Custom GPT: Your own, individualized chatbot - in 8 steps!

With the "Custom GPT" offer, OpenAI gave users the opportunity to customize the ChatGPT chatbot in July 2023. The customized chatbots are called Custom GPTs. You can specialize the bots for a specific area of use and train them to be of greater help to you.

 

The best thing about Custom GPT: You can create your very own GPT in the simplest way! No programming skills or knowledge of AI technology are required. In a chat with ChatGPT, you give the chatbot instructions so that it can create your own GPT.

 

You can find out more details about custom GPTs, the options and how to create them here in the Specht GmbH blog!

 

Custom GPTs: They offer you these options!

Creating your own custom GPTs has its limits. For example, you will not be able to create a GPT that is better than the chatbot developed by OpenAI. Although you can specialize your own GPT in certain tasks, the possibilities of OpenAI's AI technology will always be the limit.

 

Given their limitations, custom GPTs are particularly suitable for completing tasks that are repeated regularly. If you specialize your GPT for recurring tasks, it will be a good help in your everyday professional or private life.

 

Here is an excerpt of tasks that your own GPT can support you with:

 

• Text creation (especially for texts that are always structurally similar or should have the same structure)
• Analysis of data (it is advantageous if the data always relate to the same key figures and the same subject area)
• Office support (a chatbot can definitely handle the processing of emails and inquiries itself if the issues are not too complicated)
• Development of concepts (for example, teachers can specialize their GPT in a particular subject and receive learning concepts for that subject)

 

These examples show the types of tasks for which GPTs can be specialized. Although the chatbot ChatGPT can also perform these and other tasks, there is one problem: In order for ChatGPT to understand the instructions correctly and deliver the desired, qualitative result, you usually have to refine your instructions.

 

Due to the lack of specialization, several prompts (instructions) are required. With each prompt, you describe to the chatbot ChatGPT in more detail how it should perform its task. Your own specialized GPT is in turn trained on the specific prompts. This enables it to carry out the instructions given to it accurately and efficiently.

 

 

Requirements for accessing Custom GPT

A Plus subscription to OpenAI is required to create, sell and use GPTs. GPT also provides the chatbot ChatGPT in a free plan. As a free user, you have had unlimited access to GPT-4o Mini since July 2024 , which replaces the GPT-3.5 Turbo version and is much more powerful. However, you cannot use Custom GPT on the free plan.

 

With ChatGPT-Plus you benefit from full access to all GPT models: GPT-4, GPT-4o Mini and GPT-4o. In addition, you can create, sell and use unlimited custom GPTs. For this purpose, corresponding functions are activated in the ChatGPT chatbot and you have access to OpenAI's GPT store.

 

The GPT store replaced the plugin store on April 9, 2024. In our article on this topic, we discussed the following statistics, among others:

 

• During the beta phase of the plugin store, there were over 1,000 plugins.
• At the same time, hundreds of thousands of GPTs already existed.

 

GPTs are easier to create, which is why there was a larger range of them. Only users with extensive programming knowledge can create plugins, which is why there were fewer of them. In response to this significant difference, the OpenAI company abolished plugins completely.

 

Now there are numerous GPTs in the GPT Store, which are created via the extremely user-friendly and easy-to-use GPT builder in the chat with ChatGPT. Users can decide ...

 

• whether they keep their own GPT private and use it all by themselves,
• share your GPT with others for use via a link
• or earn money by putting their GPT on the market in the GPT Store.

 

You also have the option of releasing your own GPT for public use free of charge. As a result, you can now find a wide range of paid and free GPTs in the GPT Store that you can use or be inspired by in order to better create your GPT.

 

With ChatGPT-Plus, you have all the freedom you need to create custom GPTs. In addition, you have access to the GPT Builder and the GPT Store with every OpenAI Team account and Enterprise account. Developers who connect OpenAI's GPT language models to their systems via the API can also create custom GPTs and use them for their systems.

 

Create custom GPTs: Instructions in 8 steps

In the following, we will explain step by step how you can create your custom GPT. Before we start with the instructions, it is important for us to give you a few strategic tips first.

 

As a professional search engine optimization (SEO) agency, we work on individual strategies and concepts for our clients every day. As a result, we know all too well the benefits of thinking carefully about your goals and how best to achieve them before starting work.

 

Before generating your personalized chatbot, ask yourself a few questions so that you can create your GPT in a targeted manner. A purposefully designed GPT will meet your requirements better and give you greater satisfaction when using it. You should ask yourself the following questions:

 

• In which area or which task do I want to specialize my GPT? (If you would like support in several areas, it is best to create several separate GPTs).
• What additional knowledge does my GPT need to perform the prompts in the respective area accurately and quickly?
• What additional functions or skills does my GPT need to work in this area?
• Do I also want to earn money with my GPT, share it with a limited number of people or just use it myself?

 

With the help of these questions and the answers formulated for them, you will be better able to implement the individual steps in the following instructions. Good luck and have fun!

