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How To: Build A Custom GPT
Customize ChatGPT to meet your business' needs perfectly
As promised, we’re bringing you more hands-on AI insights than ever.
Keep an eye out on Thursday for deep dive into the week’s most impactful AI updates and our top AI tool picks.
But, right now, let’s things off with a step-by-step guide on how to build your own custom GPT. 👇
💡 Step-by-Step Guide
How To Build Your Own Custom GPT
While AI tools like ChatGPT are incredibly powerful, custom GPTs take it a step further by enabling you to shape ChatGPT to fit your exact needs.
Whether you need help writing emails, generating reports, or anything in between, a well-trained GPT can save you hours. That’s because, with custom GPTs, you can:
Train ChatGPT on your own data for more relevant, personalized outputs
Set custom instructions & additional capabilities to align with your workflow & preferences
🛠️ What You’ll Need
A paid ChatGPT Plus, Teams, Pro, or Enterprise Plan
A clear use case (e.g., sales, content writing, or custom support)
✅ 6 Essential Steps
Step 1: Access the GPT Builder
Login to ChatGPT
Click ‘Explore GPTs’ on the left side panel
Select ‘Create’ in the upper right corner to start building
Step 2: Decide How To Build Your GPT
‘Create’ tab: Build interactively via back-and-forth conversation
‘Configure’ tab: Manually fill in each section for precise control
Step 3: Start Building
Whichever method you choose, you’ll need to specify:
Name
We recommend using a descriptive name based on the GPT’s function (e.g., ‘Sales Assistant GPT’ or ‘Blog Writer GPT’) to stay organized, especially if you create multiple GPTs
Description
Briefly explain what your GPT does (e.g., ‘This GPT helps draft marketing emails in my brand’s tone’)
Instructions
To truly meet your needs, your GPT needs clear and specific guidance. Consider:
What it does (e.g., ‘drafts marketing emails’)
Who it’s for (e.g., ‘Helps our sales team streamline outreach’)
What to avoid (e.g., ‘No jargon—keep it simple’)
Particular preferences (e.g., ‘Always include a compelling CTA at the end’ or ‘always cite sources’)
Tone & style (e.g., ‘write in an easy-to-read, conversational style’ or ‘emphasize urgency & persuasive storytelling’)
💡 Pro tip: Help your GPT learn the right voice, tone, and format to use by uploading examples of your preferred writing style (e.g., past emails or blog posts) to. Learn how below 👇.
Step 4: Train It On Your Data
What makes a custom GPT so useful is its ability to leverage your knowledge, not just widely available information. You can upload up to 10 documents per GPT in the form of:
PDFs (e.g., employee handbooks or research papers)
Spreadsheets (e.g., sales reports or project tracking data)
Text files (e.g., past blog posts or customer FAQs)
How to upload documents: ‘Configure’ > ‘Knowledge’ > ‘Upload files’
💡 Pro tip: Avoid huge files. While can upload 100,000-word documents, large files can slow down responses. Break them into separate documents instead.
Step 5: Choose Privacy Settings
You can choose from three settings:
Private: Only you can use your GPT
Link-Only: Give others access by sharing a link to your GPT
Public: List your GPT in the GPT Store for anyone to use
If your GPT is meant for internal use (e.g., a customer support assistant), choose ‘Link-Only’ to share it with your team but not the general public.
How to set privacy settings: ‘Create’ (upper right corner) > Choose your preferred option
Step 6: Test & Improve
If your GPT’s responses aren’t perfect at first, refine the instructions and, if applicable, uploading more documents.
💡 Pro tip: If your GPT starts hallucinating (i.e., making up information), disable Web Search so your GPT relies only your uploaded documents.
✨ Optional Functionalities
Expand what your custom GPT can do even further with these powerful additions.
Web Search
Web Search gives your GPT real-time internet access — making it essential if you need your GPT to track the latest news or perform market research.
How to enable: ‘Configure’ > ‘Capabilities’ > ‘Web Search’
Actions
Want your GPT to interact with external apps? Actions let it automate tasks like sending email replies or updating spreadsheets.
How to enable: ‘Configure’ > ‘Actions’ > ‘Create new action’ > Add the necessary APIs
Canvas
Instead of just text-based chats, enabling Canvas lets you work in a visual, interactive interface. It’s like an AI-powered whiteboard that’s perfect for brainstorming content ideas or mapping out coding projects.
How to enable: ‘Configure’ > ‘Capabilities’ > ‘Canvas’
⏭️ What’s Next
We’ll be back next Tuesday with another detailed, step-by-step guide on a powerful AI tool or technique.
Have a suggestion for a future guide? Reply to this email with your idea.
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💫 Level Up
Want To Truly Master Custom GPTs?
The guide above was adapted from our Custom GPTs for Entrepreneurs Skill Leap AI course. If you want to take your GPT skills to the next level, sign up for a free, 3-day trial to unlock the full 23-lesson course and learn how to:
Set up & optimize GPTs for various use cases (e.g., marketing & analytics)
Configure APIs to connect your GPT to external apps
Link a custom GPT to your own domain for branding & visibility
And much more
Plus, you’ll get downloadable resources, learn advanced techniques, and gain exclusive insights such as the top 10 GPTs in the GPT store you should try.
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