Create a ChatGPT Project for your business, write instructions for your tone and rules in its settings, upload your price list and style guide as sources, and start every work chat inside that project. Each new chat there already knows your business, which is what you build in the free lesson ChatGPT Projects: Your Brand Voice in One Place.
Many people try to do this with Memory instead, by telling ChatGPT "remember that our deep clean costs X". Memory is built for small personal facts, it decides what to keep, and you cannot attach a price list to it. A Project holds exactly what you put in, and you can see and edit all of it. How ChatGPT memory works and ChatGPT memory vs custom instructions explain the difference in detail.
What are the steps?
- Create the project. In the sidebar under Projects, click New project and type your business name.
- Choose Project-only memory. Before you click Create project, open the memory setting at the bottom of the box (on some accounts it sits behind a gear icon) and pick Project-only memory, so chats here do not mix with your personal chats.
- Write the instructions. Click the ⋯ next to Share, then Project settings, then the Instructions box. Say who you are, the voice, which file to use for prices, and how to sign off. Click Save.
- Add your files. Open the Sources tab, click Add sources, then Upload, and pick your price list, brand voice guide or FAQ.
- Start chats inside the project. Use the New chat in box on the project page. A chat started from the main sidebar does not see the project.
- Check the first answers. Read prices and policies against your files. When something is off, fix the instructions once, not every chat.
What does this look like in a real lesson?
In ChatGPT Projects: Your Brand Voice in One Place, you set up a project for a made-up house-cleaning company. You choose Project-only memory, paste instructions that cover who the company is, its voice, the price list, the brand voice guide and the sign-off, and upload two sources: a price list PDF and a brand voice Word file.
Then you start a chat in the project and paste a customer's request for a 3-bedroom deep clean price. You never mention prices or tone, yet the reply uses the right price from the list, and you click the price line to check it. You go back to the project and start a second, fresh chat: "Write a three-sentence About Us for our website." It comes out in the same voice, again without any explaining.
Does Claude work the same way?
Yes. Claude Projects hold Instructions and files under Context. In Claude Projects: your business, remembered, a made-up landscaping company adds its price sheet and warranty policy, and a customer quote comes out with the right prices, the 30-day quote rule and the deposit from the instructions. You then add one rule (every email ends with the office phone number) and every new chat follows it.
The accounting firm version adds a fee schedule and engagement letter terms, and the instructions tell Claude to offer a call instead of giving tax advice by email. It is a good model for any firm with rules about what staff may say in writing.
Should I make one project or several?
One project per business is the start. If you serve clients with different rules, a project per client keeps their files and chats apart, which a ChatGPT project for each client walks through.
What mistakes should I avoid?
- Relying on Memory for prices and policies. It is not a reliable store for business facts. Use project files.
- Starting chats outside the project. They will not know anything you set up.
- Uploading client records. Firm documents like price lists, templates and policies belong in a project. Tax returns, IDs and private client files do not.
- Letting files go stale. When prices change, replace the file the same day.
- Sending a quote unchecked. Anything with a price or a promise gets read by a person before it goes to a customer.
Key takeaways
- A Project with instructions and files is how ChatGPT "remembers" your business.
- Choose Project-only memory so work and personal chats stay apart.
- Start every work chat inside the project.
- Claude Projects do the same with Instructions and Context.
- Check prices and promises before anything reaches a customer.
Frequently asked questions
- Are Projects available on the free ChatGPT plan?
Yes, Projects are on the Free plan too, with lower limits than paid plans.
- Can ChatGPT remember my business without a project?
Custom instructions in your settings can hold a short description of your business for every chat. They cannot hold files, so prices and policies still belong in a project.
- What if ChatGPT ignores my instructions?
Make the rule shorter and more direct, put it near the top, and test again in a new chat in the project. If it uses an old price, check that only the current file is in Sources.