 

Step 1: Open GPT-Builder

You will find the "Create a GPT" field in the OpenAI menu under "Explore". If you click on the field, you will be taken to the GPT builder. There you can start creating your custom GPT.

 

Step 2: Select "Configure

You can create your GPT in two ways. In the GPT Builder, you have the choice between "Create" and "Configure".

 

Under the "Create" option, you create your GPT in the chat with the chatbot ChatGPT. As the quality of custom GPTs created in this way is not always satisfactory, we will not go into this process in detail and explain the more precise "Configure" method.

 

With the help of "Configure", you can configure your GPT completely yourself. Here you can define a relatively large number of details and thus have more influence on the subsequent function of your custom G PT. The custom instructions allow you to describe the functionality of your GPT in detail.

 

Step 3: Adding the basic information

First of all, you give your GPT a name, a picture and a short description. You simply type in the name, upload the image or have it generated via OpenAI's DALL-E and type in the description as well.

 

The description is particularly important if you want to market your GPT in the GPT store and earn money with it. Otherwise, the description is not important. Especially if you use your GPT yourself, you don't need a description.

 

After you have named your custom GPT and, if necessary, assigned an image and a description to it, you can save the previous entries. The GPT is now saved in the GPT Builder and you can always call it up from a list with your other GPTs to work on it.

 

Step 4: Issue custom instructions - now it's time to get down to business!

Now comes the actual step in which you create your own GPT. During the creation process, you issue the so-called custom instructions. These determine the function and behavior of your custom GPT after it has been created.

 

Your advantage for the custom instructions is that you have thought about the exact function and area of application of your GPT at the outset. As a result, you can give targeted and precise instructions that will have a positive effect on the subsequent function of your custom GPT. Here are the most important tips for the custom instructions:

 

• Write as many details as you can think of.
• Repeat the most important instructions several times in different words to make sure that your GPT really understands them.
• On the one hand, provide information on what your GPT should do (e.g. "Integrate images you have created into every post."). On the other hand, also mention what your GPT should not do (e.g. "Avoid repetition of content.").

 

As you can issue as many instructions as you like, you should take the opportunity to go into detail here. This will ensure that your custom GPT meets your requirements and performs quality work.

 

 

Step 5: Select conversion starters

You may already be familiar with the Conversion Starters from the chat with ChatGPT. In the chatbot, suggestions on how to start conversations with ChatGPT appear above the input field. You also have the option of defining your own conversion starters when generating your GPT.

 

Formulate some conversation starters to make your custom GPT more user-friendly. For example, think of 3-5 questions that you will frequently ask the bot in your specific area of application. Just a few conversation starters will make your bot much easier to use and increase your productivity.

 

Step 6: Knowledge: Select files for training

OpenAI's AI experts have already done a good job and trained ChatGPT with billions of parameters and several data sets. The GPT-4o Mini and GPT-4o models use data up to October 2023, while the GPT-4 model uses data up to December 2023. The bot's information is therefore not up to date.

 

The advantage of using ChatGPT-4 to create your Custom GPT is that the model is connected to the Internet. This allows you to specify sources from the Internet from which your custom GPT should obtain its knowledge. You can also upload files that you have on your computer to train your GPT individually.

 

Content bots are often criticized for the poor quality of their texts because some of the information is obtained from non-reputable or inferior sources. In the GPT Builder, you can influence your GPT to only use certain internet sources for texts that meet your quality requirements, for example.

 

Step 7: Select skills

As a ChatGPT-Plus user, you can also access features such as DALL-E for image generation, the code interpreter and web browsing in addition to the custom GPTs. Conveniently, OpenAI GPTs also provides these functions. As a result, you can extend your custom GPTs with the many additional features of ChatGPT-Plus and thus create a multifunctional bot.

 

Step 8: Linking with interfaces

If you have programming skills, you can link GPTs with interfaces to other programs. This is a professional approach that creates even more opportunities for automating and improving the quality of processes.

 

In addition, a higher degree of personalization can be achieved by linking with interfaces. An example of this: Through an interface to an email marketing program, GPTs can access emails, send emails and, if necessary, even generate design templates and texts for email marketing.

 

Test and publication of your own OpenAI GPT

Once your own bot has been created, you have the chance to test it in the preview field. Take this opportunity and, if necessary, make adjustments to the instructions or other criteria to the left of the preview field to ensure that your own ChatGPT meets your requirements when in use.

 

When publishing, decide whether you only want to access your bot yourself via a private link, whether you want a link to share the GPT with others or whether you want to publish your own bot in the store.

 

Conclusion: Individualize artificial intelligence and work better

Your own custom GPTs make various processes at work and in everyday life easier. Use OpenAI's Plus plan to create your own GPTs and use them to automate your work processes or for other purposes. Follow our instructions and tips to ensure that your GPTs bring the greatest benefit in your chosen area of application.