Set up ChatGPT’s Personalization settings once, and every conversation from now on will sound like it was written by someone who actually knows your business.
If you followed along with Part 1 of this series, you already know how to use ChatGPT — how to sign up, how to have a conversation, how to ask for what you need and tell it when the result isn’t quite right.
But here’s something you probably noticed: every time you start a new conversation, ChatGPT has no idea who you are. You have to explain your business, your audience, your tone — all over again. It’s like calling a new assistant every morning and starting from scratch.
You don’t have to live like that.
ChatGPT has a settings page called Personalization that most people never touch. It lets you tell ChatGPT about yourself, your business, and how you want it to respond — and it remembers all of it across every future conversation. Set it up once, and ChatGPT goes from a generic helper to something that actually sounds like it knows you.
This guide will walk you through every setting on that page — what it does, what to change, and what to leave alone. By the end, ChatGPT will feel less like a stranger and more like a teammate who’s been paying attention.
WHAT YOU’LL GET FROM THIS POST
- How to find ChatGPT’s Personalization settings
- What to put in your Custom Instructions (this is the big one)
- How to fill out the “About You” section so ChatGPT knows your business
- How to set the tone and style so responses sound more like you
- What Memory does and why it matters
- Which Advanced settings to turn on (and which ones don’t matter yet)
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- A free ChatGPT account (if you don’t have one yet, start with Part 1)
- About 20 minutes
- A few sentences about your business and who you serve (if you’ve already run Prompt #1 from The ChatGPT Cheat Code, you’re ahead of the game)
Where to Find the Personalization Settings
Here’s how to get there:
On a computer: Click your profile icon in the top-right corner of any ChatGPT screen. Then click Settings. In the menu on the left side, click Personalization.
On your phone: Tap the menu icon (the two horizontal lines in the top-left), then tap your name at the bottom. Tap Settings, then Personalization.
You’ll see a page with several sections. We’re going to go through each one, starting with the most powerful setting most people never use.
Custom Instructions (This Is the Game-Changer)
Near the top of the Personalization page, you’ll see a text box labeled Custom instructions with placeholder text that says something like “Additional behavior, style, and tone preferences.”
This unassuming little box is the single most powerful setting in all of ChatGPT. Here’s why:
Whatever you type here, ChatGPT will read it at the start of every single conversation you have from now on. It’s like handing a new assistant a card that says “Here’s who I am, here’s what I do, and here’s how I want you to talk to me” — and they read it every morning before they start working.
Most people leave this box empty. That means ChatGPT starts every conversation knowing nothing about them. It gives generic answers because it has generic context. But when you fill this in, everything changes. The responses get more relevant, more specific, and more useful — because ChatGPT isn’t guessing anymore.
What to put here:
You want to give ChatGPT a short briefing about your business and how you want it to help you. Think of it as a cheat sheet. Here’s a template you can adapt:
“I run a small business called [YOUR BUSINESS NAME]. I sell [WHAT YOU SELL] to [WHO YOU SERVE]. My customers are typically [A SHORT DESCRIPTION — age range, life situation, what they’re dealing with]. I’m a one-person operation, so everything I create needs to be simple enough for me to do on my own in a reasonable amount of time. When you write for me, use a warm, conversational tone — like a friend giving advice, not a textbook or a sales pitch. Keep things in plain language. Avoid jargon. If I ask for marketing help, assume I have no marketing background and walk me through things step by step.”
Here’s what that might look like filled in:
“I run a small business called Glow & Grace Candles. I sell handmade soy candles to women in their 30s and 40s who use candles as a way to unwind after long, stressful days. My customers are busy — most of them work full-time and juggle a lot at home. I’m a one-person operation, so everything I create needs to be simple enough for me to do on my own in a reasonable amount of time. When you write for me, use a warm, conversational tone — like a friend giving advice, not a textbook or a sales pitch. Keep things in plain language. Avoid jargon. If I ask for marketing help, assume I have no marketing background and walk me through things step by step.”
Once you save that, try starting a new conversation and asking ChatGPT something like “Write me an Instagram post for this week.” You’ll notice it doesn’t ask “What’s your business?” — it already knows. And the post it writes will sound like it was written for your audience, not just any audience.
A few tips for Custom Instructions:
- Keep it under a paragraph or two. You don’t need to write an essay. A few sentences about your business, your audience, and your preferred tone is enough.
- Update it as your business grows. If you launch a new product or shift your audience, come back and tweak this. It takes 30 seconds.
- Include what you DON’T want. If ChatGPT keeps giving you responses that sound too corporate, too salesy, or too long — say so here. “Never use corporate jargon” or “Keep all responses under 200 words unless I ask for more” are perfectly valid instructions.
The “About You” Section
Just below Custom Instructions (or nearby, depending on your screen), you’ll see three fields:
Nickname — What should ChatGPT call you? If you type your name here, ChatGPT will use it when it talks to you. This is totally optional. Some people like the personal touch; others find it a little weird. Either way, it doesn’t affect the quality of the responses — it’s just a comfort thing.
Occupation — This one is more useful than it looks. When ChatGPT knows what you do, it adjusts its answers accordingly. If you put “small business owner” or “candle maker” or “freelance graphic designer,” it’s going to give you answers that fit your world instead of giving you advice meant for a Fortune 500 company. Keep it simple and accurate.
