.

Instructions are action steps for this singular assignment. They would be a brief provided by a boss to an employee or contractor to complete a task.

I often think of it more like writing a post on Upwork or Fiverr for someone to do a task.

They should already have the knowledge to do it, they just need the specific instructions for what I specifically need.

3. Test Your GPT

Image of a web page preview for 'She Knows Facebook Posts' showing example Facebook posts generated from blog entries, with the 'Create' and 'Configure' tabs prominently displayed at the top.

NEVER publish a custom GPT without testing it.

Just like anything, you need to try your creation before you let it loose in the wild.

I recommend testing it along the way to get your desired output.

In this guide, I’ve been using a sample of a “She Knows Facebook Posts” GPT.

My instructions seem like they’d get me the output I’m hoping for, but when I test it, it’s the wrong tone entirely. It’s all “read more!” when I want it to be a thought provoking question about the topic that gets people to click to answer it.

GPTs aren’t mind readers. You need to be incredibly specific, and test it to ensure it didn’t misunderstand you.

It’s easier to fix it now, than to wait until you’re batching 300 Facebook posts and it’s glitching!

4. Publish Your Custom GPT

A screenshot of the 'She Knows Facebook Posts' GPT interface with sharing options such as 'Only me', 'Anyone with the link', and 'Publish to GPT Store', set against a backdrop of a web-based platform for managing custom GPTs.

When you’re satisfied with your GPT, you need to “Publish” it.

Don’t worry, that doesn’t mean everyone can use it. Think of it more as a “Save” button.

Once you click it, then you get to decide whether it’s for “Only me”, “Anyone with link”, or “Publish to GPT Store”.

I save all of my half-built GPTs as “only me”, even if I plan to release them. You can change the setting later in the upper righthand corner where it says “Share”.

If you update the GPT, click “Update”. Any changes you make won’t take effect to others using the GPT until you do this.

Where to Find Your GPTs

"Web page snapshot displaying an interface titled 'GPTs' with a sidebar highlighting 'Explore GPTs' and the main panel showing a selection of custom GPTs including 'She Knows Alt Text'. A red circle draws attention to the 'My GPTs' tab and a '+ Create' button at the top

If you need to edit a GPT, or find one that you’ve set to “Only me”, navigate back to the GPT Store (“Explore GPTs” in the sidebar).

Besides the “Create” button is text that says “My GPTs”.

Click on this and you’ll go to a library of all of your custom GPTs.

Here you can see the names, visibility settings, and number of uses of your GPT. Click on the pencil icon to edit the GPT, or the ellipses (3 dots) to delete the GPT:

A computer screen displaying a list of custom GPTs including 'She Knows Alt Text' with various options to engage, shown by a red circled ellipsis indicating additional settings for each GPT listed.

To use one, click on its name and it’ll open a new chat window with the custom GPT.

Getting a Backlink From ChatGPT

If you create a GPT for the GPT Store, you can get a backlink from ChatGPT.

It’s no follow, but it’s still pretty cool to have!

Here’s how:

Click on your name in the bottom lefthand corner
Select “Settings”
Select “Builder Profile”
Add a website link under “Links”
Verify your domain (copy the TXT record it provides and add it to your website’s DNS – or ask your host to do this for you. Wait up to 24 hours for the verification to take effect)

It’s that simple!

You can also add your Twitter and LinkedIn profiles.

Use Cases for Custom GPTs

Excited to create a custom GPT, but not entirely sure what to do with it?

I’ve used custom GPTs for a lot of stuff so let me help you brainstorm!

If you’re a writer, you can use a custom GPT to proofread your copy, or to write in your pre-defined tone with a built in style guide. I have one that just writes newsletters in my tone and style based off about 3 sentences of context.

Coders can create base code in the custom GPT that gets amended like a template for future designs. I created one that formats 3 types of mobile responsive tables for me with HTML, CSS, and JS so I don’t have to do it myself each time.

Course creators can create custom GPTs that evaluate their students’ content or offers custom guidance. I use this in my Profitable Part-Time Blogger program to help my students create audience avatars and brainstorm content that satisfies those audience’s pain points.

Think about what you do on a repetitive basis, or what you audience ask you repeatedly that has a similar answer/methodology for figuring it out.

Ultimately, the limit is only what you can imagine – or what you can prompt.

I teach a more in depth lesson on creating custom GPTs and use cases for them in my ChatGPT Blogging Blueprint course.

For $197 you’ll get a detailed guide on how to use ChatGPT for personal and business uses, lifetime updates as new features drop, and 350+ prompt library for over 200 different use cases.

👉 Unlock your AI cowriter today with the ChatGPT Blogging Blueprint! ⭐️