More about you — This is another free-text field where you can share interests, values, or preferences. You could use this to add context that doesn’t fit neatly in Custom Instructions. For example: “I’m building a side business while working full-time, so I need strategies that work with limited time” or “I care a lot about my community and want my marketing to feel authentic, never pushy.”
Between Custom Instructions and these three fields, ChatGPT now has a solid picture of who you are. That picture travels with you into every conversation.
Setting Your Style and Tone
At the top of the Personalization page, you’ll see a few options for controlling how ChatGPT writes:
Base style and tone — This is a dropdown menu. The default setting works fine for most people, but if you find ChatGPT’s responses consistently feel too formal, too casual, or not quite right, you can experiment here. For most small business owners, the default is a good starting point — especially if you’ve already told ChatGPT what tone you want in your Custom Instructions.
Characteristics — These are four sliders that let you fine-tune the vibe:
- Warm — Controls how friendly and approachable the responses feel. If you want ChatGPT to sound more like a helpful friend and less like a textbook, turn this up.
- Enthusiastic — Controls how much energy is in the responses. For business writing, the default is usually fine. Turning this up too high can make things sound overly excited — like every sentence ends with an exclamation point.
- Headers & Lists — Controls how often ChatGPT uses formatting like bullet points and section headers. If you’re asking for blog posts or structured content, keeping this at the default or turning it up can help. If you prefer flowing paragraphs, turn it down.
- Emoji — Controls whether ChatGPT sprinkles in emojis. This comes down to personal preference and your brand. If your social media voice uses emojis naturally, turn it up. If your brand is more understated, leave it at the default or turn it down.
My recommendation for most small business owners: Leave Base style and tone on Default. Set Warm to “More” if you find responses too stiff. Leave the rest at Default. Your Custom Instructions are doing the heavy lifting here — these characteristics are just fine-tuning on top of that.
How Memory Works
Below the About You section, you’ll see a Memory section with two toggles:
Reference saved memories — This should be ON (and it probably already is). When this is on, ChatGPT can remember things you tell it during conversations and use that information later. For example, if you mention in a conversation that you just launched a new product, ChatGPT might remember that and reference it in future conversations.
This is different from Custom Instructions. Custom Instructions are what you deliberately tell ChatGPT to remember. Memory is what ChatGPT picks up on its own as you use it. Over time, it builds a picture of your business, your preferences, and your situation — kind of like how a good assistant gets better the longer they work with you.
You can see what ChatGPT has remembered by clicking the Manage button next to Memory. If it’s picked up something wrong or outdated, you can delete individual memories there.
Reference chat history — This one lets ChatGPT look at your recent conversations to give better answers. It’s OFF by default. You can turn it on if you want, but it’s not essential. The combination of Custom Instructions + Memory already does a great job of keeping ChatGPT informed about your business.
Advanced Settings (What to Turn On, What to Ignore)
If you expand the Advanced section at the bottom, you’ll see several toggles. Here’s what matters and what doesn’t — for right now:
Web search — Keep this ON. This lets ChatGPT search the internet for current information when it needs to. If you ask it “What’s trending on Instagram this week?” or “What are the best email marketing tools right now?”, it can actually look that up instead of guessing from old information. Very useful.
Canvas — Leave this ON. Canvas is a feature that lets you and ChatGPT work on a document together — editing text side by side. It’s handy when you’re writing something longer, like a blog post or a sales page, and you want to go back and forth on specific sections.
ChatGPT Voice and Advanced Voice — Your call. These let you talk to ChatGPT out loud instead of typing, like having a phone conversation. Some people love this for brainstorming — you can talk through your ideas while driving or cooking and ChatGPT will respond. If that sounds useful, leave them on. If you prefer typing, it doesn’t matter either way.
Connector search — You can skip this for now. This lets ChatGPT search through connected apps like Google Drive or Slack. Unless you’ve set up those connections (which most people haven’t), this toggle doesn’t do anything.
The bottom line: Web search is the only Advanced setting that really matters for your day-to-day use right now. Everything else is either already fine at its default, or something you can explore later when you’re more comfortable.
Putting It All Together
Here’s a quick summary of what to do right now — it’ll take about 10 minutes:
Step 1: Go to Settings → Personalization.
Step 2: Write your Custom Instructions. Use the template above and fill in your business details. This is the single highest-impact thing you can do.
Step 3: Fill in your Occupation (something simple and accurate).
Step 4: Optionally add a Nickname and anything relevant in “More about you.”
Step 5: Check that Memory → “Reference saved memories” is turned on.
Step 6: Check that Advanced → “Web search” is turned on.
Step 7: Leave everything else at the default for now.
Then start a new conversation and test it. Ask ChatGPT to write you a social media post, or come up with ideas for your next email. You should immediately notice the difference — it knows who you are, what you do, and how you like things written. No more explaining yourself every time.
What to Do Next
You’ve just gone from a generic ChatGPT experience to one that’s tailored to your business. From now on, every conversation starts with ChatGPT already understanding who you are, who you serve, and how you want things to sound.
If you haven’t already, grab The ChatGPT Cheat Code — our free guide with ready-to-use prompts that work even better now that your ChatGPT is customized. The prompts in that guide build on each other in a single conversation, and with your Custom Instructions set up, the very first response will already feel like it was written by someone who knows your business.
